Well, we've done it. The final version of our documentary film about Afro-Peruvians is officially out on DVD. As you may already know, it's called A Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz. and boy are we glad it's out.
Several months ago, we gave a party to celebrate its completion and afterwards, I located some new footage which I really wanted to include. Getting it in the proper format and with the proper permissions was a long, involved task, but I did it.
The new stuff is mainly a segment in which three famous Afro-Peruvian percussionists are sitting on the front steps of a building in the city of Zaña in Peru, improvising on the checo together. The checo, as you surely know by now, is a percussion instrument made out of the checo gourd.
Who are these famous percussionists? Well, there´s Hugo Bravo, who plays percussion for Susana Baca. There´s Juan Medrano Cotito, who plays percussion for almost everyone, including Novalima. He recently toured in the United States and I´m very, very sorry to say that I missed him.
And there´s Mangue (Manuel Vasquez Goyoneche) who, I am sad to say, recently passed away. Below, you see him doing zapateo footwork (after the young lady, a relative, finishes), with Cotito behind him on cajón and Roberto Arguedas playing the guitar.
And when you see the three of them playing together, it is awesome. I wish I could do that!
By the way, I do want to make it clear that what we´ve just brought out is the Home Use version. We'll produce the Educational version in November. The main difference between the two versions, other than price, is that the Educational version will have some different Extras, directed towards, well, education.
So if you want to check out our great new DVD, purchase it now at www.AZestforLifeDVD.com. Or if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can go watch it in the Berkeley Video & Film Festival. The festival runs from Dec. 7-22. I´ll let you know the day and time of the screening for A Zest for Life once we´ve been told.
OUR NEXT POST will be a few more details about A Zest for Life.
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