Man, am I seasick. Five thousand miles across the unforgiving Southern Pacific to the treacherous Cape Horn. Sudden squalls & rain showers continued to dog me through the night. I am now getting dangerously close to the ice fields. The wind is howling at 30-40 knots & the waves are building up to 20 feet as I cross Drake's Passage. Because of the westerly winds, I am forced to approach Cape Horn from the south-west. I will have to avoid the Diego Ramirez Islands, situated just 60 miles SW of Cape Horn. I approach just as day breaks & the storm lifts a little. A beautiful rainbow appears in the sky & I see my goal…Terra Firma…finally solid ground. Hello Chile, S.A.
Today Chile is one of South America's most stable & prosperous nations. It leads all other Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, & democratic development. But such has not always been the case. The late 60s until the late 80s was a tumultuous time for the Chilean people.
The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei Montalva initiated a period of major reform. Frei’s administration embarked on far-reaching social & economic programs, particularly in education, housing, & agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. But by 1967 however, Frei was encountering increasing opposition by those on the left, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, & from the conservative right, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals.
In the 1970 election, Salvador Allende of the Socialist
Party of Chile ended up stuck in a three-way contest with candidate Radomiro
Tomic for the Christian Democrat Party & Jorge Alessandri for the
Conservative Party. The Chilean Congress conducted a runoff vote between the
leading candidates which Allende won. The economic depression in Chile in the
early 70s was harsh, but Allende adopted measures including price freezes, wage
increases, & tax reforms to increase consumer spending & redistribute
income downward. Joint private-public works projects helped reduce
unemployment. Much of the banking sector was nationalized. Many enterprises
within the copper, coal, iron, nitrate, & steel industries were expropriated,
nationalized, or subjected to state intervention. Industrial output increased
sharply & unemployment fell during the Allende administration's first year.
As a result, the Richard Nixon administration, fearing the
success of a Socialist Republic, organized & inserted secret CIA operatives
in Chile,
in order to quickly destabilize Allende’s government. In addition, American
financial pressure restricted international economic credit to Chile. With the
intrusion & subversion of the United States,
by early 1973, inflation in Chile
was out of control. A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As
the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende reportedly 'committed
suicide'. A military junta led by
General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte took over control of the country. The first
years of the regime were marked by extreme human rights violations. On October 1973, at
least 72 people were murdered by the Pinochet’s Caravan of Death. In all, at least
2,115 were killed, at least 27,265 were tortured (including 88 children younger
than 12 years old). Many were forced to flee for their lives.
Among those forced to flee were the band members of Los Jaivas.
If I didn’t post up some music from Chilean band Los Jaivas, then I'd be doing a disservice to this journey. Los Jaivas first appeared on the Chilean music scene in 1963 & have been going strong to this day, now fifty years worth of fantastic prog-rock blended with native Andino folk, successfully mixing rock with South American Andes ancestral music.
The Parra brothers met Mario Mutis & Eduardo 'Gato' Alquinta when they were all still children. They joined together through their love of music. They got their first tastes of fame in Viña del Mar, Chile playing at many area parties & shows.
The band took refuge in Argentina after the military dictatorship took over in Chile in 1973. The first major line-up change for the band occurred in 1988 when Gabriel Parra died in Peru in a car crash. His daughter Juanita took his place behind the drums.
In January 2003, their lead singer Gato Alquinta died in Coquimbo, Chile of a heart attack while swimming in the ocean. After his death, Gato's three sons joined the band to help keep Eduardo’s memory & the band itself alive: Ankatu – guitar; Eloy – saxophone; & Aurora - vocals. Aurora left shortly after, & Eloy died of a heart attack in 2004. Ankatu is still a member of the band & they continue onward.
This first album was originally titled Los Jaivas, but the
year following its release (privately by the band) they released an album also
titled Los Jaivas on the IRT (Industria De Radio y Televisión, S.A.)
label. So when the first album was re-released, the title was changed to El
Volantin. To add to the confusion that we so enjoy here, the IRT release Los
Jaivas had its titled changed three times. It was re-released in 1983 in Argentina,
where the band had moved after the military dictatorship took over, as La
Ventana. It was once again re-released, this time in 2002, again in Chile, as Todos
Juntos, & last year it was re-released again on RCA Victor Chile, now back
to Los Jaivas.
This first album was recorded in Santiago, Chile
on June & July of 1971 at RCA’s Estudio Splendid. On the album, Los Jaivas
are: Eduardo 'Gato' Alquinta - lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitar, recorder, ocarina, & congas; Claudio Parra - piano, guiro, rasca de
metal, tambourine, maracas, drum, & backing vocals; Mario Mutis – vocals & backing vocals,
bass, acoustic guitar, recorder, tarka, congas, drum, & tambourine;
Eduardo Parra - organ, bongos, kultrún percussion, xylophone, & backing vocals; &
Gabriel Parra - drums, congas, kultrún percussion, caja, maracas, cacho,
trutruca, & backing vocals. (Many of the instruments listed here played by band members are traditional Andino instruments.)
The two like-titled albums were the only works produced by
the band before they were forced to flee Chile.
Los Jaivas – Los Jaivas, Grabacion Particular (private
Recording) LMX-37, 1971.
decryption codes in comments
Lado A –
Cacho
La Vaquita
Por Veinticinco Empaná
Tamborcito De Milagro
La Vaquita
Por Veinticinco Empaná
Tamborcito De Milagro
Lado B -
Que O La Tumba Serás
Foto De Primera Comunión
El Último Día
By 1981, Los Jaivas had moved on from Argentina & were living in France. Alturas de Machu Picchu is the bands seventh studio album. It is probably the most
important & popular of all their albums. On
it, the group set to music the popular poem of the album title by Nobel winning
poet Pablo Neruda published in his book Canto
General in 1950. In this poem, the poet
sings, overpowered by the greatness of human creation that he witnesses in the
ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, sings of the glorious indigenous past of Latin America, sings of human misery, death, & pain,
sings of the majesty that often occurs in those who forged that illustrious
past. The poem is one of the most significant of
Neruda's poems. The musical composition from Los Jaivas is regarded as
masterful & faithful to the original content. The true highlight of
the Alturas is "La Poderosa Muerte", a melodic & harmonic
composition (11+ minutes) that starts with the typical sound of the panflute
& melancholic piano notes, very beautiful & moving, followed by
emotional Spanish vocals. The build up is magnificent with propulsive drums
& sparkling piano play, soon accompanied by a fat sounding synthesizer
& fiery electric guitar. The dramatic atmosphere is emphasized by vocal
harmonies filled with intense pathos.
Los Jaivas y Pablo Neruda – Alturas de Macchu Picchu, Sym
Producciones SYML 009, 1981.
Del
Aire Side -
Del
Aire Al Aire
La Poderosa Muerte
Amor Americano
La Poderosa Muerte
Amor Americano
Other Side -
Águila Sideral
Antigua América
Sube A Nacer Conmigo Hermano
Final
Águila Sideral
Antigua América
Sube A Nacer Conmigo Hermano
Final
Enjoy,
NØ
Los Jaivas s/t
ReplyDelete18kCnI7Z6GexAqpuWYdV-F6hbD7VFg9LKUz296ijJCM
Alturas de Macchu Picchu
gvO8svPdLMqMUsx19fUDJKy5PmAhqz7qiZoVJiIoruI