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Field Research in Peru

Some Diary Sketches -- David Such

"You've got to check out Amador, then you'll see what I'm talking about." I heard this a lot when meeting musicians in Lima. I had been asking about African-Peruvian music, trying to uncover some of its origins and stylistic influences. Finally, I decided to head south about 130 miles to a village called El Carmen where Amador lives and where black Peruvian arts are cultivated. The only problem was how to get there. A friend of a friend said he was going down with some more friends and that I could go with them. I piled into a rickety, dusty, muffler-needing Volvo that barely got to fourth gear. Then off I went along with four other senioritos, light skinned Peruvians of Spanish descent. About half way there, the driver stopped for gas. No one had money, except for me. I paid. Interesting, how that happened. With a full tank, we continued until nightfall.

We stopped in Chincha a small city a short distance from El Carmen. There we attended a typical Peruvian party that began shortly before midnight and ended the next morning around dawn. The DJ played mostly played some salsa ("mixture" of musical styles), a "hot" and ubiquitous music found around South America and in the States as well. It was a dark room, lit only by a few colored bulbs, enough to cast an interested look in the direction of a potential dance partner. Plenty of drinking continued through the wee hours. I had to begin to shout in order to start a conversation. I usually gave up quickly enough, since my Spanish was barely passable in a quiet room, let alone one filled to the brim with decibels. When dawn broke, we left and drove to a small shanty type house on the outskirts of the city. There a rotund, good natured elderly woman had finished making a fresh batch of some of the best and most aromatic tamales I had ever eaten. It's the small things in life like this that make a difference.

On the way to El Carmen we stopped to watch more of the sunrise, overlooking some very old Inca ruins. I don't know where it came from, but one of the senioritos pulled out a half full bottle of pisco, a type of liquor distilled from grapes and introduced by the Spanish sometime around the 16th Century. Being the guest, or perhaps the one with the money, he handed me a small glass and filled it with the clear liquor. In Spanish, he told me first to say "salud" (to your health) and drink it all in one gulp. Then, according to his instructions and custom, I handed the glass and bottle, which I was now holding, to the seniorito to my right. The bottle went around the circle twice before it was finished; in the meantime, my head began making a few extra circles on its own.

Finally, an hour later, we arrived in El Carmen, a small, simple, sleepy village, which was just waking up, as a few people began to stir around the narrow dirt streets. After navigating a few turns, the driver stopped, pointed at a door along a row of small homes, and said, "Amador's home." Two minutes later, I stood in the middle of the street, my bag at my side, surrounded by quiet--the silence only broken by the noise of the small Volvo clamoring away.

Viewing "A Promise Fulfilled"

While viewing my documentary, note the following topics:

1. What are some of the attitudes of the Church toward some of the styles of African-Peruvian dancing?

2. What is the promise to which Amador remains faithful?

3. What cultures and musical styles lend influence to African-Peruvian music?

4. What are the main features of African-Peruvian rhythm?

5. What were the social and historical reasons for Africans coming to Peru?

6. What are some specific instruments used for playing rhythms in African-Peruvian music and how did they originate?

Click on the link below and watch A Promise Fulfilled. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_P3xprlaJM Links to an external site.