Chicha Libre celebrate early seventies Peruvian music styles which mixed cumbia and funk with Andean melodies, Cuban son, and heady swirls of surf guitar, farfisa organ and moog synth. The Brooklyn based band pushes their music way beyond mere pastiche and into strange, sun-blanched epiphanies with elegant homages that take a sublime twist of the new, re-interpreting chicha and pop classics such as ‘Popcorn', Joe Dassin/Toto Cutugno's 1975 hit 'Indian Summer' and subtly executed cumbia takes on pieces by Satie and Ravel. Bandleader Olivier Conan initially developed a passion for vintage Chicha during a trip to Peru in the nineties, which resulted in the internationally acclaimed "Roots Of Chicha” compilations he produced, before going even further by forming his inventive 21st Century band. Personnel: Olivier Conan (lead vocals, cuatro), Joshua Camp (keyboards), Nicholas Cudahy (bass), Vincent Douglas (guitars), Greg Burrows (percussion), Timothy Quigley (percussion) and others.
