Chile

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

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 

Other Side -
Águila Sideral
Antigua América
Sube A Nacer Conmigo Hermano
Final

Enjoy,

NØ