PERU MARAVILLOSO: VINTAGE LATIN, TROPICAL AND CUMBIA.
PERU MARAVILLOSO: VINTAGE LATIN, TROPICAL AND CUMBIA.
As the sixties unfolded, British and American music was on the cusp of a revolution. This began in 1962, when The Beatles released Love Me Do. Soon, the sixties were swinging. Over the Atlantic in America, the British Invasion proved a game-changer. For the first time, British music was influencing American music. Then as the second half of the sixties took shape, another revolution took place, a psychedelic revolution.
No longer was music gradually evolving, like it previously had. Far from it. Instead, it was revolution not evolution. It wasn’t just in Britain and America that this psychedelic revolution took place. No, it was throughout the world. This includes Peru, which was in the midst of political turmoil.
Whilst psychedelia and rock music was influencing Peruvian music, Cuban communists inspired their Peruvian comrades. They used guerrilla tactics to try and win political power. With two revolutions taking place simultaneously, both Peruvian politics and music would change throughout the sixties and seventies. The changes in Peruvian music during the sixties and seventies are documented on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia, which was recently released by Tiger’s Milk Records, an imprint of Strut Records.
Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia features fifteen tracks that are a taster of Peruvian music during the sixties and seventies. Some of the tracks are a reflection of the political turmoil the country underwent. This is no different to what happened in the sixties in America. Back then, groups like Country Joe and The Fish became the voice of a generation. However, there’s more to the music on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia than politics. Much more.
It’s not exaggeration to describe Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia as a truly eclectic compilation. No wonder. Peru had a rich and vibrant music scene during these two decades and this is just a taster of the music being released. This is a reflection of the sheer vibrancy and eclectic nature of Peruvian music.
During the sixties and seventies, Peruvian music was influenced by everything a whole host of influences. This includes the music coming out of America and Britain. Two obvious influences during the sixties were The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. Throughout the fifteen songs on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia, musical genres seamlessly melt into one. Everything from Cumbia, folk jazz, Latin, psychedelia and rock. Add to these influences African, Andean, Cuban and Spanish music. These songs were released on labels like Dinsa, Iempsa, FTA, Sono Radio, and Infopesa. This was very different to the music Peru was known for. As Bob Dylan sang, “The Times They Are A Changin.” They certainly were. Proof of this is Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia, which I’ll pick the highlights of.
I’ve often said that the opening track is the most important on any album. It’s got to grab your attention and hold it. The compilers have chosen well here. Opening Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia is Lucho Neves Y Su Orquesta’s Mambo De Machaguay. It’s a huayno track from the 1964 album Lima De Noche. It was released on Sono Radio label. Although it’s an oft-covered and familiar track, this piano jazz version injects new life and meaning. With stabs of blazing horns for company, this finger clicking, hip swaying slinky slice of piano jazz is the perfect way to open the compilation.
Chango Y Su Conjunto’s Salsa 73 was released as a single on Rey Records in 1973. It’s a real fusion of influences and genres. Salsa and Cumbia are thrown into the melting pot and given a stir. Back then, exiles living in New York were combining musical genres and drawing inspiration from various sources. As a result, Afro Cuban rhythms and fused with what became known as the “New York sound”. Bursting into life, a myriad of percussion and vocals combine. Stabs of horns punctuate the arrangement before later, the song literally explodes. Blazing, braying horns ensure the song reaches a dramatic crescendo.
From the opening bars of Los Zheros’ Para Chachita you’re hooked. It’s impossible not to be swept away by this songs considerable charms. Para Chachita was a track from their only album Cuarta Oscura. Released on the Dinsa label in 1971, it was penned by Choco Alvan. The quartet combine Peruvian and Western music. At breakneck speed, a glorious fusion of Latin rhythms, percussion and scorching, searing electric guitars melt into one. Elements of rock, surf and Latin music combine to create a hidden gem that’s one of the highlights of Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia.
It’s not difficult to date Paco Zambrano Y Su Combo’s Meshkalina. No. It sounds as if it was released in 1968. That’s when this trippy, lysergic, psychedelic sounding single was released. This single was a reflection in musical revolution that was unfolding. Veering between shuffling, to stomping and dubby, the addition of bursts of growling horns in the finishing touch to this hidden psychedelic gem.
Under his Zulu alias, bassist Miguel Angel Ruiz Orbegozo a trio of albums for the Iempsa label. After his third album, Zulu’s music was finding an audience in America and much of Latin America. Despite being on the verge of huge commercial success, Zulu decided to retire from music and became a preacher. Sueño De Amor is a track from his 1974 eponymous album. Sueño De Amor, which translates as Dreams of Love, was written by Bill Morgan. Wistful, melancholy and thoughtful sounding, it’s a delicious reminder of one of the forgotten men of Peruvian music.
Covers of Beatles’ songs are two-a-penny and vary in quality. Los Ecos’ breath new life and meaning into Lennon and McCartney’s I Feel Fine. Me Siento Felíz is a track from Los Ecos’ 1975 album Perigrosal, which was released on FTA . It’s best described as a joyous take on a familiar song that results in a slice of aural sunshine.
El Zambito Rumbero is a track from a man whose credited with playing a leading role in Peru’s musical revolution. Manzanita fused musical genres. He combined various genres of Brazilian music with Western music. If you want to know what a fusion of cumbia, huayno, guaracha, rock and post-rock sounds like, then Manzanita Y Su Conjunto’s El Zambito Rumbero is the answer. Released as a single in 1971, there’s even elements of psychedelia and stabs of prog rock keyboards thrown in for good measure. The only way to describe this track is genre-melting.
Aniceto Y Sus Fabulosos’ Los Fabulosos En Onda which was released as a single in 1971, closes Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia. It sees the music of two decades unite. Elements of sixties sunshine pop, psychedelia and rock combine with a shuffling Latin beat. What makes the track are some of the best guitar licks on the compilation. Sparse and spare, there’s neither frills nor showboating. Instead, the crystalline guitar licks wouldn’t sound out of place on a Santana album. That’s how good they are. This seems a fitting way to close Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia.
The eight tracks I’ve chosen from Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia are just some of the highlights on this compilation. There’s much more for to Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia than eight tracks. I could just as easily have chosen tracks from Pedro Miguel Y Sus Maracaibos, Gato Blanco, Los Orientales or Félix Martinez Y Sus Chavales. That’s how good the music on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia. Indeed, the standard of music never drops. That’s no bad thing, given it’s the first release from Tiger’s Milk, an imprint of Strut Music. They’re starting as they mean to go on. Let’s hope that the next instalment in this series matches the quality of music on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia, which is essential listening for anyone interested in Peruvian or Latin music.
For newcomers to Peruvian music, then Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia is a good introduction. It might be your first compilation of Peruvian music, but it won’t be your last. No way. This is just a tantalising taster of Peru’s rich and vibrant music scene during the sixties and seventies. It’s also a reflection of the eclectic nature of Peruvian music. There’s elements of jazz, sunshine pop, psychedelia, folk and rock. Add to that cumbia, huayno, guaracha, African, Andean, Cuban, Latin and Spanish music. Musical genres seamlessly melt into one on this musical tapestry which is a taster of what lies in Peruvian record companies back-catalogues.
Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia features music from labels big and small. Among them, are labels like Dinsa, Iempsa, FTA, Sono Radio and Infopesa. Many of these labels will be new to most people, but not any more. I’m sure when you head out on crate-digging expeditions, you’ll be looking for albums and singles from these labels. After all, who knows what delights are lying undiscovered? Going by the music on Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropical and Cumbia, Peruvian music is a treasure trove awaiting discovery. Standout Tracks: Lucho Neves Y Su Orquesta Mambo De Machaguay, Los Zheros Para Chachita, Zulu Sueño De Amo and Aniceto Y Sus Fabulosos Los Fabulosos En Onda.
PERU MARAVILLOSO: VINTAGE LATIN, TROPICAL AND CUMBIA.
dereksmusicblog
dereksmusicblog 
Great. I love Cumbia music. My first touch to it was in the 70s in Lima. I visited there many times buying Long Playing records. Cumbias in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia differ from each other’s very much. My favorite in Chile is La Sonora de Tommy Rey.