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Patrones
Patrones
Tenorio Cotobade &- Cat No: TEN109LP
- updated:2026-11-07
A highly anticipated release—which could be described as Afro-Peruvian psychedelic ambient spiritual electronic chill-out jazz—has been released by the Madrid-based label Tenorio Cotobade & Sometimes Music!! ! This marks the debut of Patrones, a new project led by Peruvian musician, DJ, and producer Humberto Polar!!!
Track List
“Fans of the unusual and adventurous will not want to miss this.” (Songlines)
Patrones, the new project led by Peruvian musician, DJ and producer Humberto Polar, debuts with four tracks in which the loose dynamics of jazz engage in a dialogue with the foundational rhythms of Afro-Peruvian music.
Released by the Madrid-based labels Tenorio Cotobade and Sometimes Music, the album sets the instrumental improvisation of jazz ensembles over a tapestry of rhythms performed by Alfredo Valiente and Roberto and Chebo Ballumbrosio, members of one of the most representative musical families in Afro-Peruvian culture.
These rhythms, recorded in Lima, are the four ‘patterns’ upon which almost the entire Afro-Peruvian musical tradition is built, and they give their names to the four pieces that make up the album: Son de los Diablos, Festejo, Yunza and Landó.
Having been based in Mexico City for twenty-three years, Polar took these patterns and, drawing on a sensibility rooted in jazz, ambient and electronic dance music, transformed them into templates for developing dynamics of instrumental interaction. With these new tracks, he gathered in the recording studio with three highly skilled musicians – drummer Carlos Icaza, trombonist Yudith Rojas and double bassist Mike Sandoval – and together they immersed themselves in a process of deep jazz improvisation.
‘Patrones de Son de los Diablos’, the opening track, sets the tone and the approach: taking the recorded patterns as a starting point, Humberto’s guitar, Mike’s double bass and Yudith’s trombone create a harmonic framework within which each musician articulates phrases to establish a free and spontaneous conversation. The dialogue is pure jazz improvisation; the atmosphere is spiritual, solemn and ceremonial.
In ‘Patrones de Festejo’, the rhythm associated with festivities in the Afro-Peruvian tradition is slowed down to give way to an esoteric atmosphere where electronic textures float around a bass line that is as straightforward as it is ominous. The fluid phrases of Polar’s electric guitar overlay the melodic motifs established by Rojas’s trombone, while the band chooses to pause and listen intently before setting off again. This is the moment when the album’s sound comes closest to the atmosphere of early 1970s jazz fusion.
This sound continues in ‘Patrones de Yunza’, where Icaza’s drums blend with the Afro-Peruvian rhythms, allowing Yudith’s trombone and Mike’s double bass to weave irresistible lines of improvisation.
‘Patrones de Landó’, the closing track, features a chant whose repetitive melody has a ritualistic quality that connects the musicians to a past which links them, first and foremost, to Afro-Peruvian culture and, ultimately, to ancestral traditions dating back to the African continent.
Combining a variety of compositional strategies and stylistic approaches, and drawing on the intimate relationship between rhythm and improvisation, “Patrones” is an album that unites the traditions of Afro-Peruvian music with the creative possibilities of jazz, establishing a vital link between different temporal, territorial and aesthetic dimensions.
““Fans of the unusual and adventurous will not want to miss this.””
Chris Wheatley — Songlines
Patrones, the new project led by Peruvian musician, DJ and producer Humberto Polar, debuts with four tracks in which the loose dynamics of jazz engage in a dialogue with the foundational rhythms of Afro-Peruvian music.
Released by the Madrid-based labels Tenorio Cotobade and Sometimes Music, the album sets the instrumental improvisation of jazz ensembles over a tapestry of rhythms performed by Alfredo Valiente and Roberto and Chebo Ballumbrosio, members of one of the most representative musical families in Afro-Peruvian culture.
These rhythms, recorded in Lima, are the four ‘patterns’ upon which almost the entire Afro-Peruvian musical tradition is built, and they give their names to the four pieces that make up the album: Son de los Diablos, Festejo, Yunza and Landó.
Having been based in Mexico City for twenty-three years, Polar took these patterns and, drawing on a sensibility rooted in jazz, ambient and electronic dance music, transformed them into templates for developing dynamics of instrumental interaction. With these new tracks, he gathered in the recording studio with three highly skilled musicians – drummer Carlos Icaza, trombonist Yudith Rojas and double bassist Mike Sandoval – and together they immersed themselves in a process of deep jazz improvisation.
‘Patrones de Son de los Diablos’, the opening track, sets the tone and the approach: taking the recorded patterns as a starting point, Humberto’s guitar, Mike’s double bass and Yudith’s trombone create a harmonic framework within which each musician articulates phrases to establish a free and spontaneous conversation. The dialogue is pure jazz improvisation; the atmosphere is spiritual, solemn and ceremonial.
In ‘Patrones de Festejo’, the rhythm associated with festivities in the Afro-Peruvian tradition is slowed down to give way to an esoteric atmosphere where electronic textures float around a bass line that is as straightforward as it is ominous. The fluid phrases of Polar’s electric guitar overlay the melodic motifs established by Rojas’s trombone, while the band chooses to pause and listen intently before setting off again. This is the moment when the album’s sound comes closest to the atmosphere of early 1970s jazz fusion.
This sound continues in ‘Patrones de Yunza’, where Icaza’s drums blend with the Afro-Peruvian rhythms, allowing Yudith’s trombone and Mike’s double bass to weave irresistible lines of improvisation.
‘Patrones de Landó’, the closing track, features a chant whose repetitive melody has a ritualistic quality that connects the musicians to a past which links them, first and foremost, to Afro-Peruvian culture and, ultimately, to ancestral traditions dating back to the African continent.
Combining a variety of compositional strategies and stylistic approaches, and drawing on the intimate relationship between rhythm and improvisation, “Patrones” is an album that unites the traditions of Afro-Peruvian music with the creative possibilities of jazz, establishing a vital link between different temporal, territorial and aesthetic dimensions.
““Fans of the unusual and adventurous will not want to miss this.””
Chris Wheatley — Songlines
This album fuses Afro-Peruvian traditional music and rhythms with the improvisational and creative possibilities of jazz, featuring four tracks imbued with the magic of modern, psychedelic, ambient, and magical soundscapes.
This album features a rhythmic tapestry woven by Alfredo Valliente, Roberto & Chebo Ballumbrosio—members of a musical family representing Afro-Peruvian culture—in dialogue with a jazz ensemble comprising three exceptional musicians: drummer Carlos Icaza, trombonist Yudith Rojas, and double bassist Mike Sandoval. Project leader Humberto Polar provides direction and infuses the music with electronic, magical, chill-out soundscapes. Subtle dub elements also come through. I highly recommend this album. (Original Japanese text by COMPUMA)