It's an image you don't normally associate with a recording session: a troupe of dancers swirling and twisting and jumping as they face the musicians at the mikes who are laying down the tracks.

But that's what happens when members of Peru Negro capture their Afro-Peruvian sound on CD, as they did with "Jolgorio" (Times Square Records), the new disc into which they'll dip for their Boston debut Sunday night at Berklee Performance Center.

If you think Peruvian music is only about colorful ponchos, airy melodies and the Andes, think again.

"Not all music from Peru is pan-pipe music," said Juan Morillo, who manages Peru Negro and produced its recent album. "There are black people in Peru and they play something with a very different history."

On the musical plane, that history manifests itself in a blur of interaction between dancers and musicians. The 20 members of Peru Negro are keeping alive a cultural tradition of mutual inspiration that goes back nearly 300 years.

That's when Peru's slaves, brought to the South American country from Africa, were banned from using drums. They found a boxlike wooden substitute known as the cajonthat became the foundation of the rhythmic synthesis that evolved - a melting pot of Latin, Indian, African and European musics.

It wasn't until the '50s, however, that the heavy African influence of Peru's music took hold in a bigger way for later generations. Peru Negro, founded in 1969, became its most influential proponent.

"What is absolutely clear is the richness of the rhythms," said Morillo. "They still use the cajons and have incorporated Cuban drums and now djembe (drums) from Africa. It's very different than any other kind of Latin music."

The Lima-based troupe mixes folkloric styles that represent many moods, from the celebratory festejo to the slower, melancholic lando, with the dancers prodding the musicians onstage just as they do in the studio or on the street.

"It has become an integral part of cultural life in Peru," said Morillo, expressing confidence that the live performance will underscore his point.

Peru Negro performs Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Berklee Performance Center. Tickets $25-40. Call 617-876-4275 orgo to www.worldmusic.org.