Trujillo, Perú 1971 - 1974

Description

Berardo Hernández — better known as Manzanita — first emerged during the psychedelic craze around cumbia. At the forefront were the magnificent Los Destellos, whose leader, Enrique Delgado, was such an impressive wizard of the six strings that it seemed impossible for other guitarists to escape his shadow. When Manzanita arrived, his electric criollo style sent shockwaves through Lima’s music scene, capable of shaking Delgado’s dominance as king of the Peruvian guitar. Manzanita had come to Lima from the coastal city of Trujillo, five hundred kilometers from the coast — a place where Spanish, African, and Indigenous populations had lived and made music together for centuries — and had come of age at a time when the first wave of psychedelic rock from the United States and the United Kingdom was beginning to sweep the airwaves. However, the sounds of Cream and Hendrix disappeared from the radio just as quickly in 1968 when Juan Velasco took control of the country in a military coup. The new regime, which favored local traditions over cultural imports from the north, was a blessing in disguise for the Peruvian music scene. Record labels flourished as new bands, raised on a hybrid diet of electric guitars and Cuban rhythms, rushed to fill the void created by the lack of imported rock. A new genre, known as Peruvian cumbia, was born and Manzanita quickly became one of its most original voices. Starting in 1969, Manzanita y su Conjunto released a steady stream of singles that used Cuban guaracha rhythms as the basis for dazzling electric guitar lines. After countless 45s and several years on tour, the group signed to Virrey, a major Peruvian label, and recorded two albums recognized as masterpieces among aficionados of tropical music. Most of the songs on Analog Africa’s new compilation, Manzanita y su Conjunto, are taken from these legendary 1973 and 74 sessions. When Manzanita was at the height of his powers, few could match him... surely some of the best music ever recorded in Peru!