October 8, 2004

by David Cazares

 

Eva Ayllón, the Peruvian singer who for three decades has captivated audiences with música criolla (a blend of Spanish, indigenous and Latin American genres), is scheduled to perform with her band Thursday at the Broward Center.

In Ayllón, concert goers will hear a diva whose music encompasses the varied genres of her homeland, particularly those of the coastal plains and Lima. They include the soulful landó, the rhythmic festejo and the vals, a style of poetic torch song that emerged from a blend of Viennese waltz and Spanish guitar.

It is a repertoire that the singer first learned as teenager in her native Lima in the 1970s. Since then she has so mastered Peru's folkloric and modern sounds that she regularly sings to audiences of 30,000 or more.

Like her better known countrywoman, Susana Baca, Ayllón was first introduced to many North American audiences by David Bryne on The Soul of Black Peru, a 1995 release on his Luaka Bop label.

But for many Latin Americans in South America and in the United States, Ayllón needs no introduction. Many have long known her as a champion of black Peruvian music and its derivatives.

"My show is a mix of Creole music and black music," she told MundoAfrolatino.com in 2003. "But in reality I am a pop music and urban folklore singer."

In Fort Lauderdale, Ayllón will be singing music from Eva! Leyenda Peruana, her new release on Times Square Records. The CD includes the landó Negra Presuntuosa (Presumptuous Black Woman) and festejos such as the mixed-race tale Ingá, composed by Nicomedes Santa Cruz, the man who launched the renaissance of black Peruvian music and dance four decades ago. Another song, Jolgorio de Eva, tells of life under slavery. Ayllón's music is full of call and response, multiple rhythms, guitar and percussion from the cajón, a wooden box thought to been created from an agricultural crate. She also varies her music to include other Latin American genres. Cuando Llegue la Hora, arranged by Puerto Rican salsero Gilberto Santa Rosa, for example, embraces modern salsa. Her show should serve as an excellent reminder that Peruvian music is rich and varied.

"Peruvian music is very diverse; it has a lot of different styles," said percussionist Alex Acuña, who like Ayllón aims to educate audiences worldwide about their homeland's genres. "We have the Andean and we have the music from the south of Peru, which is very African. A lot of people don't know that."