Peru’s Master Percussionist: Alex Acuña
Alex Acuña (Photo: Drummerworld.com)
Some fifteen hundred people got together recently to set a new Guinness Record for largest cajon ensemble. The cajon is a wooden box you sit on to play. It started out as a substitute for African-style drums forbidden to slaves in Peru, but has gone global, adopted by flamenco, Latin jazz, and rumba.
This year at Peru’s annual cajon festival, Peru paid homage to Peruvian master percussionist Alex Acuña. He’s been drumming for more than 50 years, with musicians from Elvis Presley to Weather Report. Mitra Taj sent us this audio snapshot.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.