Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Los Jairas
Around 1965, an influential new form of Andean music emerged with
Los Jairas
, founded
by Edgar “Yayo” Jofré. Jofré established the group to play at the Peña Naira in La Paz -
one of a string of new urban venues where people could hear what became known as
música
folklorica
. The idea was to form a
quartet
of charango, guitar, quena and
bombo
, instru-
ments that had never been played together before. The quartet arranged the music to show off
each of the instruments both individually and together, adapting Aymara and Quechua tunes
and restructuring Andean melodies to suit an urban and European aesthetic. In addition, the
group's quena player, the Swiss-French flautist
Gilbert Favre
, brought to his playing ap-
proaches learnt for the European flute, including the use of vibrato, dynamics and swooping
glissandi, all of which were completely novel to the traditional Amerindian aesthetics. It was
this style that became standard for urban folk music groups.
Numerous groups have followed the Los Jairas model. While some continue to deliver
inspired arrangements of traditional tunes, others play
foreign music
on traditional instru-
ments. There are also those who use both instruments and music as the basis for new com-
positions. As a result, the same tune can appear in different guises under different titles in
various styles.
Los K'jarkas
Los K'jarkas
, from Cochabamba, are one of the country's most influential and successful
groups. In common with other Bolivian bands they retain a strong sense of national identity:
the name “K'jarkas” refers to a pre-Spanish fortress, while the group's
logo
- a stylized an-
thropomorphic condor and carving from the archeological site of Tiwanaku - appeals to a
pre-Columbian past and millenary culture at the heart of the Andes. Astute composition and
arrangements, which take into account the multiple audiences within Bolivia itself, earned
Los K'jarkas an enormous following in the late 1960s, which has carried through to the
present day.
K'jarkas songs are largely sentimental, conjuring up a bucolic, rural vision of beautiful
maidens, alongside evocations of
Pachamama
(Mother Earth). Where they score at home
is in large part due to their incorporation of traditional urban dance forms. They mainly use
the
huayño
dance, but also employ the hugely popular
sayas
, which originated with Afric-
an slaves brought to Bolivia during the colonial period.
Sayas
are especially popular during
fiestas, when they're usually played by the brass bands, as well as
música folklorica
groups.
