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Chicha Libre (The Kennedy Center)

Chicha Libre

OLIVIER CONAN, UkuleleVINCENT DOUGLAS, GuitarJOSH CAMP, KeyboardNICK CUDAHY, BassGREG BURROWS, PercussionTIMOTHY QUIGLEY, PercussionChicha is the psychedelic-meets-Amazon music once popular in Peru. Brooklyn-based Chicha Libre mixes covers of forgotten Chicha classics with French-tinged originals, re-interpretations of 70’s pop classics new as well as cumbia versions of pieces by Satie and Ravel.  The band, led by Barbès club owner Olivier Conan, is reviving the style that was popular among indigenous empowerment groups in the 1970s and frowned upon by the mainstream middle class. The group’s debut album Sonido Amazonico features cover songs from the era alongside originals. Retro scavengers caught wind of The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru, a compilation that Barbès Records put out last year that drew critical acclaim from NPR, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, among others.

Watch Past Performances

Chicha Libre 1/21/09: Chicha Libre

This group combines Colombian accordion-driven cumbias with the distinctive sounds of Andean melodies, the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, farfisa organs, and moog synthesizers.

Chicha Libre

This group combines Colombian accordion-driven cumbias with the distinctive sounds of Andean melodies, the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, farfisa organs, and moog synthesizers.

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