Los Jaivas - WikiHQ

Los Jaivas is a Chilean musical group who perform in folk, rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock styles formed in 1963 in Viña Del Mar, Chile. They are considered one of the most important and influential artists of all time in Latin America.

History

Los Jaivas was started by the brothers Eduardo, Claudio and Gabriel Parra, from Viña del Mar. Together with their friends and classmates from high school at the Liceo Guillermo Rivera Cotapos, they first played on August 15, 1963, under the name of The High & Bass as a progressive-rock-andino group, mixing rock with South American ancestral music.

At that time in Chile, it was customary to use English names for musical bands. Another source indicates that the name is a reference to the members differences in height, since the word in Spanish for bass guitar is the same as that for short (bajo). Another source explains the name as a reference to the bass guitar played at a very high volume compared to the other instruments. During the following six years, and with its stable formation (Eduardo on keyboards, Claudio on accordion and piano, Gabriel on drums, Gato on guitar and Mario on bass) the band played at parties and social gatherings in Viña del Mar, mainly performing music tropical, cha cha cha, bossa nova and boleros, with good results.

They quickly realized that an English-sounding name was not appropriate for a folk band, so they changed it to Jaivas ("high bass").

Between 1970 and 1971, and with its Spanishized name "Los Jaivas", the group's concerts became absolute improvisations, without scripts or prepared schemes, and with each musical instrument generating its own atmosphere, even with the help of the audience. Improvisation led them to the appreciation of Latin American musical roots and to the exploration of the sounds of ancestral instruments, which allowed them to combine apparently irreconcilable styles, but which Los Jaivas decided to capture in their subsequent musical creation.

In 1972 they released the Todos Juntos album. Its title track was a plea for unity among the people while "Mira Ninita" became another staple of the band's live set.

However the next year the band was forced to take refuge in Argentina after the military dictatorship took over in Chile. On March 22, 2011, Los Jaivas make a presentation in tribute to the then American president Barack Obama in the courtyard of Los Cañones of the Palacio de La Moneda.

Homage

The band celebrated its 50th anniversary in an open concert on the front of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Santiago de Chile. Special guests were Inti Illimani, Los Tres and Congreso among others. The concert attracted a multitude of over 60,000 people, causing major upheaval in the city, and the police had to intervene with water cannons.

Biopic

In March 2013, the same year as the celebration of the band's 50th anniversary, Chilean-Dutch filmmaker Erasmo de la Parra (son of Claudio Parra) convinced the musicians to make a biopic based on the band's formative years. The film would be set in the 1960s in Viña del Mar, from the time they were known as "The High Bass" to the time they became known as "Los Jaivas". The director revealed on the film's official Facebook page that the production would have gone through long negotiations with Netflix, but that the production house eventually chose other projects. The film, titled The High Bass, is in pre-production with an unknown release date, and with the participation of Belgian, Dutch, and British producers.

In 2020, the 140-minute documentary Los Jaivas: Todos Juntos was released, honouring the band's 55-year history. It was directed by Rodolfo Garate.

Members

Current members

Claudio Parra – keyboards, piano, vocals (1963–present)
Mario Mutis – vocals, bass guitar, guitars, percussion (1963–1975; 1979–1985, 1996–present)
Juanita Parra – drums, percussion (1990–present)
Carlos Cabezas – vocals, charango, violin, flute (1998–present)
Francisco Bosco – saxophone, organ (2004–present)
Alan Reale – guitars, vocals (2013–present)

Former members

Eduardo Parra – keyboards, organ, percussion (1963–2009)
Eduardo "Gato" Alquinta – vocals, guitars (1963–2003; his death)
Gabriel Parra – drums, percussion (1963–1988; his death)
Julio Anderson – bass guitar (1975; died 2023)
Alberto Ledo – quena, charango (1975–1980; died 2010)
Carlos Canzani – bass guitar, guitars (1975–1979)
Fernando Flores – bass guitar (1988–1995)
Marcelo Muñoz – drums, percussion (1989–1990)
Aurora Alquinta – vocals (2003)
Ankatu Alquinta – vocals, guitars (2003–2013)
Eloy Alquinta – vocals, saxophone, percussion (2003–2004; his death)
Carlos Eduardo Gonzalez - guitar (2013)
Juan Pablo Bosco – drums, percussion (2004–2005)

Discography

El Volantín 1971
Todos juntos 1972
La Ventana 1973
Palomita blanca (Movie soundtrack) 1973 (Released in 1992)
Sueños de América 1974 (Released in 1979)
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

External links

Los Jaivas biography and discography
Official Los Jaivas music store