Artist Profiles: Inti-Illimani

For several decades Inti-Illimani’s music has attracted and playing on more than 30 wind, string and percussion instruments. Inti-Illimani’s compositions evoke sacred places, carnivals, daily lives, loves and pains. The name of the group, Inti-Illimani, comes from the indigenous Ayamara language. Inti means sun and Illimani is a mountain near La Paz, Bolivia.

Known for their open-minded musical approach, the “Intis” had a much different mission in mind when they met in the 1960s at Santiago Technical University: to become engineers. Their love of music encouraged their restless souls to explore the indigenous Andean cultures of Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. In some of the poorest, purest and most ancient cultures they discovered Andean music and in a sense their roots. Inti-Illimani’s music became Latin America’s visceral link between pueblo and people, vivified in Nueva Canción.

In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende was deposed while Inti-Illimani was on tour in Europe. The young musicians found themselves without a homerland or passport. Italy became their home for the next years. In 1988, they were warmly welcomed back to Chile, moving home permanently in 1990.

They have appeared on Amnesty International stages with Peter Gabriel , Bruce Springsteen, Mercedes Sosa, Sting, and Wynton Marsalis and at benefit concerts for the Victor Jara Foundation (London, Dortmund, Glasgow) with Peter Gabriel, Paco Peña, John Williams, Emma Thompson, Karen Matheson, Maria Farantouri, Salsa Celtica, and the Rambert Dance Company.

Jorge Coulon, a founding member, in an interview stated: “We have never been so political that it was propaganda. We are not a political group in that sense, but we have always been politically engaged. We have a concept of society and about the relationships between human beings, and we try to translate our ideas into our sound, not to be part of one political party or another but in the sense to bring about a better world.”

In 2000, Inti-Illimani signed a worldwide license agreement with Warner Brothers. Warner released The Best of Inti-Illimani: 1973-1987″, Inti-Illimani performs Victor Jara (a selection of works by the late Chilean composer, singer, poet, actor and close friend of the Intis) and Inti-Illimani: Antologia en vivo (live tracks spanning 33 years). Xenophile Records also released The Best Of Inti-Illimani with works from the four titles they did with Xenophile during the 90s.

During 2001, Inti-Illimani toured throughout South America, Italy, Spain, Mexico and North America, ending the year with a tour of Chile and Argentina with John Williams and Paco Peña.

The album Lugares Comunes (common ground), recorded in 2003, celebrated the common joys and trials of daily life, and the value of simple things, in a series of finely-etched songs. The ten tracks of Lugares Comunes feature a number of newly-written compositions, many by the band’s new members, along with traditional songs from Mexico and Peru.

In 2001 Inti-Illimani split into two groups: Inti-Illimani Nuevo (New Inti-Illimani) led by the Coulon brothers and Inti-Illimani Histórico featuring José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas.

Discography

Si Somos Americanos (1969)
Voz para el camino (1969)
Por la CUT (1969)
A la Revolución Mexicana (1969)
Inti Illimani (1969)
Inti-Illimani (1970)
Canto al Programa (1970)
Charagua/El Aparecido (1971)
Autores Chilenos (1971)
Nuestro México, Febrero 23/Dolencias (1972)
Canto para una Semilla (1972)
Quebrada de Humahuaca/Taita Salasaca (1972)
Canto de Pueblos Andinos, Vol. 1 (1973)
Viva Chile! (1973)
La Nueva Canción Chilena (1974)
Canto de Pueblos Andinos (1975)
Hacia La Libertad (Inti-Illimani 4) (1975)
Canto de Pueblos Andinos, Vol. 2 (1976)
Chile Resistencia (Inti-Illimani 6) (1977)
Hart voor Chile (various artists) (1977)
Canto per una Seme (1978) – Italian edition of Canto para una Semilla (1972)
Canción para Matar una Culebra (1979)
Jag Vill Tacka Livet (Gracias a la Vida) (1980)
En Directo (1980)
Palimpsesto (1981)
The Flight of the Condor (1982)
Con la Razón y la Fuerza (1982)
Imaginación (1984)
Sing to me the Dream (1984)
Return of the Condor (1984)
La Muerte no Va Conmigo (1985)
De Canto y Baile (1986)
Fragmentos de un Sueño (1987)
Leyenda (1990)
Andadas (1992)
Arriesgaré la Piel (1996)
Grandes Exitos (1997)
Lejanía (1998)
Amar de Nuevo (1999)
Sinfónico (1999)
La Rosa de los Vientos (1999)
Inti-Illimani Interpreta a Víctor Jara (2000)
Antología en Vivo (2001)
Lugares Comunes (2002)

Inti-Illimani Histórico

Esencial (2006)
Travesura, with Diego “El Cigala and Eva Ayllón (2010)
Inti Illimani Histórico – Vivir En Libertad (2013)
Inti-Illimani Histórico Canta a Manns (2014)

Inti-Illimani Nuevo

Viva Italia (2003)
Pequeño Mundo (2006)
Meridiano (2010)
Teoría de cuerdas (2014)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.