April 19, 2011: Tour Carolina.
Friends and Fans:
Registration is now open for TOUR CAROLINA... a little iddy-biddy project and weekend fun!
Register here!
Love,
Gabriel.
November 08, 2010: On Tour Perú.
We are nearing our registration deadline for Tour Perú (Nov 15th). This is our fourth time on the road with our fans. On January 7th we will all convene in Lima once again. Last year, our tour roadie Christian Braun said "I can always tell who the Tour Perú participants are when I walk into the hotel lobby, even before they are introduced to me." I agree with Christian that Tour Perú participants are very noticeable, but who ARE these people? Here are some characteristics:
Tour Perú participants are die-hard fans of the band. They may have seen us play once or, in some cases, dozens of times. This means they are interested in the music in a very deep and meaningful way. They want to explore the roots of what we do.
Tour Perú participants are educated. Last tour alone we had 5 folks with doctorate degrees on board! They are experts in their fields and very interesting to listen to. Tour participants in the past have given geology, tai-chi and photography lessons while on the road with us.
Tour Perú participants are very independent. Everyone gets along, and "does their own thing" while on the road with the band. Sometimes we are all hanging out, sometimes we are not. The magical thing is… there is never any drama or worry. It is a wonderful aspect of the Tour Perú experience.
In a nutshell, Tour Perú feels like every day is everybody’s birthday!
October 01, 2010: On the creation and existence of Tutuma Social Club.
For those of us who are artists, legend has it that somewhere along our quirky career paths an other-wordly, career-changing or magical event is supposed to happen. Record deals (in the old days) or “discovery” by agents, producers or people with money used to be the way musicians caught their “break”. The story of the Afro-Peruvian Sextet so far is quite different than all of that.
Our band started to play together in January of 2005. We self-booked small tours of the United States and some work in Perú to get started. In 2008 after releasing our first CD, we hit upon the idea of creating a tour where our fans could come with us and participate in every aspect of touring. We launched the project and before we knew it we were touring Perú accompanied by our happy, smiling fans. We played street shows, house concerts, clubs and theaters. There was great energy and much love everywhere
Then, in May of 2009 Santina Bari Matwey, one of our most fervent fans and participants of Tour Perú, opened Tutuma Social Club in New York City. She says she became inspired while on the road with the band and wanted to have a little bit of Perú in New York City. Since that time, we have played 192 nights (that’s 576 distinct sets of music) in 16 months at Tutuma! Energy crystals from the mountains of Perú still hang over the stage and entrance to the club. Santina (aka “la jefa”) put them there after her travels to Perú.
We feel lucky to be in this whirlwind of activity. The American spirit of entrepreneurship is an example to all of us who aren’t from here. Thank you for the opportunity Tutuma Social Club. Thank you Jefa for all of your love and support. We will continue to play our hearts out for our beloved New York City fans. Thank you all!
August 31, 2010: There is no such thing as “Latin jazz”.
Nobody really uses the terms “Anglo Jazz” or “African-American jazz.” Why the term “latin jazz”? I’ve often wondered why every type of instrumental music produced by Spanish speakers needs to be lumped together. The term “Latin”, as applied to jazz music, is confusing. Styles and grooves from the Caribbean, Central and South America, which are typically grouped together under the term “latin jazz” are in fact all significantly different from one another.
Recently, one of our live performances was favorably reviewed by one of the most respected American main-stream circulation papers in the world. Here is how the reviewer described what he heard: “The group plays boleros, fast dances, sambas, and ballads in a highly sympatico blend of North American improv and South American beats.” As our dear fans well know, The Afro-Peruvian Sextet has never played or even attempted to play boleros (Cuban music) or sambas (Brazilian music). Our music sounds nothing like either of these and we’ve never performed these styles.
This misunderstanding got me thinking. Would a performance by an “American” jazz artist be described like this: “The show featured a collection of Anglo and African-American music including square dancing, fast country and Bluegrass” ? Probably not. The reason is simple: jazz artists don’t perform any of these styles or grooves and the terms “Anglo” or “African-American” are irrelevant.
Popular music is defined first and foremost by its sound or groove. Saying “samba”, “tango”, “cumbia”, “festejo”, “landó” and so on are all accurate ways to describe Latin American music. Using these terms correctly to identify different types of Latin American jazz music is just as important as making the important distinctions between “swing”, “ballad”, “funk” or “rock” when describing American jazz music. I humbly suggest we should not settle for anything less and protest profusely when the term “latin jazz” rears its ugly head.
August 6, 2010: On the sound of the Afro-Peruvian Sextet.
I was still a teenager when artists before us started to experiment with the fusion of Afro-Peruvian rhythms and jazz. I remember saving up to buy a ticket to watch the great Eva Ayllón front Los Hijos del Sol in Lima. Maybe that was what gave me the “bichito” for this music. Fast forward to the present.
The Afro-Peruvian Sextet has become a tight-knit family. Although I’ve beentold this is not common in modern jazz, it is the only way we know how to make music. Together we’ve “discovered” that Afro-Peruvian musical traditions share a mysterious bond with certain types of jazz music. The band’s time together has yielded a specific sound that is becoming known as Afro-Peruvian jazz music. It is not a variant or event remotely similar to Cuban or Brazilian jazz. It is a magical sound of its own.
The Afro-Peruvian Sextet focuses on transmitting the joy and spirit of our cultural heritage. This journey may be leading to a time that will be remembered as Afro-Peruvian jazz music’s proverbial “arrival on the jazz scene”. Regardless of where we end up, together with our fans, we are having a lifetime of fun getting there.