Tuesday, June 9, 2015

The cajón - in flamenco, in Afro-Peruvian music

I count myself as a friend of Lalo Izquierdo - dancer, choreographer, percussionist and folklorist of his Afro-Peruvian community. When Lalo told me the group he and three others founded in 1969 called Perú Negro had introduced famous flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía to the cajón (an Afro-Peruvian percussion instrument), I believed him.

 When I told this to flamenco friends, they invariably would come back with "I heard a different story." 

Well, I found a video on YouTube in which Paco de Lucia states that he learned of the cajón from Caitro Soto (another of the four founders of Perú Negro) when he was  in Lima, Peru, on a Latin American tour. My friend Lalo Izquierdo was there at the time, as were all the other two members of Perú Negro.

Paco de Lucia  further confirms that this introduction that the Peru Negro group gave him to the cajón is the origin of the cajón in flamenco.  He purchased one from Caitro Soto on the spot, and the rest, as they say, is history.



(Sorry that this video is in Spanish....)

So my friend, and his story, are vindicated. Neither Paco de Lucia nor his entourage accidentally "discovered" the cajón. They were introduced to it by skillful Afro-Peruvian percussionists. Percussionists who I have had the privilege to work with. Olé.

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Eve A. Ma is currently working on a major documentary about flamenco, and finishing up a cool, short documentary (30 minutes) about three Afro-Peruvian percussionists:  Lalo Izquierdo, Cotito (Juan Medrano Cotito) and Huevito (Freddy Huevito Lobaton).  www.PalominoPro.com.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Finding Les Blank

I don't know why I didn't meet Les Blank before he died;  after all, he lived in El Cerrito and made documentaries about music and dance - just like me.  Although for some reason I didn't ever get to know him personally, now, I have "found" him.

Les Blank made all kinds of films about things like cajun music, bluegrass, Lightnin' Hopkins, the polka people, and even topics like garlic.  All that I know of were shot in the United States.

jazz funeral parade in New Orleans

There is no narration.  He doesn't try to explain what you are seeing - which has its good points and its not so good points, but what the hey, they are colorful, the people in them speak for themselves, and there is really a lot of great music in his work.


The Chenier brothers' cajun group.  Clifton (far right) is featured in
one of Les Blank's videos & the group was recorded by El Cerrito's
Armhole Records.

He died in 2013, and his family and supporters have produced a major compendium of his work with five DVDs, a booklet, and in addition to the documentaries, lots of extras like shorts made out of unused footage, and interviews with family and friends (really interesting interviews).

Mardi Gras Indian (in New Orleans)

I am now on the third DVD.  Since I come from the Carolinas and grew up in New Orleans, my favorites are the ones about music from those areas:  the jazz funerals in New Orleans, the Big Bad Indians from Tchoupitoulas Street, Lightin' Hopkins, the moonshine-making blue grass players, things like that.

Bluegrass fiddler:  Fiddlin' Bill Henseley

You'll want to check these out.  The series is called "Always for Pleasure," and you can buy it locally at Down Home Music, etc., or on line at Amazon.com and other places.

One more image of a jazz funeral in New Orleans.  Hey, it's my hometown.

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Eve A. Ma in currently in California where she is editing material about Afro-Peruvians she shot in Peru last December;  looking for funding for a documentary about flamenco;  and getting the word out about three works she recently completed (about Spanish immigrants, about Afro-Peruvians, and a drama about the economic crisis in Spain).  Sign up for the newsletter to learn about her work LINK.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

A little more backtracking - Córdoba, beautiful Córdoba (even later April)


On my way to Cannes last April, I spent a couple of days in Córdoba...the first time I've been there.  What a great city!

The roof & domes of the "Great Mosque" as seen from the Roman bridge.

It is home to the "Great Mosque" of Spain...a gigantic and very beautiful edifice.  The city's cathedral is located in the center, which at first I found offensive but then learned that before the Moorish period when the Great Mosque became a great mosque, it had been a small church.

Here is only a small portion of the "Great Mosque" to give you some idea of the size.

The seemingly endless galleries, all white and red, are supported in many cases by Roman columns.  The high, vaulted ceilings and latticed windows around the edges lend a soft, almost secretive light.  There are many alcoves, most with Christian saints and gothic, Roman, or romanesque architecture but in a few cases the alcoves are inlaid with mosaics and verses from the Koran.
ceiling of the cathedral which is inside the Great Mosque
archway leading to a more moslem alcove

detail of some arches

The outside doors are distinctly Moslem and Moorish looking in their shape, their decoration, and the verses of the Koran inlaid around them.

Small side entrance to the "Great Mosque"

But the "Great Mosque" is not all that Córdoba has to offer.

There's also the Roman bridge, an archaeological site with Roman, Visigoth and other ruins that I didn't have time to visit, an Alcázar with stunning gardens (didn't have my camera with me when I went there, though), some interesting museums...and also some great food!

the Roman bridge

a really nice statue of Don Quijote (near the Great Mosque)

It is definitely a good place to visit, and looks like it would be a good place to live, as well.

exterior of the Alcázar.

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Eve A. Ma has recently returned to California from work in Spain on the documentary Flamenco:  the Land Is Still Fertile (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva) and in France, where she presented her documentary A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, in a festival in Cannes.