Susana Baca
Africa in Peru
by Dan Rosenberg

The slave trade touched nearly every corner of the Americas, from the United States, throughout the Caribbean, and to South America. This horrific legacy reached the Pacific coast as well and lasted in Peru until 1845. Today, descendants of these African slaves live in villages and cities along Peru's Pacific coast while their music, rhythms, and dances all trace their roots back to West Africa.

It was in one of these villages, El Carmen, that the group Peru Negro was formed on February 26, 1969, by Ronaldo Campos de la Colina. El Carmen is a village approximately two hours south of Lima. While Peruvians have known for decades about Peru Negro's music, many in North America and Europe first heard it only five years ago when David Byrne and Yale Evelev of Luaka Bop released the landmark compilation The Soul of Black Peru. The album featured many of Peru's legends, including Susana Baca, Lucila Campos, and, of course, Peru Negro.

Campos' mission was to both preserve and develop Afro-Peruvian music and dance. Three decades later, the group is recognized around the world as one of the leading exponents of Afro-Peruvian culture. It is no longer based in El Carmen, having moved to the megalopolis of Lima, the new center for Afro-Peruvian music. In this city of contrasts, amid the trendy neighborhood of Barranco, is the upscale nightclub Manos Morenos. On most weekends, this is where you can find the legendary Peru Negro.

Just down the street from Manos Morenos is El Centro Experimental de Musica Negrocontinuo (The Institute of the Black Continuum), a cultural center dedicated to the study of Afro-Peruvian music and dance directed by the woman who has led the fight to resurrect this folklore, Susana Baca. Like Peru Negro, she has dedicated her life to this revival, combining teaching, tireless research, and an international touring schedule that has ensured that folk forms such as the lando, festejo, and the alcatraz (one of the most flirtatious and erotic dances in the world) aren't just old musical forms studied in universities.

"When I was young, I found myself singing old folk songs like 'Toro Mata,' and was curious where they came from. I then started asking my mother about the origins of both the music and the instruments, including the 'cajón.' It led to a magnificent mother-daughter dialogue and spawned my passion to research Afro-Peruvian music." The young Baca soon headed off in search of old musicians and researchers eager to learn about this history. "There was nothing ever written about our music or our history," explained Baca. "So I went out in search of oral history."

This is an excerpt from issue #92.