Los Wembler's De Iquitos

Los Wembler's De Iquitos

Los Wembler's De Iquitos are a Peruvian cumbia group from Iquitos, in the Amazon region of Peru. Formed in 1968, the band remains active and is associated with cumbia, cumbia amazónica and cumbia peruana. The group is made up of members from the Sánchez family: Alberto Sánchez Casanova, Emerson L. Sánchez Casanova, Jair Sánchez Casanova and Salomón Sánchez Saavedra.

Origins and style

The band forms in Iquitos, the capital of the Peruvian Amazon, when Solomon Sanchez creates an electric version of the local music of the region, drawing on pandilla, carimbó and cumbia. The group develops from the city’s musical environment and from radio broadcasts carrying music from Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States. Its use of electric instruments helps define its early sound and places it among the Peruvian cumbia pioneers that help lay the foundations for chicha.

Importance in cumbia

Los Wembler's De Iquitos play an important role in the early development of Amazonian cumbia and the chicha explosion of the 1970s. They record and write early genre classics including “Sonido Amazonico” and “La danza del Petrolero”, songs that become closely identified with the style. The group starts in the same year as Los Destellos and Juaneco y su Combo, two other key Peruvian cumbia acts.

Recording history and later recognition

Between 1973 and 1979, the band records two or three albums a year, before slowing down in the late 1970s as younger groups move toward synthesizers and processed guitar sounds. After Salomón Sánchez dies, the remaining brothers largely stop touring and recording, though they continue to appear at local functions and parties. Interest in the band’s music later returns, and their songs are included on the Roots of Chicha compilations. Their music is also covered by artists including Los Mirlos, Chicha Libre and Firewater.

Collaborations and recent work

The group works with artists including Eblis Alvarez of Meridian Brothers and Dengue Dengue Dengue, which brings them new visibility and supports their more experimental approach. They release Ikaro del Amor on Barbès Records in 2017, their first new recording since the early 1980s, and later release Vision de Ayahuasca on Barbès Records, with all-new compositions. Their performances are described as combining dance music and psychedelic rock, and the band tours in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Their music also appears in the Roots of Chicha catalog, where their classic albums are included.