Finishing the revisions-"Lalo Izquierdo's doc"

I have pretty much finished revising the documentary "A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz."

Here are two versions of the first 39 seconds.  The first version is what I did today.  The second version is from last week.

In addition, I've made a number of other changes, including some inspired by very recent feedback from friends/family who agreed to watch the first 7 1/2 minutes and give me some comments.  Thanks to these friends (in alphabetical order):  Lucy Armentrout, Rossana Craig, Ross Franseen, Lisa Greenstein, Janet Jacobson, and Hershell West.  Thanks also to Vince Townsend who, along with Hershell, watched the whole thing right before I left town.

In the meantime, what have been the changes?  Well, I've added tiny glimpses of things shot on my Peru trip last December, including the various people who provided me with some fascinating information (especially but not exclusively Lalo Izquierdo), brief shots of some great percussionists performing, short clips of kids learning Afro-Peruvian rhythms and dances, and a very brief shot from a rehearsal of the "hatajos de negritos" in el Carmen.

rough draft of the new DVD cover

Changes I made specifically in response to the comments of the people listed above are 1) the opening 39 sec., 2) a new photo added plus an existing photo modified, c) a small modification to the titling, and d) a new order for the sequence where I tell who I met in Peru.  I'm including the first 7 1/2 minutes here, so you can see:

The rest of the documentary contains a little more of the material we shot in Peru this past December, but I'm reserving most of that material for a short I plan to create in the near future about Afro-Peruvian percussionists (specifically, Juan Medrano Cotito, Huevito Lobatón and Lalo Izquierdo) PLUS, if I can get funding, material I'll use in yet another, longer documentary about the evolution of tradition.

The revised "A Zest for Life" will see its world release in a film festival in Cannes, France, in late April.  This isn't THE Cannes film festival, but is still a good festival.  It's called the Festival Internacional du Film Pan-Africain.

BUT we won't release it to the general public until late summer.  This will give NETA (National Educational Television Assn. - which feeds programming to national PBS) time to look it over before the general release.  I also want to send it around to distributors, to see if I can get a good distribution contract.

SO in the meantime, you'll have to be satisfied with whatever I post on YouTube or Vimeo...but summer isn't that far away, so you'll be able to get the documentary pretty soon.

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Eve A. Ma, after passing a month in Peru and then some time with her family in California, is in Spain until the end of April.  Having completed the revised Afro-Peruvian documentary, she is now getting back to work on a documentary about flamenco.  Subscribe HERE to our monthly newsletter to keep up with her work.

My Peru diary - day 15 (all about the BIG SHOOT)

Peru diary (Dec. 19, 2014)

Well, yesterday was the BIG SHOOT, the reason that I scheduled my trip when I did, so that I could get all three great percussionists together:  Lalo Izquierdo, Juan Medrano Cotito, and Huevito Lobatón.

We filmed the conversation part in "my apartment."  l to r:  Cotito, Huevito Lobatón and Lalo Izquierdo.

And they were, well, great!

We started off by filming a conversation between the three of them, in which I presented three topics and asked them simply to talk about them.  The first topic was...how did they learn Afro-Peruvian rhythms.  Of course, I knew they had all learned as kids in their homes, watching parents, family, and friends but I wanted them to talk about this in front of the camera.

They did, indeed, talk.  After an hour on the topic, I had to raise my hand and ask them to stop since I was running out of film.  (I still shoot with videotape, although the other two camera people had video cards.)

Me with Huevito Lobatón.  We filmed the interviews in a park in Barranco (another district of Lima).

What they said as they talked was really fun and interesting.  I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Because of the time factor, we had to skip topic two, and I had them move briefly through topic three (what they think is the future of Afro-Peruvian music, rhythms and dance).

Next, we filmed short interviews in which I asked each of them separately a very few questions.

Lalo Izquierdo and Juan Medrano Cotito in the park.

Finally, the big thing:  the performance part.  We filmed this in a cultural organization which has a stage and puts on performances.  It's called Casa Shenan.

They did four numbers:  one with just the three of them playing cajón and singing;  one with Lalo Izquierdo and Huevito Lobatón performing zapateo footwork (with a guitar accompanying them) and two with a guitar, a singer, and the three of them playing percussion - cajón and some quijada de burro.

In Casa Shenan, setting up for the performance part.

It was really great.  In fact, I've decided I'll use this material (supplemented by other things I shot in Peru) to make a documentary called Masters of Percussion...because they really are, and all three are fascinating people.

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I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

(For more photos, go to the Facebook page of Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

My Peru diary, day 10

Peru diary (Dec. 14, 2014)

Am now in the little town of el Carmen, in the southern coastal area of Peru.  To get here, you take a bus to Chincha and then a taxi from Chincha to el Carmen.  It´s important to take a secure taxi...many of the taxis here are not secure, so you need to get the name of a taxi before you start your trip.

The town is abut 5 blocks long by 7 blocks deep.  Many houses have murals painted on them.

El Carmen is a predominantly Afro-Peruvian town in which they carry on a centuries old tradition called the "hatajo de negritos."  The "hatajos" are groups of dancers - all men except for one which is exclusively women - who perform special dances on the occasion of Christmas, the celebration of the Virgin of Carmen, and 12th Night.  The dances are always done in front of an image or altar to baby Jesus.  Often, the Virgin of Carmen is also on the altar.

I am staying in a beautiful "hotel" - a big, airy house with 2 acres of grounds planted in avocado trees, fruit, bananas, etc..  The proprietor, Edith Maldonado,  is a woman instrumental in seeing to the production of the first documentary about the "hatajos." This was back in 2007.  A newer, excellent, one was filmed in 2012 by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Edith Maldonado on the veranda of the main building of the "hotel."

Since there are already two documentaries about the "hatajos," I filmed only a tiny portion of one of the rehearsals.  It is really wonderful stuff, and a fascinating story.

People here are loath to sign documents, an important consideration for me since I need release forms signed.  And drama, drama!  One of the places I was to film cancelled their rehearsal in part because, after I set up my camera, I explained I´d need a signature.  But I got plenty enough footage in the other place to use for what I´m working on.

Inside the house of Margarita Cordoba, where I filmed.  The altar to baby Jesus is in the background.

Another small drama:  I was told the place where I´m staying could accept payment by debit-credit card.  On arriving, I discovered this is not correct.  El Carmen does not have a bank, so later today, I'll go in a tiny, overcrowded van into Chincha to search for an ATM machine and hope a) it will give me the money I need and b) it won´t eat my card.

Tomorrow afternoon, I leave el Carmen to go to San Luis de Canñte (which I just discovered is a different place from Canñte...good that I found out because I was planning to go to Cañete) where I´ll hopefully hook up with Lalo Izquierdo, visit his cultural association, and film him giving children a lesson in cajon.

The church is much grander than any of the houses in town.

Then, back to Lima.
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I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

(For more photos, go to the Facebook page of Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

My Peru diary - day 5 (filming)

Diary, day 5 (Dec. 9, 2014)

FILMING

Since I've arrived, I've recorded a very interesting interview with Luis Rocca, director and one of the founders of the Museo Afropeuano de Zaña (Afro-Peruvian Museum of Zaña) and filmed two interesting interviews plus some  really great cajón demonstrations with Lalo Izquierdo (a percussionist, dancer, choreographer and folklorist...as well as a great human being).  Tomorrow, I'm supposed to film an interview with the widow of a former Afro-Peruvian percussionist great, Ronaldo Campos.

Luis Rocca, with Luisa (Nachi) Bustamante (wife of Cotito) and their son, Carlos Medrano.

My camera person for the Lalo Izquierdo filming did not do as good a job as I'd hoped...not a disaster, but problematical enough so that I'll do the filming tomorrow all by myself...and interview the widow at the same time.  My fingers are crossed that it will turn out well!  

I have other camera people, and a sound person for the BIG SHOOT on Dec. 18, where we'll film three percussionists and a guitarist performing, and also film an interview with the percussionists.

Setting up for the interview with Lalo Izquierdo.

Locations are always a problem, and Lima is even noisier than Jerez de la Frontera.  Thank goodness for those little mics you clip to your lapel.  They make it possible to record a decent interview even in noisy circumstances.  Thank goodness for my precious Zoom H-2 mic and digital recorder.  Thank goodness for....

I also seem to have surmounted the various technical problems I encountered on first arriving, but don't want to overstate this.  There can always be new technical problems tomorrow.

Me with Lalo at the time of the interview.

And that's it, folks.  I'm attaching a few photos here for your pleasure and general edification.  As you see, the ocean is way, way down there.

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(For more photos, go to the Facebook pages of Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

My Peru diary, day 5

(diary entry, Dec. 9,  2014)

Ok, FOOD:

Ceviche.  I've eaten a lot of it here.  It's very good.  Whenever I see both fish and seafood ceviche offered, I ask someone else to choose for me and they always choose fish.  So next time you're in Lima, remember:  fish ceviche it is.

There are plenty of places to eat near where I'm staying.

Purée.  I've always thought of purée as something you can do to various foodstuffs, like puréed peas....but here, it's a dish.  Potatoes and corn puréed together.  There may also be some milk added;  I'm not sure.  It's pasty yellowish, but tastes pretty good.

Rice and seafood.  Very tasty.

Befstek (beefstead).  Overcooked, at least where I ordered it.  Avoid if possible.

Vegetables.  Kind of few and far between.

Camoche.  It's sweet potato and comes as a side with many things, including ceviche.  Good stuff.

Avocados.  Gigantic.  Tasty.  Usually stuffed, or chopped and put into other dishes.

A lovely park near where I'm staying:  Parque 7 de julio.

Papayas.  Even more gigantic.  Some have reddish flesh.  Very good, as is the other fruit here.

Italian food.  There's a nice little Italian restaurant near my place with nice little overpriced food.

Chocolate.  There's a museum of chocolate near my place.  (Yes, a museum of chocolate.)  You can watch them make chocolate.  You can read the seven or eight steps involved.  By the end of reading them, you will be totally confused.  You can purchase their hand-made, fair price, expensive but good chocolate.  I still prefer the Lindt chocolate I get in California.

There are 50-100 feral kitties in the Parque Kennedy, next to the Parque 7 de julio.  An organization provides them with food and tries to find homes for them

WATER

Everyone warned me about drinking the water.  Bottled water is the only way to go, they said, and don't even let anyone give you a drink with ice in it.

So on day 2, when I was given some fruit juice, after 3 swallows I thought to ask if it was pure juice or if it had been mixed with water.  I was told it had been mixed with water.  Uh, oh.  

BUT nothing happened.  No bad effects.

So 2 days later, I deliberately drank one and a half glasses of fruit juice mixed with water (chichi).  No bad effects.

A fine-looking church near where I'm staying.

Today, I ordered the freshly squeezed (I asked) lemonade.  I drank 3 and one half glasses.   That was at 4:30pm.  It is now nearly 11pm.  So far, no bad effects but  maybe in 5 minutes????  

(By the way, the lemons here are small and green, and look like limes, but they don't TASTE like limes.)

If nothing happens, in another couple of days I'll try drinking some tap water.

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(For more photos, go to the Palomino Productions' Facebook page.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

My Peru diary, day 3

(diary entry, Dec. 7, 2014)

Last night, I went to a performance at The Jazz Zone to see a group called Colectiva Palenque.  Most of the people in the group look to be in their 30s, and they perform Afro-Peruvian fusion.  It was a lot of fun.  I've forgotten all their names (the show was to start at 11pm but didn't really get underway until around midnight and I was kind of sleepy), but the group's leader and his cousin were fantastic dancers of zapateo (very elaborate and dramatic Afro-Peruvian footwork) and were also very good on the cajón and quijada de burro.  In addition, they were personable and charismatic.

The same was true of the other members of the group.   Those who really stood out from my point of view, other than the two mentioned above, were the vocalist and the guy who spent 15 minutes solo making strange noises into the microphone, delivered in ever-changing rhythms.  You had to have been there....

There was also a guy who did rap in Spanish (of course in Spanish) who was plenty good enough, the guitarists were fine, but again, the two who danced zapateo and played the cajón, etc., were the stars of the show.

The Jazz Zone is located in this alley in Miraflores, one of the nicest parts of Lima

There was song, there was poetry, there was LOTS of rhythm, there was even a dance of the Son de los Diablos.

By the end, many in the audience (yours truly included) were on their feet, dancing.  A good time was had by all.

In the meantime, I've made further, elaborate arrangements about filming and have been meeting with people I should meet with.  Tomorrow at mid-day, I'll interview Luis Rocca, the director of the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña (Zaña is a small city in the northern coastal region) and on Monday, will film an interview with Lalo Izquierdo plus one with the widow of a former Afro-Peruvian percussionist great, Ronaldo Campos.

Juan Medrano Cotito (right) with wife Nachi (Luisa) Bustamante.

Then, there's always the bus experience, the food (including some really great ceviche), and the problem cable (this has to do with Apple, Inc....which has now ditched its firewire cables and connections-bad, bad, bad Apple, Inc.).

Onwards, ever onwards.

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(For more photos, go to the Facebook page of Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

My Peru diary, day 2

(Diary entry, Dec. 6, 2014)

I arrived in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 4 on a trip to film and investigate themes related to Afro-Peruvian music and dance.  Some of what I film will serve to add to the documentary I've already produced, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.

Others will form the basis for a trailer to be used to solicit funding for a new project I have in mind.

Here are some of the photos I took in Lima, in my first 48 hours in the city.

Lima, with over 7 million inhabitants, is home to nearly one third of the entire population of Peru.  The city, or rather, the metropolitan area of Lima, grew to engulf many surrounding towns and cities which are now simply districts in the larger urban area.

The street in front of the building where I'm staying.

I have rented a room in an apartment in Miraflores, one of the nicer districts that borders the Pacific Ocean.

In my first 48 hours in Lima, I consulted with a sound tech and after discussing with him, chosen two locations where we'll shoot.  I then went to the local city hall (Municipalidad de Miraflores) to ask permission re one of the locations.  Then I rushed off to central Lima to meet with Lalo Izquierdo, one of the three people we'll be filming.  Meeting him involved a memorable trip on a local bus.

Proof that I was there:  me, with the building's guard dog.

I rushed back from the meeting with Lalo to meet with Nachi Bustamante, wife of Cotito;  Cotito is another one of the three principal people that we'll be filming.  I went out with her to have some lunch (at 6:30pm...hadn't had time before that).  After eating, she showed me around and she told me about a show I should go to featuring a group of younger people celebrating the Afro-Peruvian experience (Colectiva Palenque).  It was a lively and fun event.

After these several meetings, I developed a plan.  Life, of course, intervened when I learned, among other things, that one of the locations I had chosen (the one for which I requested permission from city hall) wouldn't work because it was under construction!

My room in Lima is about 4 blocks from the shore of the Pacific.

One way or another, clearly, my time in Peru will be filled.  In addition to several shootings and interviews in Lima, I will go to el Carmen, to San Luis de Cañete, to Zaña, possibly to Guayabo.  I'll be filming in almost all of these.

This means I won't be able to make it to Manchu Pichu.  There´s just not enough time.

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(For more photos, go to the Facebook pages for Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

Lalo Izquierdo in Peru: an interview & a cajón demonstration

Yesterday (Dec 8, 2014) we filmed an interview and cajón demonstration with Lalo Izquierdo in the patio of the apartment where I'm staying in Lima, Peru. "We" means me and a camera operator/all around assistant. He will remain nameless because the quality of his work was kind of mediocre.

On the whole, things went fine and I think I know how to fix a few of the little problems that cropped up with the image. But life is full of little bumps in the road, right?

Lalo Izquierdo (right) and me.  A bit of a contrast, right?

Our first bump came when Lalo couldn't find the apartment. Lima is a big city, and when I say I'm staying in Lima, I really mean I'm staying in greater Lima, in the Lima metropolitan area.

My particular section is called Miraflores, and the apartment is on a short street named la Libertad. I called Lalo on his cell phone 15 minutes after he was due, and found out he was wandering around, looking for the street. I passed the phone over to the camera operator who explained to Lalo how to get here. Twenty minutes later, I got a call from Lalo...he was still wandering around.  Lost.

The upper half of "my" short street, la Libertad.

In the end I had to send the camera operator out to find him and guide him over here.

Next problem: I was short one camera battery. (We were filming with three of my cameras, using two different formats). That was solved when we found an electrical outlet close enough for one of the cameras to use.

Starting to set up.

After overcoming several other little problems, we obtained a fairly decent image and good sound for two separate interviews (one for each format) and two separate cajón demonstrations, plus shots of Lalo and me walking down the street. 

What we missed, which is important, is a second interview to be conducted in Sucro with an elderly woman (wife of a deceased Afro-Peruvian percussionist great, Ronaldo Campos). With the problems of Lalo getting lost and the time it took to film everything in Miraflores, she had gone out.

Lalo on set with the cajón.

We'll catch her another day.

And the problems with the camera operator? He doesn't know how to zoom, and the only idea he has of filming an interview is to point the camera towards the people to be filmed and punch the "record" button.

SIGH!

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We are working on making a few revisions in our documentary film, A Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, and shooting a trailer for a new, more comprehensive work about Afro-Peruvian music and the Afro-Peruvian community.

P.S.  Thanks to María del Carment López Quispe for help with some of my makeup.

The "Toros de fuego" and "Torito Pinto" (part 1)

It’s a dark night, around 10pm.  The streets are full of people and everyone seems excited.  The crowd is mostly adults.  Some bars have set up tables outside, and many people are drinking – tinto de verano (red wine mixed with soda), beer, what have you.

There is a noise in the distance, and a faint glow.  Someone calls out, “it’s coming, it’s coming.”

Pretty soon, the noise becomes a surge of shouts, mingled with laughter and the sound of fireworks.

Then you see it:  a small, black bull shooting fireworks in all directions, running down the street then turning and heading towards the crowd, then running down the street again.  Most people clear the way in front of it, but a few hardy souls, mostly young men, stand their ground or run along with it, trying to get closer, trying to touch it without letting the fireworks touch them.

There are five bulls in this "Toros de fuego" in Arroyomolinos in Leon (in Spain).  It honors the Virgin de los Remedios.

This is a great example, accompanied by a musical track.

As the bull gets closer, you see it has only two legs, legs that look suspiciously like they belong to a human being.  And indeed, that is what it is:  the metal frame of a bull, with all kinds of fireworks attached to it, held up by a man running down the street.

This is the “toro de fuego,” the “fire-bull,” that you find in both Spain and Latin America to help celebrate certain saint’s days and other special occasions.

This one takes place in Igualala (Spain) in a central plaza, so brightly lit you hardly know it’s night.

Museo afropeurnao de Zaña, Peru

The final cultural organization I want to write about is the Museo afroperuano de Zaña.  Located in the city of Zaña, in the northern coastal region, it has been extremely active over the past several years in activities intended to preserve and publicize Afro-Peruvian culture, including the music and dance.

Founded in 2005, their first major effort was the reconstruction of one of the percussion instruments developed by Afro-Peruvians, a drum called the tambour de botija.  "Botija" means "treasure."  It´s a bit unclear to me if they mean these instruments are treasures, or if it refers to one specific kind of drum.

In any event, they made a video in which people, mostly youth, are playing various of the drums and other percussion instruments of the Afro-Peruvian community, plus there is some dance, including a long section of the Dance of the Devils (son de los diablos).  It´s pretty interesting.

More recently, the museum (which is also very much of a cultural organization) began promoting a come-back of the percussion instrument called the "checo," made out of a gourd which has the same name.  This included planting the vine on which the checo grows, turning the gourds into percussion instruments, giving classes in its use, making a video about it, and petitioning the Peruvian government to declare the checo a national, cultual treasure.

And even more recently, they have published a book about Afro-Peruvian musical instruments.  This organization is definitely doing a lot to maintain Afro-Peruvian culture, and rescue some elements that were about to disappear.

OUR NEXT POST will announce that for future information about Afro-Peruvian culture, and other aspects of cultural diversity on which we focus, you should go to the blog Palomino Productions.

Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Comboni de el Carmen, Peru

The Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Comboni de el Carmen, Peru (SEE ALSO this LINK) is located, not surprisingly, in the largely Afro-Peruvian town of El Carmen, in the southern coastal region of Peru.  Its focus is on maintaining the traditional Afro-Peruvian celebration of Christmas and the related celebration of the Virgin of Carmen, both of which include the groups of dancers referred to as the hatajos de negritos.

In addition, the center wants to promote pride of self in the Afro-Peruvian community, and support the educational and cultural needs of Afro-Peruvians.

The center offers music and dance classes.  Here, kids are learning some zapateo steps.  So this is how you do it!


And here´s a video of some more of their activities.  This was to celebrate Book Day, to promote reading, and includes children´s performing.  Cute.



The traditional Afro-Peruvian Christmas celebration, and the celebration of the presumed appearance of the Virgin of Carmen on Dec. 28, along with the participation in both of the celebrations of the hatajo de negritos, are among the most important expressions of Afro-Peruvian identity.  Firmly grounded in the Catholic religion, these celebrations are centuries old.

As our documentary film, A Zest for Life, explains, the hatajo de negritos were on the verge of disappearing.  A recently deceased master of the dances performed by the hatajos, Amador Ballumbrosio, deserves credit for being a major force in assuring their continued preservation.  His family, along with Margarita Cordoba and others such as Edith Maldonado and Carlos O. López Schmidt, have undertaken to continue his work in the present day.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña

National Afro-Peruvian Museum in Lima, Peru

After decades and decades of neglect, the government of Peru finally decided to recognize and salute the African descendants that form perhaps as high as 10 percent of its population.  An important element in this recognition was the creation of the Museo Nacional Afroperuanos (National Museum of the Afro-Peruvian Peoples) in the capitol city of Lima.

The museum was given a fine building -- a beautiful late 18th century edifice -- as well as a budget and a director.  Under the director, the museum built up a collection of artifacts and documents related to the history of Afro-Peruvians including the two and a half centuries in which they were enslaved in Peru.

The museum also engaged in a great deal of outreach, including classes in dance, cajón, history and culture.  These classes, some directed towards adults and some intended for children, were for the most part free.  They boasted good instructors, including Lalo Izquierdo, the star of our documentary A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, who taught many of the cajón classes.

Then, a few months ago, something happened.  I am not very conversant with Peruvian politics, so I can´t really tell you what, but I can tell you the effects.

The museum´s director, Dr. Augusto Lavala, was terminated.  No new director was hired.  The budget was either cut drastically or completely eliminated.  All the classes had to be cancelled.  And then, the government turned the administration of the museum´s building over to a government organ unrelated to Afro-Peruvian culture (the Oficina de Participación, Proyección y Enlace con el Ciudadano).

I am very, very sad to see this happen.  In any event, if you want to see the museum´s still extant web site, which gives a virtual tour of the building it no longer occupies, go HERE.  If you want to see photos from the former classes, and other evidence of what the museum used to do, go to its Facebook page, which is HERE.

One happy note:  Lalo Izquierdo and others are continuing to give classes in cajón, Afro-Peruvian dance, and more in the town of San Luis de Cañete, to help maintain the tradition.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel de Carboni of the predominantly Afro-Peruvian town of el Carmen, Peru.

AND AS USUAL, if you want to sign up for our newsletter, go HERE.

More about "A Zest for Life," documentary about Afro-Peruvians

I've been thinking a lot recently about what I would say if someone asked me, "Why in the world would I be interested in watching a video about Afro-Peruvians?"

Well, because they are resourceful, resilient, and have a great sense of humor.  These are skills all of us could use.

Plus the music and dance are really cool:  great rhythms, music and dances that you've almost surely never seen before, and unique percussion instruments.  Then, there's the connection with the larger African diaspora, the parallels with African Americans, and the fact that this is a cross-over, a bridge if you will, between the Latino and the African American communities.

Some of those percussion instruments (and Lalo Izquierdo).

In other words, why WOULDN'T you be interested in watching a video about Afro-Peruvians.

To the best of my knowledge, my documentary film is the ONLY video about Afro-Peruvians to be found for an English-speaking public.  There are some good ones in Spanish, but they are not accessible to people who don't speak that language, which is one of the reasons I made mine.

So I hope you will forgive me for running on a bit about my documentary, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.  

On the DVD for Home Use, which is already available, we have the A Zest for Life documentary itself, plus a slide show.

For the Educational version (which will be out in late November or early December), we've added five Extras.  Three of these are interviews with Lalo Izquierdo, and he´s talking about Afro-Peruvian history.,  Lalo is a very charismatic man, and these interviews are great stuff!  Here is one of them.



One of the other two Extras is about the hatajo de negritos in el Carmen, Peru and the other, about Afro-Peruvian percussion instruments, especially the checo and the angara.  Here´s the one about the hatajo de negritos.


Due to time limitations on documentaries produced for television airing, in A Zest for Life I was only able to briefly mention the son de los diablos.  But just as the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Carboni de el Carmen, Peru is doing wonderful work in keeping alive the tradition of the hatajos de negritos (SEE HERE), the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña is helping keep alive the son de los diablos, as THIS VIDEO makes clear.

And that´s it, about A Zest for Life.

OUR NEXT POST will be about Peru´s national museum dedicated to Afro-Peruvian history and culture.

A Zest for Life: documentary about Afro-Peruvians

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.

The checo and the angara: preserving traditional musical instruments

The checo and the angara are two percussion instruments made out of gourds that come out of the Afro-Peruvian tradition.  Both are big;  that is to say, the checo is very big.  The angara is huge.

The angara, both the vine which bears the gourd and the use of that gourd as a percussion instrument, seems to have disappeared.  Indeed, it is so little known today that National Geographic´s article on Afro-Peruvian music confuses it with the checo.  You can, however, still see it being played in a YouTube video taken from a Peruvian television show filmed in the 1970s.

 

This great video (above), with host Dr. José Durand and percussionists Abelardo Vasquez and Arturo Zambo Cavero, is the only one in which I´ve been able to find anyone playing the angara.

The checo, on the other hand, is staging something of a comeback, due largely to the efforts of the Museo afroperuano de Zaña, whose directors searched for its seeds, planted a field with those seeds, harvested and prepared the gourds, and started classes for local youth.  The organization also persuaded the Peruvian government to declare the checo to be a national cultural treasure.

This is lovely, and delightful.

But why should we bother to preserve traditional percussion instruments...or any traditional musical instrument, for that matter?

First, other than the checo and the angara, what are some of these instruments?  Well, think of all the different kinds of flutes made out of bamboo, or cane, or ceramics.  Think of drums made out of hollowed out logs, or giant jars, with their heads covered with animal skins (a specific animal favored for each specific drum).  Think of zithers made out of bamboo or sticks of wood.  Think of conch shells used in the islands of the Pacific as a musical instrument, and the shekere made of ceramic and shells used in West Africa.  Think of chimes, again made out of wood or bamboo.  Think of rattles made out of deer hooves and bells made out of ceramics or iron.  Think of musical instruments made out of animal bones.  Think of the viola de gamba, the tambourine, the bagpipe.


 

Above is some very good checo playing, although not typical--he isn´t singing in Spanish, and in addition, the sound hole is at the top instead of on the side, as is more usual.

For a larger list, which is very interesting but unfortunately restricts itself mostly to traditional instruments from Europe, see this LINK.

There are hundreds of traditional musical instruments in the world, and they bring an astounding richness to our collective musical heritage, in addition to their contributions to the culture of the specific community which developed them.

And why preserve them?  Well, if reading the list above doesn´t convince you that they are in fact essential to music including modern music, I´ll add a few more reasons:

Many of these instruments have beautiful and/or interesting sounds that you cannot produce by any other means.  No, a synthesizer won´t do it.  Doesn´t have the flexibility, the depth of sound, or the sweetness you find in some of these instruments.


More Afro-Peruvian musical instruments...all except the kalimba, which comes from West Africa (Ghana and nearby countries).


Many of these instruments are so deeply linked to the history and heritage of the community which produced them that to lose them is to damage that heritage.

And for a last reason, keeping these instruments alive helps preserve us from sameness, from monotony, from homogenized music in which one composition sounds depressingly like all the others.

Just to let you know that we have put our money where our mouth is:  in the home use version our documentary, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, we have a section in which master percussionists are playing the checo.  In addition, in the educational version of the documentary, not only do we have that checo segment but as one of the Extras we have the videoclip you see near the top of this post of someone playing the angara.

So there.

OUR NEXT POST will be news about our documentary, A Zest for Life.

Dance of the Devils (Son de los Diablos) part 2 of 2

If you´re like me, you´re interested in where things come from.  Well, one of the people most knowledgeable about the Afro-Peruvian tradition is Nicomedes Santa Cruz, and he says the Son de los Diablos really didn´t come out of African tradition as most people assume, and instead, it´s very much a transplanted Spanish celebration.  Of course, African descendants have given it their own particular stamp, but, says Santa Cruz, its origins are in fact European.

Since the Son de los Diablos was originally part of the Corpus Cristi celebration, I checked out Corpus Cristi celebrations in Spain, and found that there are several in which there are special dances performed as part of the celebration.   Since the Son de los Diablos is a dance, and is supposed to have in part been something the Spanish Catholic slave owners used in order to convert Africans to Catholicism, I figured I should find out more about these dances to see if they resembled the Son de los Diablos.

 
This verison of the son de los diablos is by Perú Multicolor.  I like the dance, but the sound is not so good.  There´s some good zapateo about halfway through the video.

One of the most interesting celebrations in Spain for Corpus Cristi reminds me a good deal of the Son de los Diablos.  It takes place in a small town in central Spain called Camuñas (population 1,772).  In addition to a more standard religious procession, it includes two groups that parade and dance, one representing sin and sinful activities while the other represents virtue, and the virtuous.  It´s called the Pecados y Danzantes (Sins and Dancers).

Both groups, the one for the sins and the one for the virtues, dance wearing masks.  The costumes resemble somewhat the costumes worn by the dancers in the Son de los Diablos, but I think it´s mostly the masks and the parading of evil and evil beings that provide the link to the Afro-Peruvian celebration.  In addition, the sinful figures include the Demon/Devil (ah, ha!), the World, and the Flesh.

Image of the (sinful) World in Camuñas´ Corpus Cristi celebration.

 Best guesses are that the tradition of these dancing groups in Camuñas began in the 17th and 18th centuries.  The Son de los Diablos began no later than the 19th century, and probably started 100 or more years earlier, so it would have been very possible for the Camuñas celebration to have been brought over to Peru.

There are other places in Spain, larger places such as Toledo where the procession for Corpus Cristi includes figures of giants and, until recently, a monster called la Tarasca.  (The monster is in bad repair now, and so has not been taken out for the past several years.)  Again, the tradition in Toledo dates back several centuries. 

La Tarasca is also part of the Corpus Cristi celebration in Valencia (in southern Spain).  She´s part of a tradition that entered Spain from southern France.

It is said that la Tarasca was used by a saint to convert the local inhabitants (in Spain) to Christianity in the 17th century.  It´s not clear what religion they followed prior to their conversion.  This reminds me of how the Son de los Diablos was used in Peru.

One image of la Tarasca -- said to be part lion, part dragon, part turtle, part..... and very fierce.

In other words, although it´s certainly possible that the Son de los Diablos came from West African traditions of masquerade dancing, there is also plenty in the Spanish tradition that could have produced it.

I leave it to you to make a decision.

Want a free download of some Afro-Peruvian music?  Go to LINK.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the checo and the angara:  preserving traditional musical instruments.

Dance of the Devils (Son de los Diablos) part 1 of 2

As with most things in life, the more you dig down into the Son de los Diablos, the more complex you find it to be.  The more complex and also, the more interesting.

First, let's start by explaining that the Son de los Diablos is a dance and a procession or parade in which the diablos--the devils--dance down the streets (or these days, dance across the stage), accompanied by drum beats from the cajón and/or a cajita, a quijada de burro and a conga drum.  In addition, in the old days, there was also a form of harp but now a guitar is usually used instead.

The devils wear masks and also wear very colorful costumes, usually with a lot of frills and a lot of red.  There is a head devil, who is larger than the others, and then there are the littler diabolitos (little devils).

19th century watercolor by Pancho Fierro

In the watercolor, we see two devils, one with his mask lifted up.  We also see someone playing a harp and another person playing the cajita.  And one of the devils has a long whip.

You see it now as a stage production, or in festivals in certain regions of Latin America.  Traditionally, it was something that you only saw during processions down the streets in honor of a Catholic festival, the Corpus Cristi festival, which takes place in the spring (40 days after the Thursday of Semana Santa/Holy Week, which comes right before Easter).

Traditionally as well, the head devil carried a whip, and a huge book in which, it was said, he wrote down the names of all the people he was going to drag down to hell.

Most sources refer to it as something exclusively Afro-Peruvian but I have found in my investigations that it is also performed, and has been performed for generations, in certain African descendant communities in Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and Mexico.

Here's one version of the dance, by a group called Yuyachkani.

But it does seem to have been particularly important in Peru, and so its association with Afro-Peruvians is logical.

And its origins?  Well, it developed out of the Corpus Cristi celebrations in southern Spain, mixed with the African traditions (especially Congolese traditions) of the people kidnapped and brought over to Latin America as slaves.

It began in the New World about 200 years ago.  As time passed, and particularly after the abolition of slavery in the mid-1900s, in most areas it was all but abandoned but in recent decades, relying on the memories of community elders, it is once again a living celebration.

The group Baila América performs the son de los diablos.

In the photo above, the head devil has a quijada de burro, while the two smaller devils are playing the cajita.

 Now, however, it is not confined to the Catholic celebration of Corpus Cristi.  As suggested above, you also see it in other celebrations including ones that have nothing to do with religion.  And today it is also performed as a stage show by many cultural organizations.

OUR NEXT POST will give more details about the Son de los Diablos.

Hatajo de Negritos in Peru

The hatajo de negritos are part of the Catholic Christian tradition as celebrated in the Afro-Peruvian community since the mid-17^th century.  The hatajos are groups of dancers to be found primarily in the coastal provinces of Chincha and Pisco, most famously in the towns of El Carmen, Chamorro, Caserio Guayabo and San José..  The celebrations in which they dance are those for Christmas and the subsequent celebration honoring the day in which the Virgin Mary in her form as the Virgin of Carmen is said to have appeared in this region.  These festivities begin on Dec. 24 and continue until mid-day on Dec. 28. 

 
Here, we see a part of the celebration performed by the family of Amado Ballumbrosio.

For several months preceding these celebrations, starting in October, images of the Virgin and of Baby Jesus are taken in procession from one town to another, as the Virgin and the Christ child of each community “visits” the others.  One purpose of these visits is to solicit funds to finance the subsequent celebrations.  Since the image of the Virgin carried from town to town is very small, these visits are sometimes referred to as the peoncita (little work).

At the same time, residents of the communities (in the past, mostly men and boys but now, girls are also included) practice and learn the elaborate, special dances and songs including elaborate footwork called zapateo, the performance of which is an important part of the repertoire of the hatajos.

The festivities begin around 10pm on the night of Dec. 24 with a Catholic mass in which there is a symbolic simulation of Christ´s birth.  Immediately following this mass, the hatajos dance briefly in front of the church.  Then, everyone hurries home to be with their family at the hour of midnight, the traditional hour at which Jesus is said to be born.   

This video of the Hatajo de Negritos of el Carmen was made by a Peruvian television station.  Non-Spanish speakers:  the part where you actually see the celebrations starts about 30 seconds into the video.  Hispano-hablantes--lo que dice el sacerdote de los origines de la celebración es solamente una interpretación.  Hay otras que dicen que es una mezcla de tradiciones llevado desde la África, y ritos enseñado por los amas españoles de esclavos que quierían catequisar a los negros.

It is worth pointing out that each hatajo has an image (or in some cases, two) of baby Jesus, which they carry with them as their performances are in honor of his birth.

On Dec. 25 (Christmas day), the groups of dancers are invited to visit private homes in the neighboring towns.  These homes will have set up an image of baby Jesus as part of their Christmas celebration.  The hosts welcome the hatajos and the family and friends who accompany them with open arms and offer them food, drink, and other refreshments.  The hatajos perform as a group, following which individual members often demonstrate their skill at zapateo, all done in front of the image of the Christ child as a way of honoring Him.   

As we see here, Peruvian zapateo (or more properly, Afro-Peruvian zapateo) has also moved to the stage but in the Hatajo de Negritos, it is only used as a means of praising the Christ Child.

In the evening of the following day, Dec. 26, the celebration of the Virgin of Carmen begins with a mass, followed by a cultural performance.  This celebration takes place exclusively in the town of El Carmen, where She is said to have appeared.  Beginning at 7pm the next day, Dec. 27, the Virgin is paraded through the streets.  The procession continues through the night until ending at 11am the following morning.  The hatajos de negritos accompany this procession and form an important part of it.

The procession stops briefly in front of the homes of those who want to venerate her.  Most often, these are the homes of people who provide special help in maintaining the hatajos, such the family of Amador Ballumbrosio and of Margarita Córdova.  The families so honored will offer flowers to the image of the Virgin, and refreshments to those who form part of the procession (especially to those who are carrying the image).

The celebrations end when the procession returns to the church were the image is housed.  The hatajos disband until the following year, and the town returns to its more normal life.

 NOTE:  I am grateful to Edith Maldonado Carillo of the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel de Carboni de El Carmen, Peru and to Carlos O. López-Schmidt of los Cimarrones del Perú for the information they provided me.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about the Son de los Diablos and an event in Zaña, Peru.