FEATURE ARTICLE
Quetzal's Afro-Andean world-beat
by Seth Rogovoy(PITTSFIELD, Mass., Sept. 26, 1997) -- For Freddie Chapelliquen, the music of his ensemble, Quetzal -- which performs at the Berkshire Museum on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 8 -- is a reflection of the multi-faceted cultural exploration he has enjoyed as an itinerant citizen of the contemporary world.
In particular, the group's music, which he describes as "cross-cultural Latin American music," mirrors his experiences as a native of Peru who now lives in the Pioneer Valley in Amherst.
"We're crossing and mixing the various cultures across America," said Chapelliquen, in a recent phone interview from his home in Amherst. "We lay in things that sound jazzy and rock on top of it, but the foundation of the music -- the whole rhythm section -- they're all pretty accurate to what you'll find in South American music."
Indeed, from the sound of the group's two CDs, "Mujeres De La Puna (Women of the High Plateau)" and "Ancestros," Quetzal plays an exciting fusion of traditional Afro-Andean folk and contemporary South American pop.
In its current incarnation, Quetzal is a seven-member ensemble that performs frequently at festivals and at folk clubs -- the group played at the Iron Horse earlier this week -- as well as doing educational programs in schools, museums and other cultural institutions.
The musicians in the band -- a Chilean, a Puerto Rican, four New Englanders and two Peruvians -- perform on nearly forty different instruments, some ancient, some modern. These include a variety of wind instruments such as the quena, the zampona and the concha, string instruments such as the charango, the tiple and the cuatro, and percussion instruments like the bombo, the guiro and the ganza. The instrumentation is rounded out by more familiar pieces including saxophone, trumpet, harmonica, guitar and mandolin.
Quetzal draws on the native forms of Central and South American countries, such as the cumbia from Colombia, the joropo from Venezuela, the takirari from Chile and the galopa from Paraguay.
In Quetzal's hands, however, these traditional forms are juiced with modern and contemporary influences from North America, including jazz, rock and funk, to make for an exotic yet accessible fusion, a veritable world-beat stew.
Chapelliquen admits that not all musicologists are thrilled with the group's particular style of fusion. "We are constantly defending the validity of what we do from attacks by purists," he said. "But this is an empty concept, `pure' music. It doesn't exist. If music stayed `pure,' we'd still be hearing a man banging on a piece of bone.
"`Purity' is not a progressive concept because that would mean that the original form will never evolve. And I'm not necessarily sure that evolution is negative or wrong.
"I think that out of the clashes and the mingling of cultures new musical forms are born, and they advance with the times. They move and multiply and settle somewhere and become folk music. Here, country music uses the banjo, which comes from Africa. It's the same for us."
Besides Chapelliquen, Quetzal includes fellow founding member Roberto Clavijo, from Chile. The two met at a party in Amherst in 1989, and thus was born Quetzal. The lineup has undergone some changes over the years, and each member brings to the mix his particular influences and approach, which Chapelliquen calls "somewhat wacky and original."
Thus, drummer Jeff Thompson, whose background includes Broadway musicals, jazz, rock and big-band, spices up the mix with contemporary North American rhythms. Lead guitarist Joe Belmont was a jazz and studio musician who played a classic Stratocaster electric guitar. He has since learned to play a 12-string Colombian tiple.
Other musicians include saxophonist/flutist Jon Weeks, bassist Rudi Weeks and flutist Alfredo Velasquez.
Chapelliquen says his experience in the U.S has been both "fascinating and disturbing." When he came here from the Univeristy of Lima, he spoke hardly a word of English. He knew enough, however, to be puzzled and disturbed by questions about his background.
"The first time people asked me what was my background, I felt weird and insulted," he said. "But in the context of this culture, it made sense. But I never thought of myself as `a person of color.' That makes no sense to me. White people are uncolored?
"Living in this country has been a fascinating trip for me, ideologically, culturally and psychologically."
[This article originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Sept. 26, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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