3. The History of the Cajón

It is not far-fetched to claim that the cajón has taken the world of Western music by storm. Having arrived in Spain from Peru in the late 1970s (Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia first included the cajón in his sextet in 1977), it initially spread through the Flamenco scene there. From the late 1990s on at the latest it began its conquest of the rest of Western Europe - a trend that persists until today.

The exact story of the cajón's origin in Peru is unclear. It is first mentioned in the middle of the 19th century in the context or Zamacueca (a Peruvian dance/music stlye). Some experts believe the cajón was based on the model of African box drums, while others cling to an oral tradition from Peruvian folklore: the Catholic powers that be in the 17-th century Viceroyalty of Peru supposedly forbade African slaves from owning the drums which were regarded as heathen instruments. There was also a fear that the drums would be used for communicating over long distances and thus aid in fomenting revolt. Robbed of one of their most fundamental cultural expressions, the slaves inventively started playing on everyday objects that could not be taken from them. This tradition has it that the cajón started out as nothing more than an mere transport box, which over time became a genuine instrument and was developed ever further.

The same causes are said to have led to the development of the Cuban cajón in the island's colonial era, independently of developments in Peru. Workers met in the ports to play Rumba on boxes of various sizes, leading to the different construction types there, all of which differ more or less significantly from the Peruvian one.