The road //

 

Born in Lima, the capital of Peru, and lulled by the voice and cajón of a giant of black music, El Zambo Cavero, who played on Sundays in his neighbours' courtyard, since an early age, Mirtha also wanted to sing.

"Le dije a papa yo quiero cantar, le dije a papa yo quiero tocar" (P. Vásquez)

 

First steps on TV and already she love performing... Later when student years starts, the important musical encounters with Andrés Soto, Felix Casaverde and Kiri Escobar come along with. Then, the first concerts in her native Lima and in the south of Peru, shaked by the hard 80s.

 

In 1989, Mirtha arrives in France and for a while music is on hold... studies, meetings, travels...

Later, in 1999, in order to discover and draw her road, Mirtha chose a machete as a symbol to identify her way of "living music". Initially a work tool but also a tool of struggle for the slaves, the machete became a "weapon" of survival. A symbol of freedom that during her concerts, Mirtha's voice offers moments of emotion between healthy euphoria and sweet melancholy. This symbol is above all a desire to go with her songs into new territories, creating shortcuts, opening gaps, transcending conditions and destinies. Generous musicians share this musical adventure that is enriched with each encounter. Since then, guitars and voice are supported by Afro-Peruvian rhythmic bases. The percussion (cajón and congas) and the double bass beat the pulse of their longed-for land. Mirtha's daring compositions are exposed and captivating; punctuated by reinterpretations of "classics" of the Afro-Peruvian repertoire.

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n 2005 a new round trip takes her to the cradle of black music i Peru, at El Carmen. The small village welcomes her. There, Don Amador Ballumbrosio, a living memory of this music, encouraged her and urged her "to continue against all odds" and advised her not to lend her guitar because "the instrument of course also has its soul"!

In 2006, she recorded her first compositions on the album "un batir de alas" in Peru, accompanied by Yuri Juarez (guitar), Marcos Mosquera (cajón), Joscha Oetz (contrabjo).

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She returns in 2007 with a project about Peruvian and French waltz and meets the cultural director of the Alliance Française, Pierre Losson. Pierre Losson invites her to conduct workshops at the Alliance Française in Miraflores and to work in more detail on her music in Lima. This invitation materializes in 2009 with the participation of SPEDIDAM. Mirtha starts to work on her new compositions with old Peruvian musician friends Pepe Céspedes (piano) and Felix Casaverde (guitar). Enderson Herencia (bass) and Hugo Bravo (cajón) joined them and after concerts in Rimac (Lima) and in the Alianza Francesa in Arequipa, they recorded the album "De verdes... y maduras". They were all invited in 2010 by the Fondation Alliance Française de Paris to open the Suma Sumaq festival with great success. Peru is the centre of attention in the French capital. Alberto Quintanilla, Susana Baca and Javier Echecopar among those invited with her to the event. She continued to collaborate with great musicians accompanying her for the promotion of the album in Peru and France.

 

Now : She is currently recording a new album between Lima and Lyon (France) with the participation of Enderson Herencia bass, charango, quenacho and backing vocals, Pepe Céspedes piano, Coco Vega and Carlos Ayala acoustic guitars, Pedro Rodriguez electric guitar, Sergio " Checho " Cuadros quena, zampoñas and backing vocals, Abel García saxophone and backing vocals, Mario " el Tati " Agüero Peruvian cajón congas quijada and backing vocals, Arturo Miranda drums, percussions, Louis Torres Peruvian cajón, drums and percussions.

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