Huaylas

Huanca woman
11" x 8.5", 2013
watercolor, ballpoint on paper

You can find several numbers from the Top 100 list written about in the blog Musical Thrift Store Treasures, and listen to them in the process. For well over a year I posted stories about (thrift store) records on a weekly basis. I stopped writing for the blog but a nice thing with blogging is that it doesn't go away, I can pick it back up whenever I feel like it. The following text I wrote for Musical Thrift Store Treasures back in June of 2012. (It feels nice to be looking back.)   

Lo Mejor del Huaylas is an LP recorded by the Orquesta Seleccion Huanca directed by Freddy Centty. The terms "Huaylas" and "Huanca" are a little confusing because they both could refer to a geographical area or village in Peru, or to a dance. Huanca furthermore is the name of the Quechua Indians of Central Peru. I believe that the "Huaylas" in the title refers to the musical form (dance) and the "Huanca" in the name of the orchestra to the Native Central Peruvian Quechuas. In the form of the CD series Traditional Folk Music of Peru produced by Smithsonian Folkways I already had quite a selection of Huaylas and Huancas but until a few weeks ago I did have any commercially produced local examples of either style. To make it even more confusing I found a record by the singer Flor Sinqueña singing "Huaynos" at the same store I found the Huanca record. Of the three terms "Huaynos" is the most popular and generally known style of music from Peru. Be it Huaynos, Huancas, or Huaylas, if I find a record tagged with any of these terms in the thrift stores I'll take it. They're worth collecting and so far none has disappointed me.