Violeta Parra - Chilean Folk Legend

I´m deviating from the cumbia path a little bit and introducing Violeta Parra, one of the early pioneers of Chilean folk. I´ve been a fan of her brother, the poet Nicanor Parra, for a good while and was learning Spanish with the assistance of his "Poems & Antipoems." Unfortunately, that book was lifted from my bag in Cuzco by some no-good Peruvian crook, but he´s pretty celebrated here and his books are widely available.

Violeta moved to Santiago to live with Nicanor in 1929, when she was 15 years old. There, he encouraged her to form the group Las Hermanas Parra and she found some local success, becoming good friends with local Chilean artists like Pablo Neruda.


Violeta Parra - `Miren Cómo Sonríen`("Look How They Smile")

She moved to Paris in 1961 and her kids Angel and Isabel joined the group. She enjoyed a good bit of success there, being the first person from Latin American to display artwork at the Louvre. She moved back to Chile in 1965, seeking to start a commune based on the idea of sparking a revival of Chilean folk called La Reina. She wasn´t really welcomed back and ended up commiting suicide in the commune after she suffered a broken heart when Swiss musician Gilbert Favre and lover left to Bolivia. She was 49.

Add her as a friend on Myspace!

Or download La Tonada Presentada Por Violeta Parra:

Alicia Delgado RIP

Peru´s Princess of Folklorica
May 6, 1959 - June 23, 2009




Two days before the King of Pop passed on, Peru lost its Princesa del folklore. Like Mike, Alicia Delgado was also 50 years old when she died and the details of her death are pretty chilling, but a bit murky. Alicia was stabbed nine times and hung with a leather belt by her ex-chauffer Pedro Mamanchura, after a love triangle of sorts came to light.

Delgado was in lesbian relationship with fellow folklore singer Abencia Meza for 8 years before her death. The couple had a history of domestic violence and, after it emerged that Delgado was having an affair with her harpist, Meza paid Mamanchura to kill her.


Abencia Meza and Alicia Delgado

Of course, the news of Alicia´s death was overshadowed by the death of Michael Jackson, but it´s quite significant for Peruvian music. She was quite popular in the cities of Cuzco, Huancayo and Tumbes, but not very much so in cities like Lima or Arequipa. Most people in Peru would describe it as country or mountain music. It´s a pretty grisly story and details continually emerge on the situation. Mamanchura admitted to the crime, but Meza is kinda saying "I was just playin!!"

Below are 6 tracks in a zip file of Alicia´s music. It´s her beautiful voice over a bit of harp playing, with about 30 seconds of drums at the end. Pretty interesting stuff and I think that Joanna Newsom lady totally stole her act. Cop it!

6 tracks from Alicia Delgado

The fella that beat me to it

The much envied blog title of Cumbia Peruana was created two years ago, but only had one post. The only thing listed on the site is a picture of Chacalon, Peruvian chicha/cumbia King. One person from Lima told me that every Peruvian respects him- the rich, the poor, the indifferent.

Chicha, the style of music he played, is kind of looked down upon as lowly, backwoods, and quite often dangerous. I say dangerous because guys often dance with two fingers in the air to symbolize knives. On top of that, everyone always tells me to keep my money in my sock when I go to shows.




But Chacalon reigns as king, with his son (Chacalon Jr.) carrying the torch. Here is a fan made video of Chacalon Jr, which kinda gives you a glimpse of what kinda Peruvians like modern chicha:

Elsa - Los Destellos

Straight from Lima in the 60s, Los Destellos put out six records and played up until the death of frontman Enrique Delgado in 1996. Elsa is the song that I put on my discman when I started any 10-15 busride or long trek in the Andes. Probably their biggest hit, I think (I think...) Elsa is about their first singer Elsa Salgado who quit the band shortly after their first record. No bad blood or anything like that, I don´t think, but maybe a parting gift for her.

The song was no. 1 in 1970 and helped them sell a million copies of the record! Their website is kinda funny and features them receiving awards for various things... totally worth a look: http://www.losdestellos.tk/

I luckily picked up 3 45s of theirs and a couple of LPs from a dusty little record store on Avenida Quilca in central Lima. I will post pics of the little shop soon! I found most of my jams there and there were tons of great folks to talk to (and a few boozehounds who grab your collar when they talk to you, but otherwise quite nice).

download here: Elsa - Los Destellos de 1970

Cariñito - Los Hijos Del Sol

Probably their biggest hit, ¨Cariñito¨from 1979 can still be heard on pretty much any bus ride, in any typical bar, or just blaring from someone´s window. The modern group Bareto does a cover of this one and I heard it played by a group in Cuzco as well. It was also featured on the Chicha: The Psychedelic Roots of Cumbia comp from Barbes Records. It´s got some urban, jungle and psychedelic grooves going for it. Give ér a listen!

Download here: Cariñito - Los Hijos Del Sol

La Novena de Pluto - Grupo Mandarina

I've been travelling through Peru and Bolivia for the past month, hunting for cumbias and chichas that I've never heard before. They're pretty fertile places for new jams, I must say. I found a great little shop on Av. Quilca in Lima for records and another flea market/black market in Cuzco for cds/DVDs. Please pardon the frequency of future posts because internet connections here tend to be muy despacio.

I have very little info on this group and, what I do have, was gleaned from the fellow who sold me the record. Most of the grupos presented here will only have some word of mouth info because I really haven't been able to find much on the internet about them (and my Spanish really isn't the best yet).

Grupo Mandarino was formed in the San Blas neighborhood in Cuzco around 1967 or 68. I met someone from the Bay Area on this trip and she described San Blas as the Berkeley of Cuzco and she might be right (although there is no Lookout or Amoeba Records here).

Dig the interplanetary jams and leave some feedback - it's a jam I'm definitely feeling!

http://www.zshare.net/download/6324969320d1fe1a/