Recommended Peruvian Music

See Also our BOOKS, TRAVEL and NEWS on Peru

At last, a recording that showcases the great regional diversity of folk violin styles from Peru. This new CD features music from Andean villages and coastal valleys, as well as the Amazon rainforest, played on traditional violin, harp, mandolin, charango, pampapiano, waqrapuku, antara, kena, pinkullo, and tijeras, among others. The 20-page booklet that accompanies the CD contains lyrics, translations, explanatory notes, violin tunings, instrumental configurations, and the history of the violin in Peru, beginning with the arrival of the rabel - a precursor of the violin - in the 16th century. Zamalloa has combed the Peruvian Andes long and hard to find these pieces. The results are extraordinary. Here is a cross-section of the many kinds of Andean music, played with refinement and a tremendous sense of musicality. Most Andean Peruvian music recordings tend to stay within a very narrow range. This CD is the exact opposite. All the pieces, however, manage to produce a wonderful mosaic, as pleasing to the ear as it is instructive. What an amazing gift.

Jolgorio
Peru Negro.

For the last 35 years, Perú Negro has been a primary outlet for the Afro-Peruvian music tradition. As with all Afro-Peruvian music, listeners will hear touches of flamenco-like guitar and clapping, call-and-response choruses, clattering African hand percussion and actual tap-dance-like dancing. At its most upbeat, the album has a carnival-like atmosphere ("Carnival Negro") where it's impossible not to imagine people dancing.

Huayno Music of Peru, Vol. 2: (1960-1970)
This re-release of historic ethnic recordings contains music from the Andean regions of Peru. From the solo harpist to the brass band, from the high-pitched duets of the the women to the gruff, throaty sound of the men, there is a little bit of everything on this recording. The glue that holds it all together is the rhythm of the Huayno and other related dance forms.

Afro-Peruvian Classics: The Soul of Black Peru

David Byrne has assembled a masterpiece of rhythm and heart-felt joy. This album represents the roots of Afro-Peruvian music. The lyrics of some of the songs provide the passion of the Afro-Peruvians back in the 1800s.The quality of this wonderful compilation (Afro/Peruvian) is something that you can't do without in your music collection!

   

Explorer: Peru - Fiestas Music of the High Andes. The music was recorded in June and July 1968 and was originally released in 1972.Some songs feature only two flutes playing together all the way to a 15 piece brass band playing festival music. I was unsure what to expect from a diverse line-up of music and musicians, but I am still impressed by the quality and clarity of these recordings.

 

 

Mejores Exitos De La Morena De Oro Del Peru:
Lucha Reyes
Lucha Reyes was a Peruvian singer of great intensity, perfect diction, beautiful sense of rythm and poignant soulfulness. Her voice reminds one of the young Edith Piaf, it is a powerful, resonnant instrument and although she died young because of very poor health, she remains one of Peru's emblematic singers.

 

Traditional Music Of Peru 1: Festivals Of Cusco
(Smithsonian Folkways Series)
Music of religious festivals is one of the richest and most important types of musical expression in the Andes. These 1989 recordings from the Peruvian Archives of Traditional Andean Music present lively music of the religious festivals in the Cusco region. Devotees perform with flutes and drums, harps and violins, accordions, brass bands, and voices. The performances present Andean music in its contemporary religious setting."Puts you in touch with the real thing." –Tucson Citizen

   

Susana Baca
IF SUSANA BACA NEVER MADE ANOTHER ALBUM AFTER THIS ONE, HER PLACE IN
MUSICAL HISTORY WOULD BE ASSURED. NEVER HAVE I HEARD SUCH BEAUTIFUL,
MEANINGFUL, AND RELEVANT MUSIC! HER VOICE IS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL, AND HER BAND DOESNT MISS A BEAT, THE SENSATION WAS AS IF I HAD FINALLY RECONNECTED W/MY AFRICAN ROOTS.

Real Music of Peru - Huaynos & Huaylas by
Picaflor De Los Andes, Flor Pucarina, Orquesta Los Tarumas De Tarma, La Pallasquinita, etc. This CD is full of exellent music from Junin, Peru.

 Espiritu Vivo
Susana Baca

Susana Baca belongs to a new generation of Peruvian singers, delving into the shadows of the past to recover shimmering melodies and seductive rhythms. Her seemingly effortless interpretative skills belie years of work assembling the songs, the stories and the steps of music and dances once consigned to history.

   

Land of the Incas
Inkuyo

In this album Inkuyo plays a medley of traditional and contemporary compositions with traditional Andean instruments (flute, panpipes, guitar and drums). The tunes are mostly joyful with a few melancholy ones.The music, which is purely instrumental (except for one track),is through and through traditional with no concessions made to New Age or Pop styles.

 

Chabuca Granda Grandes Exitos

One of the most important composer/vocalist in the history of Peruvian music, Chabuca Granda continued to make her presence felt a decade after her death in 1983. Caetano Veloso used her song, "Fina Estampa," as the title track of an album released in 1994, while her song, "Maria Lando," written with Cesar Calvo, provided the North American breakthrough for Peruvian vocalist Susana Baca the following year. Granda's song "La Flor De La Canela" has become an anthem for the city of Lima. Granda worked with a lengthy list of influential guitarists including Oscar Aviles, Martin Torres, Lucho González, Alvaro Lagos, and Felix Casaverde.

Mountain Music of Peru, Vol. 2
(Smithsonian Folkways Series)
This recording contains music of the Andean people as performed in their own communities. It contains stunning panpipe ensembles and a wide variety of vocal and instrumental styles. A single festival from the Mantaro Valley is documented here plus the panpipe, flute, and takara music of the Aymara, as featured in Tom Turino’s book, Moving Away from Silence. 29 tracks. "Interesting listening, a contrast to everyday fare." –Sing Out!

Traditional Music of Peru, Vol. 6: The Ayacucho Region
Various Artists
Smithsonian Folkways- 2001. The twenty-seven recordings in this collection are the first from the Andean department of Ayacucho to be made available since that region's period of heavy conflict in the 1980s and early 1990s. These songs, which range from melodic and beautiful to stark and simple, evoke water, fertility, and life events in their lyrical, aesthetic, and symbolic content. Liner notes in Spanish and English include translations of song texts in the native Quechua language. 28-page booklet, photos, 53 minutes.

Traditional Music of Peru, Vol. 4: Lambayeque
Various Artists Smithsonian Folkways

These 22 tracks, recorded in 1990-1991 in the three cultural regions (Creole, Afro-Cuban, and Andean) of the Department of Lambayeque in northern Peru, feature music of festival dances and songs accompanied by a variety of instruments, and Christmas carols sung by children. "The collection's aural quality has a surreal edge and its purity of spirit is spellbinding." - Americas

 Traditional Music of Peru, Vol. 5: Celebrating Divinity in the High Andes

On the shoulders of the high Andes sacred moments are celebrated with a creative mix of pre-Columbian and more recent sounds. Here, where rural communities celebrate religious holidays and other occasions with dance dramas and music, flute and drum ensembles, harps, and violins share the streets and town squares with saxophones and trumpets. Recorded in the Callejon de Huaylas in 1993. 64 minutes. Includes 24 page booklet with notes in English and Spanish, map, and photographs.

Ayahuasca Songs from the Peruvian Amazon
Luis Panduro Vasquez

These indigenous ayahuasca songs are recorded live in the Peruvian Amazon Jungle. The ayahuasquero who is conducting a ceremony, sings these traditional and sacred songs with the intent for creating an environment of healing and protection for the participants in the ceremony. Ayahuasca, a visionary and healing plant medicine, has been used by Amazonian shamans for millennia.

Valses Peruanos Eternos
Oscar Aviles

Aviles is Considered the Most Representative Peruvian Folkloric Guitarist. The 65 Year Old Musician is Known for Fusing Different Elements "Moriscos", "Gitanos" and "Africanos". Among them is "Zamacueca", a Peruvian Dance and Guitar Tone.

 

 

Double-Headed Serpent
Inkuyo

This recording, like Inkuyo's previous work, includes a number of traditional Andean folk songs and dances—some old enough to date back to the Incan Empire. The group also performs the recent Latin American phenomenon known as Nueva Cancion, or New Song, that contains social or sharply political lyrics, and combines traditional and European instruments.

     

Amazon Days, Amazon Nights
Bernie Krause

The richest mix of creature sounds comes from the tropical rainforests of the planet. Over time, the resident birds, frogs, mammals, insects, and reptiles learn to vocalize in unique relationships to each other – much like instruments in an orchestra. This biophony is as beautiful as any music heard in the major symphony halls of the world. In the second cut, Amazon Nights, a jaguar approaches our microphone only to discover it isn’t particularly edible.

Amazon Song
Rusty Crutcher

Music gently floats over the quietly active sounds of Amazon Jungle wildlife. From droplets of condensation falling on the jungle floor, to a tree falling in the distance, and the wings of jungle birds flying past - sounds of the jungle harmonize with music for a relaxing, yet invigorating visit to the rapidly-disappearing and ever-more-precious rainforest. Environmental sounds were digitally recorded at Tambotapa Wildlife Preserve, Amazon Basin, Peru, August 1987.
Songs of the Plant Spirits
Don Pedro Guerra Gonzales

These songs are recorded live in the Peruvian Amazon jungle. The shaman, Don Pedro, who is singing them, has received these icaros directly through his contact with plant and other elemental spirits of the jungle. These icaros were given to him by the spirits who taught him to heal. Because of his direct alliance with them, and their powers which he carries within his body, the energies of these spirits are invoked when he sings these icaros. He uses them in ceremony and for curing.
Guitarra Raul Garcia Zarate, Upon the arrival of the guitar to the New World, like the harp, it was adopted by Peruvian natives who adapted it to their melodies and rhythms, creating a unique prose, transforming the tuning and sounds or reinventing the instrument, in the form of a charango. Raul Garcia Zarate, a cross-breed from Ayacucho, accurately synthesized the Andean people’s understanding of the guitar. He had a decisive influence on the formation of the Ayacucho guitar school. See Also our BOOK section and NEWS on Peru Peru: A Mi Patria
Jaime Guardia, Abelardo Vasquez, Maximo
Damian, Felix Casaverde
 A Mi Patria focuses its attention on the mestizo music of coastal and Andean Peru, a music rich in European influences and yet having clear tracks back to the slaves brought there, and to the indigenous population of the region. The album traces the singers of songs; the small instrumental groups of violins, charango, mandolin, and harp; the ensembles of quena (flutes) and cajon (the deep, rich percussion box); and the more contemporary groups that have replaced the fiddles with brass instruments.
Eva Leyenda Peruana
Eva Ayllon
 Susana Baca is usually the first Peruvian singer that comes to mind for many North Americans, but Baca's popularity in her homeland is actually surpassed by singer Eva Ayllon. Performing since the late 1970s, Ayllon fills 30,000 seat arenas and records platinum-selling records at home. Whereas Baca's voice is delicate and lilting with wisps of jazz, Ayllon is fiery and earthy as she sings in Spanish. Her music is mostly made up of traditional lando, festejo, and vals that come out of the Afro-Peruvian tradition, punctuated by the music's signatory box-shaped cajon drum as well as congas, acoustic guitar and piano.
Peru: Quechua Music from Lake Titicaca  Lake Titicaca is the mythic centerpiece of Incan civilization.The rich musical traditions that are hidden in the Andes have existed for many centuries and have only within the last 20 years made their way down onto the mainland, and have almost never been exported. These recordings, on Peru: Quechua Music From Lake Titicaca, come from the island of Taquile -- from an island in the lake, hung from a cloud -- where 900 citizens pursue a way of indigenous life that has all but disappeared in their region. As in any indigenous community, music regulates daily life in Taquile. According to the liner notes, certain common folk melodies can be dated back to pre-Colombian times.  Ritmo de Negros
Pepe Vasquez
On the Pacific coast of Peru, a African music has survived in spite of repression by the Europeans. Drums and marimbas were forbidden because they "generate trance-like states and are the work of the devil." As a substitute, unique instruments were created out of everyday materials and developed into unique instruments that have remained a staple of Afro-Peruvian rhythm. Pepe Vasquez with his smokey voice is the undisputed star of this particular music. Brimming with explosive energy, he mixes the Lando and Festejo styles with dynamic Salsa grooves. This CD is a portrait of some of his finest music and presents this undisputed star of Afro-Peruvian music to an international audience for the first time.
 Pachatusan Inkari
Winaypaq
Instrumental Music if you like New Age music.

1. Winaypaq (Eternity)
2. Ayarachi (Spirit Calling)
3. Himmo Al Sol ( Song Of The Sun)
4. Macchu Tusuy (Dance Of The Ancient Ones)
5. Qosqo Llaqta (Song Of Hope)
6. Qosqo Llaqta (Song Of Cusco)
7. Inti Raymi (Festival Of The Sun)
8. Waere (Walking With The Spitits)
See Also our BOOK section and NEWS on Peru
Rough Guide to Afro Peru
Various Artists

 1. Golpe E' Tierra - Susana Baca
2. Ruperta - Peru Negro
3. Herida Obscura - Chabuca Granda/Oscar Aviles
4. Yo Te Canto - Eva Ayllon
5. Saca Camote Con El Pie - Lucila Campos
6. Negro Carbon - Manuel Donayre
7. El Picador - Cecilia Barraza
8. Negra Presentuosa - Susana Baca
9. Cardo O Ceniza - Eva Ayllon
10. Arroz Con Concolon - Roberto Rivas
11. Negrito Chinchivi - Lucila Campos
12. Machete En Su Cuna - Peru Negro
13. Copilas De Amor Y Tondero - Olga Milla
14. El Alcatraz - Arturo "Zambo" Cavero/Oscar Aviles
15. El Sueno De Pochi - Cecilia Barraza
16. Morropon De San Miguel - Julie Freundt
17. Comadre Cololiche - Arturo "Zambo" Cavero
18. Inga - Nicomedes Santa Cruz
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