Peruvian music included in Quantum of Solace the latest James Bond movie

James Bond film producers and Sony Pictures didn’t get the chance to shot Quantum of Solace -the latest Bond flick- in Machu Picchu, Peru, due to local protests and "bad weather" and I was very happy about it.

Jaime Cuadra. Photo MySpace

But the film producers have included three Peruvian songs in the recently released movie. The songs are part of a 2006 production by Peruvian arranger and singer Jaime Cuadra, titled Cholo Soy.

According to EFE via Peru.com, Jaime Cuadra was of all people "the most amazed" after a friend called to give him the news. Sony Pictures decided to include the songs Regresa (Return), Cholo Soy (I’m Cholo) and Provinciano (Province man), composed by Augusto Polo Campos, Luis Morales and Laureano Martinez.

Regresa
by Augusto Polo Campos
Voice of Luisa Reyes and Jaime Cuadra

The songs were picked by the film director, German-born Marc Forster, who heard them after Cuadra won the best Fusion production at the "Independent Music Award" in New York. And recently, the Peruvian attended the pre-premiere of the film, where he met David Craig, Robert de Niro and Barbara Broccoli, producer and owner of the Bond brand.

By the way, Cholo is a racist slurs created by Hispanic invaders in the XVI century. It means dog of bad breed or mutt. Some Peruvians use it as a colloquial term, to refer to people of mixed Indigenous and Hispanic heritage.

During the film production Peru was scratched off the list of locations, and a location in northern Chile was chosen. But the script required a Bolivian town and this caused controversy among Chileans, also.


Peruvian music is very creative, unique and diverse. As Agustin Gurza of LA Times puts it: "Lima comes alive with irresistible rhythms. During a visit last fall, I was thrilled to discover these artistic efforts to revive Peruvian music, one of the most powerful yet underappreciated cultural traditions in the Western Hemisphere."

And yes, I will go to see this movie only to hear the Peruvian songs.

Now, why do we Peruvians celebrate so much that this film has included our music? It’s like we wait until others appreciate our cultures, for us to value it for what it is. Kind of sad but a point of start for many to realize how rich our cultures are.

Quantum of Solace
trailer

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