LALO IZQUIERDO (percussionist, dancer, singer-songwriter and folklorist)

Lalo Izquierdo was born in Peru, in Malongo (now called Rimac), a city just across the river from Lima, Peru's capital. His family comes from the countryside south of Lima, where many towns are predominantly Afro-Peruvian and although poor, are proud of their heritage. Interested in his Afro-Peruvian roots since a child, he also learned its rhythms at a very young age by listening to the grown-ups as they partied, playing the cajón, dancing and singing.

Izquierdo was one of the first members of the famous Afro-Peruvian performing group called Peru Negro, and was an early proponent of the revival of Afro-Peruvian performance arts. Recipient of several grants allowing him to study his roots and interview community elders, he became a folklorist and an ackowledged expert on the history and culture of African descendents in Peru. In addition, he was a skilled dancer and choreographer, and a singer-songwriter - and wrote one of the songs on this album.

His accomplishments include representing Peru in the Olympic Games held in Mexico City in 1972. He taught cajón and Afro-Peruvian dance throughout Latin America, in the United States, in Europe and in Africa; and is a master of the Afro-Peruvian zapateo fancy footwork, illustrated on this album. Izquierdo also appeared in several films and documentaries and spent many years working to establish a major center of Afro-Peruvian culture in his homeland. He died in 2022.