Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto - Reminiscences of Raktako: Huayno Guitar from Cuzco and Ayacucho, 1930-1940 (2025)

This eye-opening compilation documents the work of influential Peruvian guitarist and composer Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú (aka Ratako), featuring recently discovered home recordings that help cement his musical legacy.

When Ratako passed away in 2023 at age 100, he left behind a lifetime of playing huayno music and teaching its traditions to generations of guitarists in Ayacucho, in the southern Peruvian Andes. It was his student Gustavo Yashimura who uncovered these rare recordings made between 1930 and 1940, offering listeners from outside the region a rare glimpse into Ratako’s impact on local styles.

While the Spanish guitar became common in the Andes, Ratako adapted it by tuning it like the Andean harp and playing fingerstyle to mimic traditional rhythms. His innovative approach blended elements from Spanish lute, violin, and accordion techniques, producing a style that was neither strictly Spanish nor purely Andean folk—it was something modern, radical, and deeply original.

Tracklist:
1-1 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - Intro [0:57]
1-2 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - A1 [3:31]
1-3 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - A2 [2:53]
1-4 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - A3 [2:46]
1-5 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - A4 [1:52]
1-6 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - A5 [1:56]
1-7 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - B1 [2:01]
1-8 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - B2 [4:27]
1-9 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - B3 (Valicha) [2:44]
1-10 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - B4 [1:40]
1-11 Juscamaita Gastelu Alberto;Alberto Juscamaita Gastelú - B5 [3:12]