MAMALLUCA - OBRAS SINFÓNICAS VOL. 1

It's good to see that after more than 30 years of life, Los Jaivas were still able to create a solid album like this one. Inspired on the mysticism of the Elqui Valley, with the poems of Eduardo Parra and the music of all the band, "Mamalluca" is a trip through the different elements of this magic valley. The music is highly heterogenic, with any song different from another, but always keeping the style cultivated in the pasts years.

Throughout "Mamalluca", the lyrics refer to several aspects of the Elqui Valley, before arriving to the final destination of the Mamalluca's observatory. Thus, we have verse for the grapes and the nature ('Uva Madura'), the Incas itself, with the legendary chaskis, the incredible nights in the valley seen in the eyes of the chaski ('Camino Estrellado'), the virgin and the traditional hill ('Cerro de la Virgen'), and of course, beautiful words for Gabriela Mistral.

About the music, well, this is a big project, with Los Jaivas playing together with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Chile (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional), the Chorus of the University of Chile (Coro Sinfónico de la Universidad de Chile) and the Mamalluca Chorus, and features some improvised, chaotic moments like 'Chaski', and some beautiful mellow songs like 'Elqui'. One can find references to CONGRESO, in the beginning of 'Camino Estrellado', to the classic style of Gabriel Parra in 'Cerro de la Virgen', and to purely classical music in 'Interludio' and the very beginning of 'Alumno'.

The song 'Mamalluca', a highlight itself, really makes you travel through the universe, galaxies, planets, eternal nights, atomic blood, life's fragility. with a very spatial music, deep pianos and choirs, and breaks for different perspectives, always prowling through the immensity.

The album "Mamalluca" is a great effort of the band, demonstrating the qualities of Los Jaivas at the end of the twenty century, but luckily not the end of his life. A key album on his discography, and the first conceptual one completely home made.