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LP
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BR 140LP
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Homenaje a El Carmen (Homage to El Carmen), Los Hermanos Ballumbrosio's debut album for Buh Records, captures the true spirit of the musical tradition of El Carmen, a city located a few miles to the south of Lima that is home to the largest black community in Peru. Songs based on percussion and zapateo bring back the memories and experiences of a culture that has produced one of the greatest treasures of Peruvian music. Members of one of the main families of El Carmen, Chincha, a cotton-producing province located 200 km south of Lima and known for hosting the largest black community in Peru, the Ballumbrosio brothers are the heirs of a great cultural tradition, embodied in the figure and teachings of their father Amador Ballumbrosio Mosquera, as well as their mother Adelina Guadalupe de Ballumbrosio. The patriarch of the family was an icon of Afro-Peruvian musical culture, a violinist, a performer of zapateo (a local type of tap dance) and, for a long time, a leading exponent of the "Danza de Negritos" (also known as "Hatajo de Negritos"), a traditional religious dance that is part of the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Amador and Adelina had fifteen children, all of them heirs and practitioners of the Afro-Peruvian tradition who became great cultural ambassadors of El Carmen by turning their family house into a pilgrimage site for visitors in town. Hence, the Ballumbrosio brothers cultivated music from a very young age, training as percussionists and in particular as virtuosos of Afro-Peruvian zapateo, which constitutes a fundamental element of the "Hatajo de Negritos". Currently, the Ballumbrosio brothers are made up of Chebo, Miguel, Roberto, Camilo, and Pudy Ballumbrosio, all of them with a recognized individual career in various groups and solo projects. Homage to El Carmen, the third volume of the series "Perspectives on Afro-Peruvian Music", signals the return of the group to the recording studio, and also to the sources of rhythms such as festejo and panalivio, which they interpret with cajón, quijada (jawbone), congas, bongo, and batá. The result is a distillation and a testimony of the memories and experiences that portray the cultural universe of El Carmen. There is a selection of traditional songs that are heard during the festivities and two traditional Christmas carols. There are songs that speak of the difficulties of rural life, but they also serve as a vehicle to demonstrate the Ballumbrosio brother's mastery in the art of zapateo, a dance that is accompanied by violin and bells. Includes eight-page booklet with liner notes in Spanish and English. Produced by Manongo Mujica and Daniel Mujica. Cover by Yerko Zlatar. Edition of 300.
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