ALTURAS DE MACHU PICCHU

Considered one of the greatest Chilean albums of all time and remains LOS JAIVAS' most popular entry in their large canon, ALTURAS DE MACHU PICCHU was the first album to be written and recorded after the band had relocated from Argentina to the outskirts of Paris, France in 1977. As Chileans, the band never considered writing an entire album about Peru's most famous archeological site but LOS JAIVAS was approached by the Peruvian producer Daniel Camino who presented to the members the great Latin American 1950 book "Canto General" by the poet Pablo Neruda which narrated the history of Machu Picchu. Initially the band refused so they could work on their other classic "Obras de Violeta Parra" but after some convincing the band postponed that project for a few years and began to tackle the daunting task of setting ALTURAS DE MACHU PICCHU to musical form.

After months of preparation the band created a musical score that mixed their usual mix of varying Latin American musical styles with an increased use of progressive rock which found a heavier use of synthesizers, minimoogs, Fender Rhodes, electric guitars and more demanding time signatures and progressive composiitons. Although entirely in Spanish, the poem is narrated not only by the singing of the lyrics but is also defined by the rhythms and melodies that collectively narrate the poet's moods and messages insinuated. Examples include the opening "Aguila Sidereal" which evokes an eagle's flight through the high Andes mountain range while "Amor Americano" features a knotty indigenous rhythmic dance style. "Sube a Nacer Conmigo Hermano" adopts rhythms from the Venezuelan joropo and evokes solidarity and strength and compositionally features elements of Western classical music.

Given the enormity of the project, LOS JAIVAS felt inadequate to tackle the entire score as well as performing the lyrical delivery in a satisfactory way but the experience allowed the band to work through the kinks of the project and gain the confidence to see it through. The band considering collaborating with the famous Peruvian singers Chabuca Granda and Yma Sumac but scrapped the idea and took the task on themselves. A more accurate assessment of the album is that it features excerpts of the poem's entirety due to time considerations but effectively conveys the story of Machu Picchu when it was still occupied by its original indigenous inhabitants. The musical flow was designed to showcase the human miniseries of drama that included the civilization's moments of thriving to the final chapters of misery, death and pain that led to its ultimate collapse.

The band was fortunate to have access to the Les Glycines castle near Paris to construct the album and it took three months to write and then more time to record. The band was thwarted initially by the fact that none of its members had actually visited the former site of the great Incan Empire and therefore the project required more meticulous research than previous albums. The entire project was finished by August 1981 and released soon thereafter to great critical acclaim. After the album's release the band finally traveled to the site to make a television special where they created a beautiful musical spectacle that yielded several music videos and press publicity. The album was lauded for its fine attention to detail and how it perfectly narrated Machu Picchu's extraordinary history as well as showcasing the band's creative leap in musical ingenuity.

While the band had been adding more elements of progressive rock into each album since the band's 1971 debut release "El Volantín," ALTURAS DE MACHU PICCHU found the band adding new levels of complexity not achieved since the grand finale multi-suite heard on the 1975 album "El Indio." This was LOS JAIVAS' finest moment and the album has remained one of the highlights of all South American prog. This has always been an excellent album from the very first spin however over the years of researching all of the details that were poured into its making and allowing the complexities to sink in on a deeper level i have to concur ultimately that this is a masterpiece that deserves its place as one of Chilean prog's finest moments.