Chicha Libre

Based in Brooklyn around Olivier Conan, Chicha Libre formed in the mid-2000s in the wake of a discovery of Peruvian chicha, this variant of cumbia born between the Andes and the Amazon, nourished by psychedelic rock, tropical melodies, and urban popular rhythms. The group, conceived as an ensemble of six musicians, takes this base and moves it toward a freer language, where keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion also cross references from other Latin American and European repertoires. Chicha Libre made its recording debut with ¡Sonido Amazonico! in 2008 on Barbes Records, then continued with Canibalismo in 2012 and the Cuatro Tigres EP in 2013. Through these releases, Chicha Libre alternates compositions, covers, and deconstructions, with a strong preference for oblique arrangements, changes of atmosphere, and exchanges between popular tradition and a more experimental approach. The occasional presence of musicians linked to the history of Peruvian chicha, such as Jose Carballo of Hijos del Sol, also illuminates the project’s anchoring. Active on New York stages and in the networks of global music, Chicha Libre has since its beginnings developed a transnational reading of Peruvian cumbia, faithful to its electric textures and open to more contemporary forms of reinterpretation.