***Los Jaivas -Alturas De Macchu Picchu (Chile prog-folk,1981)- A celebrated classic***

Review from progarchives.com:

What would it sound like if you combined symphonic prog with Andean folk influences? Well, "Alturas De Macchu Picchu" by Los JAIVAS answers that question. This album is an incredible find for anyone who enjoys both progressive rock and traditional Peruvian, and Chilean, folk music. If you can imagine electric guitars, bass, drums, piano, and the Moog interacting with instruments like the cuatro, quena, and zamponia then you're in for a treat. "Alturas..." combines epic-length symphonic prog tracks, with shorter traditional Andean songs. In my opinion, the keyboardist really stands out when playing acoustic piano. He tends to mix pentatonic-based melodies with local rhythms, yet those melodies sound closer to Chinese classical folk more than American blues, or Eastern European folk. His style is unique in the world of rock. The other musicians are equally impressive, but I think most listeners will focus in on the excellent vocals. Anyway, this is one of the top 5 prog rock albums to come out of South America.*****

1. Del aire al aire (Alberto Ledo) (2:16)
2. La poderosa muerte (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (11:12)
3. Amor americano (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (5:28)
4. Aguila sideral (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (5:22)
5. Antigua America (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (5:38)
6. Sube a nacer conmigo hermano (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (4:46)
7. Final (Los Jaivas - Pablo Neruda) (2:43)


Line-up / Musicians

- Gato Alquinta / lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, cuarto, zampoña, quena, ocarina
- Mario Mutis / bass, electric guitar, zampoña, quena, vocals
- Eduardo Parra / electric piano, Mini-Moog, tarka
- Claudio Parra / grand and electric piano, mini-Moog, harpsichord
- Gabriel Parra / drums, percussion, xylophone, trutrucas, tarka, vocals

Guest musicians:
- Alberto Ledo / all instruments (1)
- Patricio Castillo / quena (4), tarka (5)



**

***Los Jaivas -Cancion Del Sur (Chile prog 1977)***

review from Progarchives.com:

A unique sounding band produces a great album, very cheerfull and melodic classical folkish andean rock music, with great piano and guitar play, augmented with some more traditional instruments.

The music changes throughout the songs, often starting etnic/folkish and slow, but the intesity of the music grows on each passing minute, especially on Dum Dum Tambora, Danzas and Canción Del Sur that build-up is perfectly illustrated. The final Frescura Antigua kicks right in with classical guitars, augmented with some flute wizardry that also makes Canción Para Los Pàjaros such an enjoyable listening.

Los Jaivas in one of the few bands of South American origin I know, but it sure sounds very good, I prefer the next album Alturas de Macchu Picchu over this gem, but this album defines their sound in marvelous fashion.

Recommended, certainly if you like flute and etnic/folk melody and structures.

Listen and you will enjoy this.

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. La Vida Màgica, Ay Sí (3:21)
2. En La Cumbre De Un Cerro (5:06)
3. Canción Para Los Pàjaros (3:14)
4. Dum Dum Tambora (7:50)
5. Canción Del Sur (7:39)
6. Danzas (8:44)
7. Frescura Antigua (3:18)


Line-up / Musicians

- Gato Alquinta / vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, trutrucas
- Pajaro Canzani / bass
- Eduardo Parra / electric piano and Mini-Moog
- Claudio Parra / grand piano, keyboards
- Gabriel Parra / drums, percussion and vocals

Guest musicians:
- Alberto Ledo / charango

**

***Los Jaivas -Los Jaivas/Indio (1975, Chile)-prog-folk- gorgeous album!***

review from progarchives.com:

During their early years, the interest on expanding the musical possibilities of folk music to new sonic domains drove Chilean ensemble Los Jaivas to assimilate the prog thing and use it as a strategy to realize their artistic vision. Their eponymous third album is a turning point, since the prog thing stops being just a mere strategy and becomes the main structure of their compositions and performances. With a momentarily new bassist in the fold (it wouldn't be long before Mutis returned to the band) and a renewed sense of energy, Los Jaivas conceived an amazing repertoire for an amazing record.

The opener 'Pregón para Iluminarse' starts with some delicious recorder lines that soon give way to an up-tempo Paraguayan folk based number: what takes place here is an exulting combination of jungle colours and the fire of rock, specially during the explosive guitar solo that appears in the closing section. By now the listener must be hooked, to say the least. 'Guajira Cósmica' finds the band traveling northbound, to the rain forests of Central America. After a brief, delightful acoustic interlude in 6/8 tempo, a guajira explodes in exaltation, with a whole lot paraphernalia of tropical percussion, enthusiastic chanting about the order of the universe, and eventually a recorder that flies around like a bird of truth - while this sequence fades out, a sustained distorted organ chord announces the reprise of the intro motif. In perspective, what we witnessed was the sudden emergence of a cosmological revelation that for a while filled our ordinary dull lives with an irresistible touch of joy and celebration.

'La Conquistada' goes somewhere else: a place of introspective reflectiveness where melancholy rules the soul and obliges the heart to face its own pain. The endless piano flourishes draw captivating images with mesmeric flows of classically oriented precise lines and jazzy painting; meanwhile, Alquinta's guitar leads perfectly complement the passion condensed in his singing. This is perhaps the most overtly emotional number on the record. Tracks 3 and 4 are the most directly focused on the folkish roots. 'Un Mar de Gente' is a delicate acoustic Andean ballad that soon incorporates a massive spectrum of percussive elements, giving the track a high- spirited tropical twist; 'Un Día de tus Días' is a romantic huayno, tender, evocative, nothing special but full of simple beauty. Had both these numbers been further developed, I imagine they could have become as attractive and explosive as the previous three ones.

The three-part instrumental suite 'Tarka y Ocarina' closes down the album with full splendour in an amazing display of electric fire and magical intensity. Despite the title mentioning two typical woodwind instruments from the Andes, this is in fact a piece where the electric stuff is the predominant one. Of course, there's lots of Andean woodwind and drums here and there, bur it is the jams which take the leading role in this epic: the hard rocking parts where Alquinta's guitar comes to the frontline, and the jazz fusion passages where Claudio Parra's piano floats energetically and exquisitely are simply unbelievable.

Despite the fact that I have mentioned and praised just a couple of specific factors, the thing is that this whole repertoire should be valued as an ensemble effort. The rhythm section is simply astonishing, since it sensibly captures both the ancient magic of Latin American folklore and the various nuances of jazz and rock; and the way that all five musicians share their woodwind and percussion duties is a symptom that these individual minds basically work as a whole unified one. "Los Jaivas" (also commonly known in the Latin American prog fan circles as "El Indio" and "El Indígena") is a quintessential in the context of South American 70s prog: though not a masterpiece, sure it is very good and essential.

**

***Los Jaivas -Todos Juntos (1972, Chile) -Prog-Folk***

review from Amazon.com:

this is a one of the most original works of andean music, colours and sounds of fusion of folk and rock. This album includes some titles like "todos juntos" recorded on 1976, its really a symbol, or "mira niñita", a ballad with powerful energy. Los jaivas have many albums and if you are looking a new kind of music I recomended that and others like alturas de machu picchu (words of a great poet Pablo Neruda) or "trilogia" to discover the music of this amazing group.

**

***Los Jaivas (Chile) -El Volantin -Mad wild rare Psych/prog/ethnic raveup!***

Los Jaivas appeared in Chilean music in 1963 as a progressive-rock-andino group, mixing rock with South American ancestral music. The Parra brothers met Mario Mutis and Eduardo "Gato" Alquinta (gato is the Spanish word for cat) in their childhood and joined to play music. They acquired fame in Viña del Mar, by playing at diverse parties and shows.

Name

The former name of the band was High-bass, which related to their differences in height, although another source mentions that it was because the bass guitar played at a very high volume compared to the other instruments. However, they quickly realized that an English-sounding name was not appropriate for a folk band, so they changed it to Jaivas (HIGH-BASS), a "Chileanized" pronunciation of "high bass" which ignores the fact that bass rhymes with base in English. The spelling of Jaivas is also a word play with the word Jaibas, which means crabs in Spanish.

'El Volantin' is one of the most sought after long plays of Chilean music history,fetching prices of 900-1000 USD.

The music on this album was almost completely derived from improvisations, and can be considered as a performance of a "happening". It was pretty wild and free. From 20 hours of work only 40 minutes were used for publication. There were only 500 albums printed. It became not so widely known because it also did not fit to what radio stations usually played. The usual rock groups from that time explored the electroacoustic styles, and were influenced by Cream or Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Los Jaivas used the development of improvisation, also during the live concerts.This album was first privately released, with free, freak-out and drugged like versions of music based upon Chilean Folk fundaments and demented percussion. Not always fantastic, but with fine moments. Especially "Cacho" is worth discovering. The rest might be a bit exaggerating. Almost the complete album was totally improvised.

(From:http://progressive.homestead.com/LOSJAIVAS.html)

Los Jaivas are still active in Chile.


Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Cacho (5:44)
2. La Vaquita (7:11)
3. Por Veinticinco Empaná (3:00)
4. Tamborcito De Milagro (4:00)
5. Que O La Tumba Serás (3:22)
6. Foto De Primera Comunión (6:34)
7. Ultimo Día (8:26)
8. Bolerito (0:25)

Total time 38:44

Line-up / Musicians

- Gato Alquinta / lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, recorder, ocarina, tumbadora
- Mario Mutis / bass, vocals, acoustic guitar, recorder, tarka, tumbadora, tambotcito de milagro, pandereta
- Eduardo Parra / organ, bongo, kultrum, xylophone, backing vocals
- Claudio Parra / piano, güiro, rasca de metal, pandereta, maracas, tambotcito, backing vocals
- Gabriel Parra / drums, tumbadora, kultrum, caja, maracas, cacho, trutruca, piano introdaction, vocals (2), backing vocals

Guest musicians:
- Geraldo Vandré / vocals
- Monks of Abadia del Viejo Mundo / bells

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