“I bought this in a record shop in Lima which I’ve now forgotten the name of, but I hunted it out especially as I always like to buy music from countries that I visit, in particular non-European ones. My trip to Peru was 7 years ago now but the music on this compilation sounds fresher than ever. . At two CDs and 42 tracks it provides a wonderful overview of the range of Afro-Peruvian music, which was little known in ‘the west’ until the 1970s, and arguably only popularised outside its native regions of Peru through the supportive work of David Byrne and his Luaka Bop label which released the compilation Peru-Negro in 2000. It has of course, been around a lot longer than that. . The African population of Peru have been there since the 1520s when the Spanish Conquistadors first brought black African slaves to South America as part of their colonial takeover. These people were put to work in the mines and on construction projects and as family servants. Over the centuries nearly 100,000 slaves were brought to Peru, with the last group arriving in 1850. Slavery was finally abolished in 1854, and the population received a public apology from the government in 2009. . And the music? It’s percussion heavy with the hip-swaying rhythms one would associate with Latin American music, often featuring the ‘stamp dancing’ style of Zapateo. There’s often a flamenco influence in the guitar playing, and the singing (to me) often feels infused with the Blues. It reminded me of Portuguese Fado and the state of saudade, a profound melancholia of intense longing or nostalgia. For the freedom their forebears never had, presumably...” . FOR FULL REVIEW & PLAYLIST CLICK LINK IN PROFILE: . #afroperuano #afroperuvian #perunegro #perumusic #susanabaca @luakabop #compilation #latinamericanmusic #recordcollection #nowplaying #nowlistening #randomrecordreview https://www.instagram.com/p/B55YbVlJ3rv/?igshid=16lfw5ppppmqm