How Peruvian Psychedelic Cumbia Made Its Way to L.A.

How Peruvian Psychedelic Cumbia Made Its Way to L.A.

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
The ’60s and ’70s are known as a golden age of music in the United States: the age of rock, funk and salsa. But more than 3,000 miles down south in Peru, there was another golden age brewing, a style of Peruvian cumbia called “chicha.” Over the past decade, there’s been a chicha revival outside of Peru. One of the people involved is Jason Zepeda, the lead vocalist of a Los Angeles band called La Chamba. In this segment of “How I Made It,” Zepeda recalls how La Chamba covered a 1979 chicha classic, “Cariñito,” with the help of a Peruvian music veteran.