Los Jaivas - Alturas De Machu Picchu

"Alturas De Macchu Picchu" (The Height Of Macchu Picchu) is a brilliant blend of Andrean folk and progressive rock music styles. Essentially Los JAIVAS have taken traditional Peruvian / Chilean folk music and blended it with a heavier Progressive rock style (moogs, guitars, drums...). The end result is something you have never heard before but will definitely learn to love quickly. Lead singer Gato Alquinta has an amazing voice and can really belt it out without ever sound overly overbearing. His vocals are sung of course in Spanish and are done so with high degree of romanticism not unlike many of the Italian prog greats. The band houses 2 keyboardists but are surprisengly not the most dominant aspect of their music and instead ensures the music remains symphonic. A couple of songs are pure Chilean folk but blend beautifully against the more symphonic pieces throughout. Without a question progressive fans will fall off their chair when they hear "La Poderosa Muerte" an 11 mins piece of progressive rock magic. A great album for sure...!