Laura Robles

Laura Robles (cajón, batás, congas, electric bass) was born in 1981 in Swaziland, Africa, and grew up in Lima. At the age of four, she gained access to the rich Afro-Peruvian musical tradition through lessons with master Amador "Chebo" Ballumbrosio, before being taken under the wing of Juan Medrano "Cotito," internationally renowned for his work with Susana Baca. For ten years now, Laura has been considered one of the most important players of the cajón in Peru, the central instrument of folklore that emerged under the influence of West African slaves. At 13, she was accepted into Susana Baca's "Instituto Negro Continuo," where she intensively studied Cuban folklore and popular music, as well as the complex music of Yoruba culture. She declined a scholarship offer from Berklee College, Boston, to devote herself to her own music.

She founded the successful bands "Astrocombo" and "Stretch it to The Limit," as well as the social-educational initiative "Parió Paula," and has performed with theater and dance companies and some of Peru's most renowned folk, jazz, and rock musicians - in Peru and at international festivals in Central and South America, the USA, and Spain, among others.