CANCIÓN DEL SUR

Another excellent chapter in the 70's South American tradition. "Cancion Del Sur" was LOS JAIVAS' 5th release combining progressive rock with aztec mysticism. At this stage in their life cycle, they were a 6 piece outfit mixing a vast array of instrumentation and developing a very progressive approach.. of course following this release they would release their masterpiece "Alturas De Macchu Picchu". In many way this album really stands up equally to "Alturas" with grand symphonic keyboard swoops, caressing vocals, classical guitar work , lots of great percussion and that South American flare. If you are looking for a real honest and original sound (They are not trying to sound like anyone but themselves) then I strongly suggest you pick up this album... They have not masked their musical traditions and the mix of genres is quite amazing... "A jim-dandy pre-cursor"

After their self-titled album of 75 (also titled los Indios) with their supeb two compositions Conquistada and Tarka Y Ocarina , this album confirms them in this directions much to my happiness. The grandiose side of Conquestada is present in at least three tracks on here with the superb piano playing from two of the three Parra brothers , the other providing no less superb drumming. the 7 min+ numbers Cancion Del Sur (songs of the south) is simply breath-taking and the 8 min+ Danza (dance) will remain in the back of your mind for quite a while.

The other tracks are still very much alike to their typical mix of Andean Indian (Inca) traditional music married with more Latino/Carribean rythms giving a result sometimes close to Santana's Oyé Como Va & La Guajira in his first three albums (including Abraxas) that I would qualify as folk-rock in the ethnic sense (as opposed to the american protest singers or Byrds).

Please note that once again (as often in Los Jaivas 's discography) this album came out with more than one sleeve art work. The one here is already fine but the copy I qwn has an all-together much more stupendous one albeit sadly on CD format.

Another superb album from one of the most original outfit in our beloved ProgArchives

I bought this album many years ago in a second hand record store for at about US $ 10,-. It has been released in 1977 by EMI Argentina, I own the 1980 EMI Italy LP version. 1 - La vida magica ay, si! This piece showcases the wonderful blend of prog and folk that Los Jaivas created : fiery electric guitar and splendid pianoplay mixed with the sound of several ehtnic instruments, topped by warm vocals and vocal harmonies, SIMPLY WONDERFUL! 2 - En la cumbre de un cerro A dreamy climate featuring acoustic gutiar, tender piano work, trumpet ( ?) and again warm vocals, very moving. Halfway this song delivers strong interplay between fiery electric guitar and sparkling piano. 3 - Cancion para los pajaros Lots of nature sounds like wind and birds ('pajaros' in Spanish) blended with flutes and ehtnic percussion, this is the sound of the Andes! 4 - Dum dum Tambora Here is a Paraguayan folk traditional that almost brings you in trance with the repetetive, hypnotizing vocals (like the native North-American indians) and a very special and unique mix of folk and progrock (electric guitar, piano and rhythm-section). 5 - Cancion del sur The titletrack is the highlight on this album: first dreamy with acoustic guitar and mellow vocals, then a moving build-up featuring sharp sounding synthesizer runs, sparkling piano and melancholical vocals, VERY COMPELLING! 6 - Danzas This track is build upon a hypnotizing drumbeat and features lots on fine instrumental interludes with a great build-up synthesizer solo, beautiful ethnic flutes and sensational duels between first sparkling piano and flute and then piano and fiery electric guitar, GREAT! 7 - Frescura antigua A warm and moving ethnic climate featuring twanging acoustic guitar, flutes, the charango (small native guitar) and a focus on the wonderful sound of the panflute. I still prefer the album "Alturas de Macchu Picchu" (also because of the excelent DVD) but this one comes mighty close! This is unique progressive folk from Los Jaivas, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

By their time of their sixth album, Los Jaivas had already undergone a transformation. The combination of psychedelic guitar, abundant percussion and strong traditional Andean vibes which fueled their earlier albums like Todos Juntos was being gradually fused with a more complex brand of prog rock in which the drumming skills of Gabriel Parra and the double-barrelled keyboard attack of his brothers Eduardo and Claudio took greater prominence. While the band's roots are unmistakable, the exiles (who had fled Chile after the 1973 military coup) continue the mix of sophistication and exploration first expressed in 1975's Los Jaivas (El Indio) album.

The beautiful opener La Vida Màgica, Ay Sí simply dances with life. A gorgeous warm melody is transferred from harpsichord to piano to electric guitar as the band moves in with restrained ferocity before an exuberant vocal emerges. Its follow-up En La Cunbre De Cerro is a lyrical piece that starts off barely audible but eventually moves into a nice piano/brass exchange, before (three minutes into the song) an unexpected rousing explosion of guitar transforms the dynamic of the piece.

After the opening pair of tunes, the album does lose a little momentum through Cancion Par Los Pajaros, an Andrean instrumental featuring quenas (Andean flutes) and percussion and the vocal/percussive Dum Dum Tambora (which is based on an Uruguayan poem) a pleasing piece that ebbs and flows and goes through a few modes (even visiting the Far East at one point!) but which eventually drags towards the end.

Thankfully it all comes together again with the slow-moving title track. Cancion Del Sur (which means Song of the South) was inspired by the beautiful imposing landscapes of the southern most part of the South American continent, and Gato Alquinto's lead vocal melody is gentle and initially desolate, before a glorious eerie synth solo erupts over a rippling piano background in a spectacular and unconventional use of double keyboards. The massive instrumental Danzas is another amazing song ... starting off as a slow blues crawl with a pan-pipe solo over it, with an expansive fuzzy synth taking over, and then a charango (Andean mandolin) before a stomping piano and distorted guitar enjoy a freak out! The album closes with another work of glorious beauty, the guitar/charango/pan-pipe Andean instrumental Frescura Antigua.

The bonus tracks here include the unintentionally hilarious curiousity single recordings Bebida Magica and Sueno Del Inca which are no more no less than Andean instrumental disco tracks ... do remember that this album came out in 1977! There's also the beautiful En Tu Hora, with a wonderful melody and passionate vocals from Alquinta and Manbo Del Machaguay, another relatively "commercial" offering albeit with blistering electric guitar sitting comfortably alongside traditional flutes.

Overall Cancion Del Sur is another feather in Los Jaivas' cap. Not quite as thrilling from a progressive viewpoint as Alturas De Macchu Picchu and Obras De Violeta Parra, nor perhaps quite as emotionally compelling as Tudos Juntos ... but a very strong album nonetheless. ... 70% on the MPV scale.

As many symphonic and lyrical rock formations of its age, Los Jaivas sometimes suffers of its own very old dated musical iconography. Nevertheless I must confess that this album has a certain charm , not only by its attractive combination between rock and Andines folk, traditional music but also by its achieved sense of melody (for instance in the reflective ballad "Cancion del Sur"). Consequently this album is rather unequal in term of musical quality. The opening tune is a typical, catchy piano piece by Los Jaivas. Songs as "Canción Para Los Pàjaros", "En La Cumbre De Un Cerro " and "Dum Dum Tambora" represent the worst part of the album: just soft exotic stuffs for "tourist" clubs. The bonus "Mambo de Machaguey" and "Sueno Del Inca" are a clever association between real traditional music and the dynamic structure of prog rock. I'm staying sceptic about this concept album...it could be by far better if the band successed to break out the conventions but it's not the case. I'm staying divided but my heart can make still make the distinction between sensitive "authentic" folk inspirations and poor, mainstream ballads with evident "exotic" accents.

I can't really tell great things about this release.

I was expecting from some earlier recordings, more political songs, more genuine rooted texts in the music of "Los Jaivas". But I didn't find these.

Some average music, like the lenghtly and boring "Dum Dum Tambora" which is definitely not what you could expect from this band.

This album is a requiem of very average songs. I would have wished to describe the "Los Jaivas" music in a more positive way, but frankly, there is no big deal in this album. I am waiting for some time one truly great album from this band. But, so far there is nothing as such.

On the contrary, it is more of a disillusion. One album after an another. I am really concentrating to find a highlight on "Canción Del Sur" but I can't find one.

This album is not bad, but I can't frankly talk about a good record when mentioning this one. Average. No more. For sure.I just hope that their later work would be more inspired.

Two stars.

Mid-70's find Los Jaivas developing their sound even more, while their fame was growing day by day.TV appearances became more frequent, their name was getting well-known in South America and they even got to perform huge symphonic concerts with the help of La Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Mar del Plata and Orquesta Sinfónica de Buenos Aires.They had just another album to record for EMI, before their contract expired, and this was meant to be ''Canción del sur'' from 1977.

The sound presented on their 75' self-titled album becomes more prominent in this work and the band reaches moments of high inspiration blended with somewhat dated folk musicianship recalling their early days.The longer cuts are propably the most interesting for prog fans.Tracks like ''Danza'', ''Dum dum tambora'' and the eponymous one are great progressive Symphonic/Folk Rock performances (although ''Dum dum tambora'' is much more on the folk side) with smooth electric guitars, atmospheric moog synthesizers, fantastic work on piano by Claudio Parra and of course lovely vocal arrangements.There is also a heavy amount of flutes, mandolin and charango thrown in to maintain the ethnic approach of the band, though the arrangements are definitely symphonic in nature.The shorter numbers are Folk Rock of high calibre, a bit dated, with acoustic strings, strong use of flutes and ocarinas and plenty of vocals, typical of the early Los Jaivas sound featuring heavy Andean Folk inspirations, but they still are pretty listenable and musically tightly connected with the rest of the album.

Notica that the 1994 EMI CD re-issue contains four bonus tracks, taken from various singles the band produced around the time ''Canción del sur'' was created, definitely interesting with a diverse style, ranging from Andean Folk to Heavy Rock and melodic Folk Rock but rather far from anything trully progressive.

''Canción del sur'' marks one of Los Jaivas' top career moments and the prog-inclined compositions leave the listener wanting for more.A strong album by the band, highly recommended both for fans of Symphonic Rock and Progressive Folk aesthetics but overall worth adding in any collection...3.5 stars.

After LOS JAIVAS escaped Chile following the military coup that installed the dictator Pinochet in power, the band spent four years in Zárate, Argentina just north of Buenos Aires and transcended its Chilean origins and became one of Latin America's most popular and influential folk rock bands ever. After the release of the band's third self-titled album also known as "El Indio," LOS JAIVAS became extremely popular in not only Chile but all across Argentina and then the entirety of Latin America. The album catapulted to the role of one of Latin America's top selling albums ever and launched the band into a whole new level of superstardom. The following years found an extensive touring schedule, television appearances and other media opportunities.

The next album to appear was the 1977 release CANCIÓN DEL SUR which found the band exploring the vaster wealth of indigenous sounds of the southern regions of South America particularly Patagonia. Having toured through various Latin American countries since "El Indio," LOS JAIVAS were veritable ethnomusicologists and researched and then incorporated the various stylistic differences between regions and nation states. While expanding its native Chilean heritage to include the greater pan-Latin American sound spectrum, LOS JAIVAS also added the moog synthesizer to the progressive rock aspects that had steadily been increasing since the band's earliest improvisational recordings.

Given all the diverse influences that went into this album's making, CANCIÓN DEL SUR sounds less cohesive than its predecessor with influences ranging from Uruguayan traditions with "Dum Dum Tambora" to the Patagonian folklore that inspired the title track. Not forgetting its own heritage, the track "La Vida Mágica, Ay Sí!" begins the album with a salute to the Chilean cueca while "Canción para los Pájaros" showcases the tribal sounds of the Amazon. The longest track, the all instrumental "Danzas" evokes a bit of some of the more experimental approaches of the past with a "heartbeat" style of percussive drive accompanied by a Western modern classical musical approach that allows the indigenous pan flute Andean folk flavors to commingle with a stronger European dominated recipe. While the guitar playing is clearly not the dominant feature on CANCIÓN DEL SUR, the Santana inspired Latin rock guitar sweeps are allowed off the leash.

The closing "Frescura Antigua" follows in the footsteps of previous albums by offering an unadulterated track of pure indigenous folk music. The later CD re-releases feature several bonus tracks that offer even more insight into the band's explorations during this period. The band would soon leave Argentina and relocate to France where it would begin its new chapter that would change the ratio of indigenous folk to the dominance of European flavored progressive rock. This album was well received but not quite as popular as "El Indio" which offered a perfection that this album lacks. While that album feels cohesive from beginning to end, this one on the other hand feels more scattered as if the band had spent too much time promoting itself and touring rather than focusing on crafting strong compositions.


Overall this is a decent album but feels more like a space filler than an album that was as well crafted as previous ones. Clearly the band's attention had been splintered to the point where it couldn't put all its energy into the songwriting process and while all the tracks are totally listenable and even pleasant, they don't seem as innovative or cutting edge as "El Indio" and actually seems like it should've preceded that album rather than follow. The next few years would find the band in transition with only one collaborative effort emerging in 1979 with Brazilian folk singer Manduka before the band starting a totally new chapter starting with its prog fan favorite "Alturas de Machu Picchu" which would be released in 1981. While a nice tribute to the various ethnic groups scattered across the southern regions of the South American continent, CANCIÓN DEL SUR just doesn't hold up as well as previous releases.

3.5 rounded down