Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet - El Muki (2025)

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Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet - El Muki (2025)

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For over two decades, the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet has forged a distinctive path through the world of jazz—fusing the deep-rooted traditions of Afro-Peruvian music with the improvisational language of modern jazz. Now, the Lima/New York based ensemble returns with a landmark album that not only celebrates the group’s 20th anniversary but reaffirms their role as musical storytellers, culture bearers, and fearless innovators.

‘El Muki’ is set for release on August 15, 2025 via Saponegro Records.

The album’s title references a mythological Andean figure said to protect miners in the Peruvian highlands. In that spirit, El Muki positions the Sextet as guardians of something equally vital: the soul of music created by real people, in real time, on real instruments. But forget the clichés—there are no pan pipes here. Instead, you’ll find traditional instruments, richly layered horns, expressive saxophone lines, and the unmistakable energy of a band making music with deep roots and modern fire.

Led by trumpeter/composer Gabriel Alegría, the Sextet draws deeply from Alegría’s bicultural life between Peru and the United States. Their music has long reflected this dual identity—a blend of earthy street rhythms from Lima with the high-wire energy of New York’s jazz scene. The result is a sound that’s unmistakably their own: rhythm-forward, richly layered, and emotionally charged.

“El Muki is about resistance and hope,” says Alegría. “It’s a reminder that music is most powerful when it speaks from lived experience—when it comes from a place of humanity.”

A key voice on the album is saxophonist and composer Laura Andrea Leguía, whose return to writing after a period of personal transformation infuses the record with introspective beauty and raw power. “Motherhood changed everything—including the way I hear music. Coming back to composition for this album felt like reclaiming a part of myself”.

From the opening alarm-call of the title track to the lush cello lines of ‘Ausencia’ and the hypnotic pulse of ‘Luciérnagas,’ El Muki moves through folkloric festejo and lando grooves, winding time signatures, and unexpected harmonic twists. Traditional instruments like cajón, cajita, and quijada are used with reverence and invention, anchoring each composition in cultural memory while pushing the music somewhere thrillingly new.

El Muki is the culmination of 20 years of musical exploration, community-building, and cultural exchange. From global tours and NPR features to their acclaimed “Journey to Peru” immersion project—which invites fans to travel with the band into the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture—the Sextet has cultivated a loyal audience around the world. They maintain a vibrant weekly residency at Lima’s legendary Jazz Zone and now reach international fans through free livestreams and an upcoming U.S. tour.