Traditional rhythms, 21st century beats

Posted on Monday, July 25

Novalima at Mayne Stage

by Don Macica
Chicago-based writer and Marketing Director

The cover art for Novalima’s third album, Coba Coba, perfectly encapsulates everything you could want to know: A deeply colorized picture of an ageless black man sitting astride a cajon, perhaps the most basic of percussion instruments, powerful hands pounding out a rhythm, the box outfitted with a huge speaker cone.

Novalima’s second visit to Chicago was preceded by a pre-concert Q&A with guitarist Rafael Morales and writer / radio host / culture entrepreneur Catalina Maria Johnson. The woofer-equipped image of the cajon hovered over the stage as Johnson’s insightful questions prompted Morales to explain Novalima’s origins in both Afro-Peruvian folk music and the dance clubs of Europe.

This is what Novalima does so well, applying a scholarly (and, in Morales’ case, familial: His great-grandmother was a musician, composer and musicologist that compiled Afro-Peruvian music in the early 20th century) interest in traditional folkloric rhythms and songs to a 21st century club aesthetic (or is it the other way around?), in the process drawing attention from academics and partiers alike. For 90 minutes on a Tuesday night, I felt like I was transported to Barcelona’s hippest club, dancing my ass off, while simultaneously being schooled in an important cultural legacy.

Novalima’s touring line-up consists of the electronic core of guitar, bass, keyboards, and programmed beats augmented by more traditional percussion and the vivacious lead vocals of Milagros Guerrero. Cleverly, the band’s set was introduced with a short performance by a Peruvian dance ensemble accompanied only by two cajons. With the rhythmic foundation of the evening set, Novalima took the stage and, as they say in Spinal Tap, turned the amplifiers up to 11.

The picture over the stage turned out to be a still from a video, and the woofer began to pulse and multiply as the layered sounds from the stage increased in complexity. Imagery was used during the entire set, a unique mix of for each song, stills and video from the heart of the Afro-Peruvian community, contextualizing this very modern music and linking it to its historic roots.

Other sounds of the African diaspora (reggae, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop) intertwined with the core rhythms as the set progressed. I managed to stay seated for just two songs, quickly surrendering to the exuberant joy radiating from the stage and lifting the packed dance floor. The set drew from Coba Coba and Afro, their previous album, plus a handful of songs from their upcoming release Karimba (post concert, we were treated to the entire Karimba CD in the lobby bar).

I must confess that, until Susana Baca’s recordings became widely available in the U.S. in the late 1990’s, I was unaware that there was such a thing as Afro-Peruvian music. I have been lucky to witness Baca in performance many times since, including a remarkable collaboration with Luna Negra Dance Theatre a few years ago. But it was, however, hearing Novalima for the first time that convinced me to finally go out and buy a cajon to add to my drum collection.

Now, excuse me while I get back to practicing.