Los Jaivas
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Los Jaivas are a Chilean folk/rock/progressive rock group/band.
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[edit] Members
- Ankatu Alquinta (vocals, guitar)
- Juanita Parra (drums)
- Mario Mutis (vocals, electric guitar, bass, percussion)
- Eduardo Parra (organ, percussion)
- Claudio Parra (piano, vocals)
[edit] Former members
- Gabriel Parra (drums)
- Eduardo "Gato" Alquinta (vocals, guitar)
- Eloy Alquinta (vocals, saxophone, percussion)
- Aurora Alquinta (vocals)
[edit] History
They 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.
The band took refuge in Argentina after the military government took over in Chile. In 1977; they headed to France, where they resided for a long time. The first major change in the band occurred in 1988 when Gabriel died in Peru in a car crash. His daughter Juanita took his place behind the drums.
In January of 2003, the main singer, Gato Alquinta, died in Coquimbo, Chile, of a heart attack while swimming in the sea. Gato's three sons soon joined the band to replace him: Ankatu (guitar), Eloy (saxophone) and Aurora (vocals). Aurora left shortly after, and Eloy died of a heart attack in 2004 [1]. Ankatu, however, is still a member of the band.
[edit] 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-vahs), 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.
[edit] Discography
- El Volantín 1971
- Todos juntos 1972
- Palomita blanca (Movie soundtrack) 1973 (Released in 1995)
- Sueños de América 1974
- Los Jaivas (El indio) 1975
- Canción Del Sur 1977
- Mambo de Machaguay (Compilation) 1978
- Alturas de Macchu Picchu (based on lyrics from The Heights of Macchu Picchu by Pablo Neruda) 1981
- Aconcagua 1982
- Obras de Violeta Parra 1984
- Si tu no estás 1989
- Hijos de la Tierra 1995
- Trilogia: El Rencuentro 1997
- Mamalluca 1999
- En El Bar-Restaurant Lo Que Nunca Se Supo (Compilation) 2000
- Los Jaivas En Concierto: Gira Chile 2000 (Live) 2000
- Arrebol 2001
- Obras Cumbres (Compilation) 2003
- La Vorágine I, Pan Negro (Improvisations 1969-70) 2003
- La Vorágine II, La Reforma (Improvisations 1969-70) 2003
- La Vorágine III, El Tótem (Improvisations 1969-70) 2003
- La Vorágine IV, Mucha Intensidad (Improvisations 1969-70) 2003
- La Vorágine V, ¿Qué Hacer? (Improvisations 1969-70) 2003
- Serie de Oro: Grandes Exitos (Compilation) 2004
[edit] Trivia
- During the early years of the band, the musicians had to invest time and money transporting Claudio's grand piano to their shows. Despite being famous musicians by then, they couldn't yet afford a professional digital piano.
- Gato's funeral lasted three days, and gathered nearly 250,000 people, including some of the highest praised Chilean folk musicians.
