Rodrigo Chocano: Jazz in Malambo: Afro-Peruvian Musicality...

... Jazz, and Racialization in Lima in the Wake of a Global Black Modernity (1917-1931)

In this presentation, I analyze how the global popularity of African-American jazz-related genres informed local ideas about Afro-Peruvian musicality in Lima in the 1920s. The popularity of jazz, charleston, and fox-trot in Lima captured the attention of the specialized local media In assessing jazz vis-á-vis their local understandings, Limeño intellectuals and journalists engaged not only with musical sounds but also with the commentary of European writers on so-called savage African-American genres, musicians, and dancers that "invaded" their countries and seduced their youth. Those matters resounded with the concerns of Limeño intellectuals about Afro-Peruvian communities—which they saw as the premodern, submissive stewards of their traditions—progressively embracing jazz and other forms of modern entertainment.