RON BANKS The West Australian
May 7, 2014, 8:29 am
Daniel Susnjar was not too sure what to expect when he went to a New York jazz club to hear Afro-Peruvian music. As an accomplished drummer already studying in the US, Susnjar knew the rhythms and sounds of the drumming would be different but he was unprepared for how appealing the sounds would be.
"I was immediately inspired by the rhythms and the music, and wanted to play with the band," Susnjar says.At the end of the evening he made friends with the band's leader Gabriel Allegria and his fellow Peruvian musicians.
And he got his wish to play with the band some months later when he returned to New York.
"I rang up Gabriel to tell him I was coming to the jazz club that night, and he replied 'That's good, because our drummer is sick. Would you like to play in his place?'"
The unexpected gig was the start of what has become a musical love affair with Afro-Peruvian drumming for the Perth-based Susnjar, who was studying for his doctorate in music at the time at the Frost School of Music in the University of Miami.
Susnjar was so taken with the Afro-Peruvian musical traditions that he switched his doctoral field of study to concentrate on its traditions and place in Peruvian culture.
"The music and the drumming style draws on the influences of the African slaves, Spanish flamenco and Andean music," he explains.
"The main instrument is the guitar, with the rhythms created by the cajon, or rhythm box known from flamenco music.
"Then there are rhythms from the quijada, or donkey's jawbone, and the cajita, which is like a church offering box worn around the neck with its lid beating out a rhythm."
Read more: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/arts/a/23293056/music-draws-drummer-into-love-affair/
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