Luis Pérez

Originating in Mexico City, performer and folklorist Luis Perez committed his existence to investigating pre-Colombian musical instruments while examining the wide array of artistic customs preserved by Mexico’s living indigenous communities. Across decades of journeys he amassed well over 700 traditional instruments, some reaching back 3000 years; in 1981 the Mexican government supported his debut LP Ipan in Xiktli Meztli, fusing ancestral instrumentation with contemporary electronics. Later collaborations linked him with figures that included Kitaro, Jackson Browne, Hans Zimmer, and Yes frontman Jon Anderson, while his own discography features the 1998 release Tales of Astral Travelers.