Peruvian singer draws on country's African heritage for 30 years

By Aaron Cohen
Chicago Tribune
Posted October 12 2004

 

For more than 30 years, singer Eva Ayllón has been a strong advocate for black Peruvian music.

So one would expect a detailed explanation of a national song and dance rhythm, the lando, which features call-and-response vocals and a box-shaped percussion instrument called the cajon.

But Ayllón ignores the particulars to deliver a more vivid response.

"The base of the music is very sensual," Ayllón says from her house in Lima. "If you add lyrics, you have to be careful of how you interpret the song -- there's a fine line between being sensual and being sexual in the way you move during the song."

South Floridians will have the opportunity to see what Ayllón means during two shows Thursday at the Broward Center.

When Ayllón was growing up, she says her grandmother was constantly listening to Afro-Peruvian music and told her, "You need to be Peruvian, and you need to sing Peruvian music before you do anything else."

Even though Ayllón listened to this advice, she was initially a dancer on a Peruvian television program. She says she will always remember the day in 1970 when her career abruptly shifted at age 15.

"In one of the dance rehearsals, I was singing and the producer of the show happened to walk in," Ayllón says. "He heard me singing and pretty much made the decision for me. He said, `You're no longer a dancer; you're now the singer for the group.'"

At first, Ayllón's parents were not excited about their daughter becoming a singer -- they feared she would turn into a bohemian. But at that time, many Peruvian artists were earnestly studying the country's African heritage. Ayllón sought them out to bring their ideas into her music. Some of her guides included the sibling musicians Victoria and Nicodemus Santa Cruz, as well as Ronaldo Campos from the group Peru Negro.

Slaves brought in

During the 17th century, Spanish colonists imported slaves to work in Peru's silver mines and sugar plantations. Along with a vocal style that derived from African sources, the slaves and their descendants used crates instead of drums. Over time, those boxes became the cajon. While much of Peru's black population became assimilated, the music continued to be performed, especially on the Pacific coast. In the 1960s, Afro-Peruvian culture started reaching into the wider public consciousness. A Creole sound emerged that also drew on the guitar (from Spain) and flute (possibly from Peru's indigenous population).

Along with Ayllón and Peru Negro, singer Susana Baca has made Peru's folklore prominent in her music. The Rough Guide to Afro-Peru (World Music Network), a compilation disc, features the work of all three.

While Ayllón studied her music's history, she also became the lead singer in the popular group, Los Kipus. She stayed with the trio until embarking on a successful solo career in the 1980s.

Transforming the vals

This year, Ayllón signed on with a North American label for the release of her disc Eva! Leyenda Peruana (Times Square). On the CD, her husky and assertive voice leads a small but intensely percussive group through a collection of Peruvian song forms, including the lando and more upbeat festejo. She also interprets other Latin American idioms, but Ayllón particularly transforms the Peruvian vals.

Ayllón describes the vals as the Peruvian rendition of the Austrian waltz. She says that historically her country's aristocrats danced to it at their parties, while the slaves and their descendants had the lando and festejo. Gradually, it spread to all echelons of society. But Ayllón puts her own spin on the lyrics of the vals, which are typical of northern Peru.

"Those vals used to always have the man be a womanizer. I'm interpreting them the opposite way," Ayllón says. "I give attitude, like, `I don't need you anymore. Move on!'"

Ayllón recently married a Peruvian-American and is planning a move to his home in New Jersey in December. She hopes to open a music academy in New York where she will teach Peruvian music and dances.

"Now that I'm learning English, maybe I'll be able to launch a musical revolution."