By IPS Correspondents
LIMA, Nov 20 2001 (IPS)

The raucous audience at a recent concert by singer Eva Ayllón – 70,000 people, mostly university students – demonstrated the force of ‘criolla’ music from the Peruvian coast, a style that has often been given up for dead.

“As you can see, criolla music can now tell its detractors: those you thought you killed are in good health,” journalist and singer- songwriter Diego Mariscal told the crowd that filled the stadium at the University of San Marcos.

Music critics had stated beforehand that the concert was “a challenge for those who assert that this musical style has become a relic for the museum.”

The perception that criolla music is in its death throes has been fuelled by the fact that it is absent from television and radio (except for one time-slot on the state-run channel), its musicians are relegated to performing for tourists, and recording studios show little interest in producing criolla albums.

“It is sad to say, but youth today do not know the criollo waltz, the ‘marinera’ and the Afro-Peruvian rhythms. All they want to listen to is Caribbean music and rock. The same thing is happening in Buenos Aires, where tango survives only in the nostalgia of the older population,” commented poet Alfonso Imaña.

Journalist Eloy Jauregue, meanwhile, says “cultural globalisation, backed by the efficient expansion of modern communications, permeates and often subjugates the traditional music of the Third World countries, and forces the musicians to search for a new strategy to survive.”

“Criollo musicians have to decide if they will let themselves be overpowered by current trends and foreign styles or if they will fiercely defend their traditional roots, giving priority to the social message and to poetry,” he added.

This musical search is being led by Eva Ayllón, Arturo Cavero and Cecilia Barraza, who follow the traditional path, while Daniel “Kiri” Escobar seeks to maintain lyrics with a social commitment, and Susan Baca experiments with the latest international rhythms.

“In front of that multitude I developed stage fright, but I was moved by the enthusiastic response of the young audience, who are supposedly ignorant of a genre like this, which dates back 30 years,” Ayllón said after her concert.

On another stage that same day, Oct 31, Cavero presented a “tribute to the Peruvian ‘cajón”‘, a percussion instrument created by the descendants of the African slaves who were brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors.

“Curiously, this instrument characteristic of Peruvian criolla music was introduced to Spain by singer Chabuca Granda, and discovered by guitarist Paco de Lucía just over a decade ago. It was stolen by the Spaniards, who now say it is a flamenco instrument,” music expert Paul Nakamurakare told ‘Etece’ magazine.

“Criolla music was on the verge of disappearing, but now it has recovered its strength,” says Cavero, better known as “Zambo”, in reference to his Afro-Indigenous origins, like fellow singer- songwriter Ayllón.

Barraza, though she is not of Afro-Peruvian ancestry, agrees with Cavero and Ayllón that the vitality of the country’s criolla music is rooted in its African components.

“The waltzes generally appeal to audiences over 40, but among the younger crowds, the ‘festejo’, ‘landó’ and all black music is popular, and that is what is saving the criolla,” said Barraza.

“I have nothing against the fusion of criolla with music from other countries, especially if it appeals to an international audience, but it is not what moves me,” she added.

The singer explained that she accepts it, “because that is how Astor Piazzola (the late tango musician) survived in Argentina, and it is why the songs of Colombia’s Carlos Vives are popular. Styles could arise in Peru that are rooted in global music.”

Barraza is one of the central figures of the local traditional music scene and hosts a criolla music programme on the state-run TV channel. There, she deploys her campaign among Lima’s schoolchildren to discover criolla dance and singing talents.

“If we win the interest of youth, if we continue to get them to dance, traditional criolla music will not die,” she says.

Barraza is a close friend of Baca and there is strong mutual admiration between the two, but their styles are significantly different and they are following divergent paths in their musical careers.

Baca is gaining fame in the international arena as one of the leading Latin American singers, filling concert venues in Europe, the United States and South Africa.

“I was never much of a traditionalist. My mother was a humble washerwoman who taught me to appreciate the music of Mozart and Beethoven, while my grandmother taught me to sing criolla, but when I matured professionally, I befriended refined musicians as well as rock musicians,” she said.

Early in her career, Baca performed the poems written by her friends, singing ‘a cappella’. She became a cult figure, but did not record any albums because the recording companies were not convinced that poetry would sell.

But one day, David Byrne, former frontman for the US-based band of the 1980s, the Talking Heads, heard her music and signed her to his recording label, Luaka Bop.

Byrne promoted concerts for Baca in Paris, New York and Tokyo. But Baca always returns to Lima, where she lives a quiet life and performs in smaller venues – where there are always plenty of her friends, who include poets, painters and journalists.

The other corner of the Peruvian criolla music triangle is “Kiri” Escobar, singer-songwriter and urban troubadour who built his musical career in the political struggle of the 1970s and 1980s.

“When I compose, I don’t think about how much the song could earn, or if my music is ‘danceable’. I just want to express what I feel is important,” he said.

Escobar says he makes his living from the royalties of his songs that Ayllón has recorded, such as “Azúcar de caña” (Sugarcane) and “Tus manos son de viento” (Your Hands Are Made of Wind), and from his short summer concert tours in Europe.

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