LP / TROPICAL GALAXY. Ranil y Su Conjunto

Ranil y Ranil y Su Conjunto - Tropical Galaxy
Analog Africa No. 43
Released on February 6, 2026
Pressed in Germany

"On April 18, 2019, just after getting off the plane in Iquitos, I got into a taxi with an older gentleman and immediately knew that the stars were aligned. As we headed towards the city center, I explained that I had come to the Peruvian Amazon to find Ranil."

“You mean Ranil, the singer? I know where he lives,” he replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “He has a radio station—I’ll take you there.”

We arrived at the heart of the frenetic Belén Market thirty minutes later, and before I knew it, I wasn't looking for the man anymore: I was standing right in front of him. Ranil and I connected immediately and ended up spending a month working together on this project.

A year later, in early 2020, I booked a flight back to Peru, this time bringing with me the first volume of Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical , freshly pressed on vinyl. The plan, along with Ranil, was to organize a launch party in Lima and then continue on to Iquitos, but it wasn't to be.

Before we could meet, a lockdown brought the country to a standstill, and Ranil passed away on April 24, 2020. Those who knew him best said that the silence that fell over his beloved neighborhood was the one thing his heart could not bear.

Born in 1935 as Jorge Raúl Llerena Vásquez, Ranil's story begins in the Peruvian Amazon, in a corner where the sounds of the forest mingle with radio waves arriving from Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador. After winning several local singing competitions as a young man, he soon realized that breaking into the Peruvian music industry—especially as an artist from the "end of the world"—would not be an easy path.

So he concentrated on his studies and became a teacher in a rural village near the border with Brazil, quietly writing his first songs to the rhythm of life in the jungle.

Years later, back in Iquitos, fate intervened in the form of Johnny Quinteros of Los Silver's, who invited Ranil to join as a singer. Their two albums, recorded in the early seventies, became cult classics. When the band broke up, lead guitarist Limber Zumba and Ranil teamed up and recorded a demo, which they took to Lima in search of a record label.

After returning disappointed from the capital —where they were offered unacceptable conditions— Ranil decided to found his own label, Producciones Llerena, something practically unheard of in this part of the Peruvian Amazon.

With a rotating cast of brilliant musicians like Luis Nigro, Emilio Piña, and Betto Gaviria by his side, Ranil created a sound that locals affectionately called “llullampeo”: imaginative, unpredictable, and wonderfully unrestrained. His percussionists wove rhythms that haven’t reappeared in the region since, and the 14 songs presented here remain some of the most vivid documents of that bold, free, and often psychedelic ensemble.

Over the years, Ranil released more than a dozen LPs, though often in a beautiful mess: mismatched covers, wrong labels, missing song titles, and chaotic management. Llerena Productions was not destined to stand the test of time.

In the 1980s, as Amazonian cumbia began to fade and new trends took its place, Ranil reinvented himself as a radio pioneer, founding Radio Llerena in the heart of the Belén market. Its loudspeakers filled the neighborhood with cumbia, commentary, and community news, making him one of the most recognizable voices in Iquitos and even leading him into politics.

Outraged by the injustices in the Amazon, Ranil ran several times for mayor of Belén for the Popular Action party, although he never won an election.

Epilogue by Samy Ben Redjeb

"While stuck in Lima during lockdown, I uploaded a selection of unreleased Ranil songs to our Bandcamp for the symbolic sum of $1. The collection was titled 'Stay Safe & Sound – The Ranil Selection.' To my surprise, people started contributing far more than the suggested amount."

Looking for meaningful ways to use that money, I contacted Diego Hernández, a Peruvian music producer based in Berlin, with the Eck Echo label. During our first conversation, I learned that in Iquitos many people were dying, mainly due to a lack of oxygen.

Diego told me about Father Raymundo Portelli, a priest who was coordinating a fundraising campaign to acquire an oxygen plant for the city's residents. He was clearly the person we should support.

Diego and I joined forces to establish the Amazon Relief Fund, actively promoting donations while featuring Ranil's selection as the centerpiece. In just two weeks, we raised approximately €13,000, which was donated directly to Father Raymundo to facilitate the purchase of a second oxygen plant, likely saving many lives.

Even in death, Ranil continued to do God's work!

-Analog Africa-

Tracklist. Duration: 35 min 20 sec.

1. Tropical Galaxy
2. Bay
3. Inka
4. Three Cienaguero
5. With Ranil Of Course (Interlude 1)
6. Gypsy girl
7. Dawn of My Jungle
8. Cumbia Del Torero
9. Venus cries
10. Serenade (Interlude 2)
11. Town
12. Mambo in Spain
13. Beautiful Sunset
14. Andalusia

Graphic design: Mzk & Yacine Blaeich
Mastering: Michael Graves (Osiris Studio)
Audio restoration: Jordan McLeod (Osiris Studio)
Translation: Saint Leticia
Notes: Alfredo Villar & Samy Ben Redjeb
Text editing: Jesse Simon
Photographs: Unicorn Boy