Africa Rises

If you thought that all music from Peru sounds like that Paul Simon song with the flutey pan pipes, think again. Away from the heights of the Andes, Peru also boasts an African heritage brought to its coast by a diaspora of slaves from every region of the dark continent. The resulting Afro-Peruvian sound is a powerful patchwork of strong rhythms and chants, held together by a lilting guitar and makeshift percussion instruments (some descended from fruit crates and Catholic collection boxes or a donkey's jaw).

That musical legacy comes to life whenever Perú Negro, a Lima-based performing troupe of more than twenty musicians and dancers, hits a stage somewhere in the world; tonight at 7:30 p.m., local audiences will catch the sway of the official "Cultural Ambassadors of Black Peru" during a concert at Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Admission is $12 to $52; go to www.cuconcerts.org or call 303-492-8008.
Tue., March 4, 7:30 p.m., 2008