Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet w/ special guest vocalist Eva Ayllon

Showcase of CD Nuevo Mundo / Ms. Ayllon's debut in a jazz context
Trumpeter and composer Gabriel Alegria has developed a unique form of World Jazz that combines his distinctive approach to the jazz trumpet with the rich heritage of Afro-Peruvian music.
Alegria will appear at Joe's Pub with his Afro-Peruvian Sextet featuring saxophonist Laurandrea Leguia; acoustic guitarist Yuri Juarez; bassist Ramon de Bruyn, drummer Hugo Alcazar and master percussionist Freddy “Huevito" Lobaton, who plays the traditional Afro-Peruvian instruments cajon (box drum) and quijada (jaw bone) and adds spectacular passages of zapateo dancing to each performance.
Alegria and his Afro-Peruvian Sextet will be joined at Joe's Pub by the renowned Peruvian vocalist Eva Ayllon.
The ensemble will also accompany Ms. Ayllon in her first public performance in a jazz context in advance of her appearance with the Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet at the Festival Internacional Jazz Peru in March 2008.
A native of Lima, Peru, Gabriel Alegria is the founder and artistic director of Jazz Peru Internacional (JPI), the premier jazz arts and cultural exchange organization in his homeland and producer of the annual Festival Internacional Jazz Peru. Alegria was recently named Associate Director of the Jazz Studies Program at New York University and has been living in New York City since September 2007.
Eva Ayllon is a renowned vocalist revered as the “Queen of Lando" not only in her native Peru but also around the world. Ms. Ayllon's stature in Afro-Peruvian music circles is comparable to Cesria vora's in the world of the morna music of Cape Verde or the late Cuban salsa star Celia Cruz.
Gabriel's a wonderful trumpet player and composer creating a sound few people have heard. Very Fresh! --Maria Schneider
In 2000 Alegria founded Jazz Peru Internacional (JPI), Peru's premier jazz arts and cultural exchange organization whose goal is to spread the message of peace, love and joy found in Afro-Peruvian music around the world. Under the auspices of JPI, countless artists, students and music fans have toured internationally and Alegria continues to work for the internationalization of Afro- Peruvian jazz music and education.
Alegria combines his experience playing jazz as it developed in the U.S. with a passionate interest and careful study of the black music of coastal Per. By incorporating and exploring the common African roots found in both styles, he has developed a uniquely Afro-Peruvian jazz music concept. With the release in 2002 of Un Rezo, Alegria's recording debut as a leader, many Afro-Peruvian rhythmic concepts were introduced into the mainstream jazz language for the first time. The CD Nuevo Mundo includes collaborations with jazz artist Tierney Sutton, Bobby Shew, Russell Ferrante and Bill Watrous as well as with the formidable native Afro- Peruvian artists Freddy “Huevito" Lobaton (Peruvian percussion - cajon, quijada, cajita), Hugo Alcazar (drums), Jocho Velazquez (acoustic guitar) and Joscha Oetz (bass). The CD, which includes six compositions by Alegria and his Afro-Peruvian jazz arrangement of the Gershwin classic “Summertime," represents, represents his most varied work as a trumpeter and composer to date.