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.