Occasionally, an album comes along that touches the heart and soul of a generation - groundbreaking recording with dramatic new arrangements combined with beautiful melodies and touching lyrics. In 1997, another one of these albums emerged in Latin America: Chichi Peralta's Pa' otro la'o. In the years since, it has become impossible to go anywhere in Latin America without hearing it.

How did a young percussionist from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, create one of the most popular albums in Latin America? The answer to Chichi Peralta's musical journey began in his childhood. "My interest was sparked at the age of four," explains Peralta. "It was then when I built my first instrument, a drum called the tambura. At about the same time, my father began teaching me about music, about the direct connection between art and music, and about the variety of fusions within music."

Peralta also credits his father for exposing him to a wide variety of sounds, ranging from the masters of classical music as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra to Johnny Ventura's Dominican merengue, as well as Cuban boleros and mambos and Dominican bachata. " He was the one who taught me about music's penetrating spirituality," adds Peralta. "Although my father is no longer physically with me, we still maintain communication through music."

Peralta's first professional foray into music was with a small Dominican band called "Los Fragmentos." It led him to an opportunity to be a studio session musician, working as a percussionist and arranger on a variety of recordings. It was during this period when Peralta met one of the giants in Dominican music, Juán Luis Guerra, which launched an 8 year collaboration in Guerra's hit group, 4:40. "That was a wonderful, unforgettable time, where I learned many things, including the professionalism required to become a successful musician. It also led to a beautiful friendship between us, one that remains to this day."

Following his work with Juan Luis Guerra's 4:40, Peralta set out to create a new path in music, a sound Peralta describes as fusón. Fusón is at the heart of Peralta's sound. "Fusón has to do with the many rhythms that we encounter in the world," he explains. "The important thing is not to mix them blindly. I see it like cooking. You have to know the exact measure of each ingredient." Peralta's fusón is dynamic, taking traditional Dominican forms such as merengue, bachata and son, and adding touches of gospel, jazz, blues, R & B, salsa, plus house, rave, electronic music, symphonic textures, and percussive layers from Africa, Brazil, and Asia. Still, Peralta sees himself as a sonero at heart. (An exponent of the son musical genre, closely related to its cousin in Cuba) "The son called to me," says Peralta. "However, I wanted to create a type of son that I already felt in my mind. I guess I am what you can call an idiosyncratic sonero, capturing my musical roots in a new sort of fusion."

The result of Peralta's fusion was the group "Son Familia" and the recording "Pa' otro la'o." "The album was a dream for me," explains Peralta, who arranged the album. This is a landmark recording from a bandleader in the tradition of Tito Puente and Machito, which brings together The London Symphony Orchestra, reggae greats Inner Circle, and an ensemble of the Dominican Republic's greatest musicians and songwriters. Among them is the critically acclaimed guitarist, vocalist and composer Jandy Feliz, who wrote half of the music on this album. "I wanted to create an album built on the foundation on a fusion of the world's music with Dominican merengue and bachata, an album based on love, virtue and talent." adds Peralta. What he created is indeed groundbreaking. Pa' otro la'o is full of brilliant arrangements and unforgettable songs that have gone on to become anthems throughout Latin America, and not surprisingly, has elevated Chichi Peralta to the status of superstar.

Rather than simply head back into the studio to produce a clone to his 1997 smash hit, Peralta both hones and builds upon his fusón sound with De vuelta al barrio. "Diversity keeps people from getting bored with what you do," adds Peralta. "Refusing to be open to change can lead to failure, not just commercially, but spiritually as well."

With De vuelta al barrio, Peralta returns to his Dominican roots, while simultaneously reaching out to musical cousins in Africa and Latin America. A masterful musical chef, Peralta fuses jazz, son, merengue, bachata, plena, salsa, vallenato, with the percussion of Africa, Brazil, India and the Middle East. To accomplish this, Peralta (quickly becoming a legendary bandleader in the tradition of Machito and Tito Puente) set out to record one of the most ambitious Latin recordings to date, bringing together the talents of renowned vocalists Cesar Olarte (Aruba) and Rene Geraldino (Dominican Republic), and invited special guests Henri Dikonge (Cameroon), the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Paris-based Luz Africa chorus. The result is a recording that Dominican folklorist Dagoberto Tejada describes as an album that is "the finest expression of our spirituality, history, folklore, and identity."

As for Peralta himself, he sees the album as a personal one, a tribute to his barrio. "The barrio, my beloved barrio, so many memories in my heart, so many unfinished love affairs, so many dreams realized, and so many that remain unfulfilled."

Contributed by: Dan Rosenberg