Jose Luis Carballo is one of the most influential Chicha guitarist in Peru. He grew up in a poor neighborhood of Lima, surrounded by new migrants from the Andes and started playing guitar at a young age. He played traditional and tropical music and later studied classical guitar. Starting in 1973, he played lead guitar for Angel Anibal's group Los Hijos del Sol, whose hit, "Cariñito" was one of the earliest successful attempt at fusing Andean music and cumbia. He also led his own band La Mermelada. In the late 70's, Jose Carballo went on to form La Nueva Crema (named after the band Cream) with back up singer Chacalon and they became the most beloved and most successful chicha band in Peru. Chacalon died in 1994. Carballo now lives in Los Angeles where he still plays with this band La Mermelada.
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.