Gabriel Amérios Quartet's "Toca Percu" is Afro-Peruvian jazz played in legendary Brazilian studio
From a composer you should know about
By D. Menzies
My first introduction to Afro-Peruvian jazz recently was the most engaged I’ve been by jazz in a while, so with a heads up to the video for Afro-Peruvian-inspired “Toca Percu” (si te pica la mano)” by the Gabriel Amérios Quartet, I checked it out with interest. “Toca Percu” is eight minutes steered by pianist/composer/singer Amérios that feel like one long jam session’s highlights.
What makes the music of Amérios and the musicians he plays with so engaging is the styles they bridge together — the way each musician’s performance blends, switches, and palpably elevates everyone else’s.
“When I moved to Lima, the capital of Peru, I started performing and touring with a well-known Afro-Peruvian singer,” Amérios told Chilltown Blues. “This was my first approach to the music of the coast of Peru: energetic, furious, exciting. I got fascinated by it, especially when I saw the Afro-Peruvian percussionists spontaneously creating music with anything that comes in hand like a fork, a wall, a drawer, etc. without any notice. Any time of the day was perfect to jam. That's when I realized that everybody has rhythm inside of them waiting to be unleashed, most of these people later will become drummers or percussionists, and this composition is dedicated to them.”
It’s this, in addition to jazz, that seems to have helped Amérios hone the versatility that can be heard in Afro-Peruvian jazz and whatever else he plays or composes. Amérios’ career has also seen him playing live piano for performances of “Jersey Boys.”
Four months ago, Amérios was able to take “Toca Percu (si te pica la mano)” and make a recording of it a benchmark on an accomplished and still burgeoning journey.
“I traveled to São Paulo (Brazil) with my drummer Jean Otoniel, who studied music there for 13 years,” Amérios said. “He reconnected with his old mates like JotaPe — current sax player for Hermeto Pascoal — and with his professor at Tatui Conservatory: Fabio Leal, master of the rhythmic guitar in that country. We invited them to be part of the recording at Arsis Studios, the most prestigious recording studio of instrumental music in Brazil where the most talented MPB (música popular brasileira) artists came from. It was a wonderful experience for me dealing with such talent and professionalism.”
Amérios explained the song’s hook — "Si te pica la mano, toca percusión" — translates from Spanish as "If your hand itches, play percussion.”
“‘If your hand itches’ is a colloquial way in my country to point out when someone gets anxious and is willing to get busy as soon as possible, hence the ‘play percussion’ answer as a proper way to channel that energy,” Amérios said.
In addition to “Toca Percu” I was also impressed by Amérios’ “Mil millas lejos de ti” (“A Thousand Miles Away”) feat. Matraka, a beautiful track with wistful, yearning lyrics.
“The song ‘A Thousand Miles Away’ was inspired by the people that have to spend the holidays away from their loved ones in order to procure a better life for them, and perfectly describes my experience as a musician working on cruise ships for many years,” Amérios explained.
Amérios’ music can be heard on youtube.com/@gabrielamerios; he’s also on Instagram @gabrielamerios.
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