Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet | El Muki

Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet | El Muki | August 15, 2025

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.

Line up

Track Listing

El Muki
Luciérnagas / Fireflies
Mala Seńal / Bad Sign
Panabe
Vista Panorámica / Bird’s Eye View
Ausencia / Absence
La Zafra / The Harvest
Despertar / Awakening
Walking On The Moon

PR Quotes

Jazzwise (UK)
“channels blazing horn solos…across cracking grooves”

Concerto Magazine (AT)
“A rocking fusion sound, the result of 20 years of collaboration: the mythology and musical tradition of the Peruvian Andes combined with Chick Corea’s fusion jazz of the 1970s creates soundscapes you can hardly get enough of. In his own version of Latin jazz, trumpeter Gabriel Alegría merges rhythms from Lima with vibes from New York into a multi-layered whole that seeks fulfillment with determination. This succeeds especially gently and beautifully on “Despertar,” featuring radiant sunrise-trumpet sounds, tender guitar accompaniment, and finally, a rhythm that for once doesn’t push itself too dominantly forward”

Jazz in Family (IT)
“a symbol of contemporary Latin jazz…. viscerally rhythmic yet always elegant”

Musik an sich (DE)
“A fusion that combines tradition and modernity… a very special feeling that transports me mentally back to the spirit of optimism in the late 1960s and 1970s”

Esensja (PL)
“fascinating music that blends African and Latin American rhythms with jazz and fusion”

Maxazine (NL)
“the unmistakable work of a craftsman who takes his listener along, overwhelming and immersing them like the majestic waves of the Pacific Ocean”

FREQ (UK)
“By the time they have worked their curious tribal magic on a version of The Police‘s “Walking On The Moon”, the Afro Peruvian Sextet have us in the palms of their hands. Twenty years on and still fresh as a daisy and full of ideas. Here’s to another twenty“

Az Samad Lessons (MY)
“there is so much energy and communication within the ensemble… it is contagious.”

Jazzflits (NL)
“His trumpet playing is highly lyrical: beautiful in tone with smooth, rounded phrasing”

Walkers (JP)
“skilfully blends the traditions of Afro-Peruvian music with the improvisational spirit of modern jazz”

Jazz Journal (UK)
“packed full of interesting things and well worth digging into”

Paris Move (FR)
“It is musicians like Gabriel Alegría who have redefined what the term world jazz can mean”

Blue in Green (UK)
“With ‘El Muki’, the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet reaffirm their role as cultural custodians and creative pioneers. This album isn’t just a return to form — it’s a resounding statement that innovation and heritage can co-exist generating blissful results”

Era Jazzu (PL)
“skillfully blends the deeply rooted traditions of Afro-Peruvian music with the improvised language of contemporary jazz”

Jazz Views (UK)
“At its heart, El Muki shows how music can be a bridge—connecting cultures, stories, and people across time and place”

Bluebird Reviews (UK)
“Atmospheric, sonically inspired, sometimes dreamy and masterfully played, El Muki is a record where the Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet’s full craftsmanship shines at its best, whilst delivering an album that brings together different sonic worlds brilliantly, respectfully, creatively and with effortless class“