Archive for March, 2006
A huge Jazz event, organised by ICPNA (Peruvian North American Cultural Institute), the XVI edition of the festival will place Lima at the centre of World Jazz. Six full days of the best jazz, with 30 concerts from musicians coming from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, USA, France, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
The star of the festival is undoubtedly Russ Ferrante (Friday, April 7) and his Yellow Jackets band, double winner of the Grammy awards. Other renowned jazz musicians include the saxophonist Daniel Blake (USA), the Mexican Jazz band Ethos Tro, the Venezuelan drum player Aaron Serfaty, and Gabriel Alegra (Afro Peruvian Jazz expert).
XVI Festival Internacional Jazz en Lima, from April 3rd to 8th. Auditorium ICPNA Miraflores (Av. Angamos Oeste 120) and Satchmo Jazz Barr ( La Paz 538, Miraflores). For more information check the ICPNA website or e-teleticket.com.
March 30th, 2006
PromPerú, the Tourism Board of Peru, is promoting a wide selection of short weekend trips near Lima. The destinations, at most 6-hour drives from Peru’s capital, comprise many different ecosystems: snow tipped peaks, coastal deserts, fertile valleys, and huge grasslands.
The routes feature Churin (some 6 hours from Lima), renowned for its many thermal baths, the sunny town of Canta (3-hour drive), and Lunahuana (3-hour drive), acknowledged as an adventure sports paradise, among others.
March 30th, 2006
Susana Baca, the Peruvian renowned singer and composer, presented in New York her latest album, Travesía, which is expected to hit the market in April. The New York recital opens Baca’s Travesía World Tour.
Winner of a Grammy award for her album Lamento Negro, Susana Baca builds on her Afro Peruvian roots and nourishes from the sounds of blues, reggae, and jazz to create a very personal and distinctive style that has gained her a much deserved status of World Music Diva.
March 29th, 2006
The Cultural Centre of the Católica University celebrates with an imposing exhibition the centenary of the birth of Adolfo Winternitz (1906 - 1993), a Vienna-born artist that emigrated to Peru in 1939. Founder of the Department of Visual Arts at the Católica University in Lima, which he lead for more than 50 years, Winternitz influenced many generations of young Peruvian artists and became a prominent figure in the country’s art scene.
The exhibition will be held in the PUCP Cultural Centre (Works from 1932 to 1956) and the ICPNA de Miraflores (works from 1956 to 1992). Afterwards the exhibition will travel to the renowned Leopold Museum in Vienna.
Until April 16th. PUCP Cultural Centre, Camino Real 1075, San Isidro. Free entrance.
March 28th, 2006
After the huge success of the 2005 edition of Cusco’s Megavalanche competition, the second edition will take place from March 22nd to 26th in an unparalleled setting: The Sacred Valley of the Incas.
A Megavalanche is a type of down hill, bike marathon course on abrupt and steep terrain, with the particularity of a start on line (opposite to Sprint Avalanche races with an individual start). Moreover, trails must be between 15 and 25 km long with 2,000 - 3,000 m of negative height.
Racing Megavalanche is most demanding and it require many skills: strength, dexterity, endurance, sliding sensations, knowledge of how to manage effort and to fix well you bike, riding spirit, trajectories, flying sections, braking.
The Sacred Valley of the Incas Megavalanche is the highest race of this kind in the world, as racers run through the old Inca Trail, starting at an altitude of 4,300 masl and arriving at 3,200 masl in a 45 minute, 15 km race.
The race starts in Malaga (4,600 masl) in an ample track that leads to a wide trail, built by the Incas and still used by local populations. After passing by some villages, the route come to an end near the Tancjas village, at 3,300 masl.
In 2004 this kind of races took take place in France, Switzerland, Reunion Island, Italy, and Spain. From 2005 Peru entered in the Megavalache World Cup Circuit. More than 300 bikers are expected to take part in the Peruvian 2006 competition, among which some of the greatest bikers worldwide: Steve Peat (UK, 2 times World Champion), Brian Lopes (USA), Remy Absalon (France), Tomás Misser (Spain), Walter Belli (Italy), and Alan Beggin (Italy).
For more information check Megavalanche Peru or the International Avalanche Site.
March 15th, 2006
The legendary guitarist Carlos Santana will perform live next Tuesday, March 21st in Lima’s Estadio Monumetal. The concert is part of the All That I Am world tour, that promotes his latest album.
Born in 1947 in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, Mexico, Carlos Santana (real name Carlos Augusto Alves Santana) is a Grammy Award-winning musician that has sold an estimated 80 million albums worldwide. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band The Santana Blues Band, which created a highly successful blend of salsa, rock, blues, and jazz fusion. Their sound featured his often high-pitched and clean guitar lines set against Latin instrumentation such as timbales and congas.
The band released a largely instrumental, self-titled album, Santana in 1969. On the tour to support the album, the band played at Woodstock Music and Art Festival. They were one of the surprises of the festival; their set was legendary, and later the exposure of their eight-minute instrumental “Soul Sacrifice” in the Woodstock film and soundtrack albums vastly increased Santana’s popularity. Santana became a huge hit, reaching number four on the U.S. album chart, and the catchy single “Evil Ways” reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1970 the group reached its early commercial peak with their second album, Abraxas, which reached number one on the album charts and went on to sell over four million copies. The innovative Santana musical blend made a number-four hit out of English blues-rockers Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman”, and a number-thirteen hit out of salsa champion Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va”.
After almost disappearing from the musical scenes during the late 80s and 90s, Santana made a huge comeback in 1999 with Supernatural, an album that included collaborations with Bobby Martin, Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Maná and others.
Santana’s last album All That I Am (2005) follows the format of Supernatural, consisting primarily of collaborations with other artists; the first single, the peppy “I’m Feeling You”, was again with Michelle Branch and The Wreckers.
Tuesday, March 21, 9pm, Estadio Monumental (Prolongación Javier Prado Este cuadra 77, Ate Vitarte). Check e-teleticket.com for ticket information.
Santana’s biography from Wikipedia.
March 10th, 2006
