Analog Africa is the catalog equivalent of a vein of gold. Anytime I come across one of their releases, it makes me feel like a millionaire- experientially rich at least, even if I'm still technically cash poor. But if I've learned one thing in life, it's that true wealth is measured by how you spend your time rather than how you spend money (although, having money doesn't hurt!). And the latest Analog Africa collection, Manzanita y Su Conjunto's Trujillo - Perú 1971-1974 is helping me spend my time well indeed.
The origins of Trujillo are owed to Analog Africa owner Samy Ben Redjeb's having the chance to sort through a collection of a cumbia enthusiast and friends who had just had a child along with a sudden shift in priorities (ie he was selling his collection). When Samy showed interest in an LP from Manzanita, his friend practically forced it into hands, stating that it was "one of the best LPs ever recorded in Perú." I can't verify this fact independently, but I can certify that it is solid gold according to my ledger. Whether or not it is one of the better releases to ever come out of the country is immaterial. It was good enough for Samy to want to put money down to reissue and distribute the songs that appear on Trujillo to the masses after decades of amass memory shrowding dust in a crate.
Manzanita first gained popularity during the psychedelic craze that swept much of South America during the '60s, when he took inspiration from Northerly guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and translated their transportive techniques through the meniscus of Cuban rhythms. While he only managed to produce a few records, he was a prolific and influential performer, whose trade was not hampered by the political developments of the era. Throughout most of the '60s and '70s, when military dictatorships came to power, it meant an end to popular forms of expression. Ironically, this was not the case in Peru. When the Juan Velasco regime seized control in a military coup in 1968, it suppressed foreign imports of rock and other varieties of popular music in favor of promoting local and traditional art. This caused a bit of a frenzy, with local labels rushing in to fill the public's demand for new music, and it was in this context that Manzanita's distinctive style became a sensation.
And why not? Manzanita's music is an earnest melding of then-popular styles and regional folk. The only surprising part is how much these songs still manage to resonate today. This is likely owed to the sincerity of Manzanita's approach. He really didn't have any tricks up his sleeve, just a vision and the ability to execute it- relying on a fantastic sense of time and rhythm and a natural ability to select compatible collaborators to make his dreams reality.
The majority of the tracks in this collection center on Manzanita's guitar playing- often taking the form of a tension holding tremolo or a twisting, gyrating groove that holds in suspension, both opposing and accordant thoughts and moods. Like love and anger, jealousy and forgiveness, regret and hope- themes that keep each other in balanced rotation, like the gravitational equilibrium and waltz of the celestial bodies. The momentum of these songs is such that they will cause you to feel like you are being hurled forward into time and space even while you are sitting still. And if you do give into the rhythms of Manzanita's trill, you will find the sounds of his guitar and the accompanying instruments to be more than generous and encroaching as far as dance partners go.
It is extraordinary that these songs were ever almost lost given the strength of Manzanita's popularity at one point. It kind of makes you wonder what inescapable works of our present time might all but disappear in the next 30-50 years. I can certainly think of a couple songs and artists that I would hope to suffer such a fate, but it's hard to dwell on such thoughts when you have something as compelling as Trujillo to preoccupy your mind and body with.
