Caitro Soto

Caitro Soto playing the cajón.

Caitro Soto (Carlos "Caitro" Soto de la Colina) was a well-known percussionist particularly well known for his mastery of the cajón.  He was one of the founders of Peru Negro, one of the most important organizations dedicated to the preservation of Afro-Peruvian music, dance and culture.


Born in 1934 in the largely Afro-Peruvian town of San Luis (Cañete province), he died in 2004 at the age of 70 in Lima, Peru´s capitol.  Cañete province is sometimes known as the "cradle of Afro-Peuvian arts" and between the time of the Spanish conquest and the 20th century, it was full of plantations dedicated to growing sugar cane, cotton and other products.  Most of the labor to work these plantations, up until the mid-19th century, came from Africans who had been enslaved and brought to the area, and later, their descendants.  Slavery wasn´t abolished in Peru until 1854.

Caitro Soto is best known for his unique version of the traditional Afro-Peruvian song, Toro Mata.  He based his version on the song as taught to him by his grandmother and great-grandmother, and other family members.


I wanted to post a link here to a video with his biography, but it doesn't work and seems to have disappeared.  Instead, here he is performing Toro Mata.



Toro Mata, which is also performed by our group on our documentary, A Zest for Life, isn´t the only song that Caitro Soto rescued.  He collected songs from his ancestors and the elderly inhabitants of his native town, San Luis de Cañete, songs that recounted and illustrated the life of Afro-Peruvians during the time of slavery and the first few decades afterwards.  These were country folk who did back-breaking work in the fields and their hardships are reflected in the songs they created.

For collectors of trivia, Caitro Soto had a role in the movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, about Che Guevara´s youth.  He played one of the people in the leper colony.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Afro-Peruvian zapateo footwork, including some performed by Caitro Soto.

That screening of A Zest for Life in la Peña -- looking back

I'd fully intended this blog to be about Caitro Soto, but since I got very, very busy with the screening party for A Zest for Life, and it's now taken place (leaving me with some great photos taken by Hershell West), I'm going to save Caitro Soto for NEXT time.

Audience preparing to go home after the show is over.

 First of all, I want to thank everyone who helped and/or participated in the event:  la Peña Cultural Center (our venue) including staff and volunteers,  my daughter Lucy Armentrout (who manned the selling booth), Hershell West (our MC), Gabriela Shiroma (manager of the performing group) and de Rompe y Raja (the performers).

MC Hershell West and filmmaker Eve A. Ma

 Why am I talking about  performers in relation to the screening of the documentary?  Because we made this a real PARTY.  We screened the documentary.  We gave a mini-lesson in Afro-Peruvian zapateo footwork to one brave and talented soul, and we had a live performance.  The performers, de Rompe y Raja, are the people who performed in the documentary.

Some of the dancers from de Rompe y Raja.

Mustn't forget the musicians!

 And in spite of the weather -- lots of rain, lots of wind, one of those evenings -- we had a very good audience.  The audience also liked the documentary, they liked the performers, they liked the fellow learning zapateo (I forgot to get his name).  They applauded at many moments, they purchased DVDs and CDs, they came up to talk to yours truly and to de Rompe y Raja's director, Gabriela Shiroma.

And the kids playing the cajon, singing, and dancing.

Learning Afro-Peruvian zapateo on stage.

 So if you missed this event, enjoy these photos.  In addition, we will probably do another event of this kind in San Francisco, possibly as early as this summer.  We'll keep you informed.

My daughter Lucy Armentrout at the selling table during intermission.

We'll end with our star, Lalo Izquierdo, playing the cajon.

We'll end our series of photos with this one.  Since the entire program was about Afro-Peruvian music and dance, even though Lalo Izquierdo wasn't present (he's in Peru), we should end with an Afro-Peruvian playing an Afro-Peruvian musical instrument.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Caitro Soto, another recently deceased great in Afro-Peruvian traditional music.

RELEASE PARTY in La Peña, Fri. Jan. 20 at 8pm

Ok, you San Francisco Bay Area residents, it's time to mark your calendars and to set the evening of Friday, Jan. 20 starting at 8pm (THIS COMING FRIDAY) for our release party.  The release party will be at la Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley (3105 Shattuck Ave.).  Cost is $15 at the door, but $12 if you purchase in advance...students and seniors get a discount.  And here's the LINK with information as to how to purchase in advance.

We've listed this event and posted photos and trailers in a number of places, including HERE.  Of course, you can also go to our web site LINK and/or to the la Peña calendar page LINK to find out more about it.

Bottom line is just that you BE there when we start the program...which will consist of the screening of the documentary, a live performance by de Rompe y Raja, the performance group featured in the documentary, and for those so inclined, a mini-lesson in Afro-Peruvian zapateo footwork.  Fun.

Juan Omar Medrano Cotito (PHOTO:  Oscar Champi Echegaray)

In the documentary, among other things you will learn about some of the percussion instruments that Afro-Peruvians have contributed to the musical world.  You see four of these in the photo above, all of which figure in one way or another in the documentary.  Those four are the Afro-Peruvian cajón, the quijada de burro, the cajita and the checo.  Each one has a very distinctive sound and if you put them all together, it´s pretty cool.

The cajita is not restricted to Afro-Peruvian music, although that's where it comes from.  Here's a percussion trio -- definitely not Afro-Peruvians (and no, the shekere is not Afro-Peruvian either, but the cajón in this video is).  Looks like they are having a good time.




SO--come out to the release party, and join us.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about the release party, after it occurs.

Gabriel Alegria, and my article about Afro-Peruvian jazz

Thought you might be interested in my recently published article about Afro-Peruvian jazz.

LINK.   It's on EZines.
 

Afro-Peruvian jazz is the "new kid on the block" of Latin jazz.  It's foundation is Afro-Peruvian traditional music and New York jazz.  If you want to know more about Afro-Peruvian traditional music, one source is our documentary A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.  We also have a CD of the sound track.  We're in the process of placing the CD in Bay Area stores;  more on this when we've done it.

As for Afro-Peruvian jazz, currently the most famous musician and group leader is Gabriel Alegria.  He not only has a great combo but also a nightclub in New York called the Tutuma Social Club where he brings in all kinds of good performers.  Here's a LINK.

He goes back and forth between New York and Peru, so he doesn't lose his roots by spending too much time in the U.S..  He´s got a nice web site as well as a great group.  Check him out.

In addition, he played a concert in el Carmen, Peru, in 2009.  Now, el Carmen is one of the centers of Afro-Peruvian traditional music and he put a lot of that music into the concert, especially by using Huevito Lobaton on the quintessential Afro-Peruvian instrument, the cajita.  AND just to make the connection completely clear, there´s this number from the concert in which it starts and ends with Huevito playing the cajita while Gabriel Alegria plays the quijada de burro, another percussion instrument that Afro-Peruvians have given to the world.  Check out the video below.



OUR NEXT BLOG will be about our CD and our release party at la Peña (Berkeley, CA).

Some black Latino history as told by Lalo Izquierdo

As I think we've mentioned, Lalo Izquierdo, the star of our documentary, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, is not only a master dancer and percussionist, not only a choreographer, but also a folklorist.  We filmed some very interesting interviews with him that didn't fit well into the documentary itself, but they're much too good to just cast aside.

Here is one of them, in which he explains how it is that Lima, Peru (Peru's capitol city) has so many Afro-Peruvian peddlers.



We hope in the future to post some other of his interviews, but in the meantime, we'd love to know how you like this one.

Izquierdo now has his own performance group in Lima, Peru and in addition, has recently been appointed Director of the Institute of Cultural Expression in the National Afro-Peruvian Museum in Peru.  A busy man!

Lalo Izquierdo

 He's also a man who loves to smile.  Nice guy.


OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Gabriel Alegria, my article on Afro-Peruvian jazz, etc.

Amador Ballumbrosio

Several people from the past generation stand out as having played a tremendous role in preserving Afro-Peruvian music and dance.  One of these is Amador Ballumbrosio.

Amador Ballumbrosio, who died very recently (2009) at an advanced age, was instrumental in keeping the hatajo de negritos from dying out.  The hatajos de negritos are groups of dancers who perform on December 24 in honor of baby Jesus.  As this implies, we're talking Christian Catholic religion here.

Jesus López dancing in the hatajo de negritos.  PHOTO Carlos O. López y la Org. Cimarrones

The hatajos were originally composed only of boys and men but some now include girls.   They dance accompanied by a violin which is played by the group's leader.  In addition to the violin, the dancers themselves have bells or sometimes, a string of bells.  The traditional Afro-Peruvian form of fancy footwork, called zapateo, is also an integral part of the dancing.  Plus the members of the group often sing as they dance.

Taken together, the violin, bells, footwork and singing provide an ample musical accompaniment.

The members of the various hatajo de negritos dance for hours, starting in the afternoon of Dec. 24 and continuing on until midnight.  Part of the celebration also includes parades with young men carrying floats that have figures of baby Jesus and the virgin Mary.  And as you'd expect, there is a priest there to encourage them, to bless them, and to speak and recite the mass.


In this videoclip, you see Amador Ballumbrosio and others performing zapateo.  Be sure to watch to the end!

 In fact, Amador Ballumbrosio was well known as a master of the zapateo footwork, and he also played the violin for his group of hatajo de negritos.  The performers rehearsed under his guidance for months before Dec. 24, with discipline and pretty strict rules but also refreshments and a great deal of family support.

In our documentary, we have a performance dedicated to him in which our performers, led by Lalo Izquierdo, execute some zapateo.  In additon, we have some great videoclips of people performing in the hatajos de negritos of El Carmen, Peru, a town famous for maintaining the tradition and the home of Amador Ballumbrosio.  We also have some photos of Amador Ballumbrosio himself, with his family.  Several members of his large family have themselves become important figures in Afro-Peruvian traditional music and dance, including in the hatajo de negritos.

Amador Ballumbrosio.  PHOTO:  Daniel Moore of Unique South America Travel Experience

In addition to his family, two organizations are devoting especial attention to this tradition:  the Centro Cultural Afroperuano "San Daniel de Carboni" of El Carmen in Chincha province, Peru and a group with a national (Peruvian) focus, the Cimarrones.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about an aspect of black Latino history:  the black peddlers of Lima, Peru