Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet

OFFICIAL BIO Afro-Peruvian Jazz Music is the life’s work of trumpeter and composer Gabriel Alegría. Since 2005, he has led a cross-cultural ensemble called the Afro-Peruvian Sextet that has slowly (but surely) placed Afro-Peruvian Jazz Music on the international musical map. Alongside his principal collaborators Freddy “Huevito” Lobatón (percussion), Laura Andrea Leguía (saxophones), and Hugo Alcázar (drums), the Afro-Peruvian Sextet has to date produced seven CDs, one vinyl, and one documentary film. The ensemble’s insistently inventive program of traditional Afro-Peruvian music transformed by Gabriel Alegría’s highly personal synthesis of folkloric Afro-Peruvian rhythms, jazz, and other musical strains has led to a signature accomplishment: Developing the band’s patented blend of deep scholarship and playfulness into a touring experience that conveys a vast knowledge of the music and transmits black music from coastal Perú as a way of life to its audiences. Highlights in performance include the use of traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments such as the cajón (a wooden box that creates an unbelievable array of sounds), the quijada de burro (literally the jawbone of a donkey) and the cajita (a trapezoidal wooden box that hangs around the player’s neck). Traditonal Peruvian Zapateo dancing is also featured by the band. The band’s sound blends the elasticity of a Miles Davis Quintet with the drive and fury of Afro-descendant drumming. A Potent combination.