Mirtha Guerrero, stage name "La Machete", is a singular songwriter and performer part of the new generation creating Afro-Latin music now in Lima (Peru). She comes from a country that has been restricted to various stereotypes but her music opens breaches on unknown cultural aspects. Her musical creation takes root in the Afro-Peruvian rhythms and the delicate aesthetic of the “criolla y limeña” tradition. La Machete offers a lively and modern glance at these rhythms, interpreting this little-known music of the Pacific coast, where she grew up.
With her own compositions, La Machete paints her music with a new spirit: polyrhythm and fusion of melodies where one can hear folk, jazz and traditional voices of the sister countries of history and music. Cumbias, festejos, landós, and “valses criollos” are subtlety revisited “upgrading” the traditional repertory by giving actual sounds and contents to its rhythms.
Her lyrics: fantastic or banal stories become pretexts to thoughts about the daily life or unexpected events from here and there. Their clearness combines with imagination and an uncompromising derision that uplifts us with joy and passion.
Mirtha has lived between France & Peru for several years, developing her musical project in parallel and now working with 2 bands formed by musicians based in both countries. Her latest CD "De verdes... y maduras” was produced by the Alliance Française of Lima and Spedidam.
She just finished recording a new EP 100% Peruvian flavour called “Pago precio” (To put the price).
WHY LA MACHETE
Initially a working tool but also used by the slaves to fight for their liberty, the machete is a symbol of freedom that Mirtha shares with us during her concerts: moments of emotions between healthy euphoria and sweet melancholy. This Machete it’s above everything her special desire to go towards new territories with her song, creating short cuts, opening gaps, transcending conditions and destinies.