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Press
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VIDA Y MÁS
October 21, 2007
Chicago, IL
INTI-ILLIMANI CREATE MUSIC OF SHEER BEAUTY
The music of Chilean folk group Inti-Illimani is pure beauty.
Their melodic, masculine voices rising and falling like the sinuous Andes mountains of South America, the Inti-Illimani gave a tantalizing performance at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
The eight members of the group commanded string, wind and percussion instruments with their blend of folkloric songs, Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Brazilian sounds, Mexican melodies, Italian tarantellas and Latin jazz.
Poetic and passionate, their music is a continuous surprise lonesome and haunting, sentimental and gushing, playful and energetic, they take the audience into a stirring musical journey that makes the spirit truly soar.
Having recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, their repertoire includes 43 albums and more than 400 songs, many laden with references to the political and social strife Chile suffered in the 1970s and 1980s under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
More than 20 members have played for the Inti-Illimani over the decades, with current members ranging in ages from 28-60. All are from Chile except Efren Viera, who was born in Cuba.
Their repertoire includes traditional instruments such as the quena, zampoña, charango, Peruvian cajon and siku.
Musical Director Manuel Meriño composes most of the melodies but the creative process involves everyone, said Daniel Cantillana, who joined the group almost 10 years ago.
"Some of us have a classical conservatory background, some jazz, some traditional" he said. "It's a mix of elements."
Their sound has evolved through the years, partly to accommodate different individuals' talents, said Marcelo Coulon, 57, who joined the group in 1978.
"The mountains of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile are a place without real frontiers," Coulon said. "We have such love for this sound, this great thing that was born so long ago."
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Music: Chile's Inti-Illimani bring Latin sounds to Athens debut
By Chris J. Starrs ¦ Correspondent
Athens Banner-Herald (Georgia) 11-01-07
When asked recently about remaining active and engaged in touring and recording after a 40-year history, Jorge Coulon, a charter member of the Chilean band Inti-Illimani made reference to the September death of celebrated mime Marcel Marceau.
"Recently, we heard the sad news about the death of Marcel Marceau," Coulon writes in a recent e-mail interview from his South American home. "He died at 84 and was, until the end, after 60 years of activity, acting with the same passion. There is a mystery in why and how artists continue to keep going ... (but) there are not rational answers. It is a blend of passion, necessity, responsibility towards our own history."
Coulon, who sings and plays guitar in the eight-piece group, also attributed Inti-Illimani's longevity to a worldwide audience that delights in the ensemble's eclectic mix of Latin, jazz, folk and world music.
"When you are lucky enough to have a wonderful and passionate audience, crossing generations, emotionally and intellectually, you have a solid background for your own pleasure to play, create and perform," he says.
Named after a mountain the Bolivian Andes, Inti-Illimani is celebrating its 40th anniversary and will make its Athens debut on Tuesday at the Melting Point.
The band, which was founded in 1967 by a group of engineering students at the University of Santiago, has had a colorful career, 15 years of which was spent in political exile in Italy at the behest of Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, who apparently wasn't terribly fond of creative types or human rights.
"For us, going back home was imperative," says Coulon, who was among band members who were estranged from their home country from 1973-1988. "The relationship between our songs and our country and our people was and continues to be a very important part of our work. Returning home after 15 years of exile was in many ways a complicated thing, but something in our spirit returned to the right place."
The "Intis" have been performing in the United States for more than three decades, during which time Coulon (whose brother Marcelo plays guitar, piccolo, flute and bass in the group) says he has observed a considerable shift in the band's patrons.
"We have been coming to the (U.S.) for the last 33 years and we have been witness to a dramatic transformation in the culture, mentality and demographic composition of this country," he says. "In the beginning, we had a principally Anglo audience from universities and socially engaged sectors of the country. Step by step, (our audience) is growing and expanding into different sectors, including people who love world music and people who love classical music and are extending their interests. Also, in the last 10 years, a new Hispanic audience began to be attracted to our work in a way that helps them discover a certain pride in their cultural identity. Also, the age of our audience is becoming wider. ... It is interesting that we have a larger audience, especially with a lot of young people in there, but we have not lost companions by the route."
Inti-Illimani is also promoting its 2006 album "Pequeño Mundo" (its 46th release) and its work providing musical accompaniment to the animated film "My Little World," which is set for release next year. The band is no stranger to film scoring, having worked on several other cinematic projects during its time together.
"We like to do it a lot, being conscious that music is a very important part in the mood of spectators towards a film," says Coulon of the group's film work. "We aren't doing this permanently, but (when) movie directors are looking for sounds, songs and music, they find musicians, not the other way around."
With Inti-Illimani's 40th year coming to a close, its 41st year will include collaborating with a children's choir and a symphony orchestra, as well as a few more movie projects. Coulon says the group he helped found so many years ago will continue to create into the foreseeable future.
"I would like that the group continues as long as we have something interesting to say musically and we continue to enjoy playing together," he says. "Me or Marcelo (or) the older members of the group may retire in the future, but new fantastic musicians are waiting for our baton - the history of Inti-Illimani has been like that.
"I like the idea of the group like an Agora, a meeting point, a sort of congress with a precise musical identity, an identity built in years of work, by different people - a permanent musical work-in-progress."
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WASHINGTON POST
Music
Latin American Sounds That Transcend Borders
Wednesday, March 14, 2007; Page C08
After four decades of touring, the members of the Chilean octet Inti-Illimani could be excused if they rested on their considerable laurels.
Since the 1973 overthrow of Salvador Allende forced the group into political exile, the "Intis" have become Latin America's most prominent folkloristas and an outspoken voice for the continent's oppressed.
But as founding member Jorge Coulon told a wildly enthusiastic crowd at Lisner Auditorium on Sunday night, "We must not become prisoners of memory. We don't want to become a museum of ourselves."
The group has taken on five new members over the past decade, and the impact -- musically, at least -- has been dramatic. While still steeped in traditional culture, Inti-Illimani is striking out in new directions, working edgy harmonies and jazzier rhythms into its music -- reinventing itself, more or less, for the 21st century.
But there was still plenty to please purists. An Inti-Illimani concert is a wild ride through Latin music, a whirlwind of Andean folk tunes, tangos from Argentina, Brazilian sambas, and throbbing, sobbing love songs from Mexico. Shifting among 30 different instruments, the players wove an intricate and always-changing tapestry of sound, shifting effortlessly from whispery ballads to intoxicating explosions of flutes and drums, always to mesmerizing effect.
And while there's a definite political flavor to much of the music, it's done with a light touch -- steering clear of diatribe or anything too controversial.
The band mixed up old favorites like "Sambo Lando" with material from the forthcoming album "Pequeño Mundo," including the jazzy, percussive "Rondombe" and a compelling new version of the 1960s song "La Guitarrera Que Toca."
Some of the most moving singing of the evening came from multi-instrumentalist Juan Flores on "La Tarde Se Ha Puesto Triste" -- but all the players displayed relentless virtuosity in a concert that was pure exhilaration to the very end.
Stephen Brookes
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An Inti-Illimani concert is a wild ride through Latin music, a whirlwind of Andean folk tunes, tangos from Argentina, Brazilian sambas, and throbbing, sobbing love songs from Mexico. ..all the players displayed relentless virtuosity in a concert that was pure exhilaration to the very end.
THE WASHINGTON POST
Few Latin American acts can rival the Chilean group in terms of the sheer beauty of sound. Much like a Zen affirmation, Inti-Illimani's music floats within your soul, filling it with calmness and hope.
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES |
Inti-Illimani's voices are strong, especially when all musicians are singing in unison, harmony or counterpoint. The string work is excellent, with intricate arrangements that sometimes fit together in a socket like manner.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Inti-Illimani is like a talisman. The longer it's around, the more polished it becomes, the more it shines and reflects, and the more memories it collects.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Time after time, the audience was swept along a magical tide of Latin, Sardinian, Italian, African, Flamenco and European rhythms and styles. For those, who in this day of super science, thought magic no longer existed, Inti-Illimani made them believers once again.
VIRGINIA PILOT
The band's configuration changes not only from song to song but often in the same piece, keeping the music fresh and challenging.
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Inti-Illimani has used time to continue evolving with the creation of a charismatic style ,highly sophisticated, but without loosing any of their original essence.
PAGINA 12 (Buenos Aires)
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