Juancho Herrera: Afro-Latin Guitar and Songwriting Tools
Juancho Herrera
Image courtesy of the artist
Juancho Herrera has carved out a singular path with a highly personal synthesis of jazz and South American sounds. With his fourth record, Gaviero, the Colombian-born string wizard, singer, composer, arranger, and producer delivers a striking concept album.
Herrera has been an essential collaborator with some of the era’s definitive voices in jazz and world music, including Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuña, Colombian singer-songwriter Marta Gómez, Oaxacan American vocalist Lila Downs, and Argentine singer Sofia Rei. He has performed and recorded with international heavyweights such as Mercedes Sosa, the Chieftains, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Alejandro Sanz.
He will present a survey of Latin American guitar styles from three regions: the Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Venezuela), the Andean Mountains (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile), and the South Atlantic Coast (Brazil and Uruguay). The objective is to establish the musical and cultural connections between these traditions with genres such as jazz, blues, and West African music.