the poorest and most ancient cultures they discovered Andean music and in a sense, their roots. The name Inti-Illimani (pronounced Inte-E-gee-mane) is from the Ayamara dialect: Inti means sun, and Illimani refers to a mountain near La Paz, Bolivia.
Wedded in traditional Latin American roots, Inti-Illimani composes music for more than 30 wind, string and percussion instruments, and it has for four decades. Inti-Illimani’s music became part of Latin America’s visceral link between pueblo and people. Inti-Illimani plays Nueva Canción, a blend of traditional Latin American folk music idioms and progressive and often politicized lyrics.
“We have never been so political that it was propaganda,” said Jorge Coulon, the group’s remaining founding member. “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 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende was deposed while Inti-Illimani was on tour in Europe. The young musicians found themselves without patria or passport, and Italy became their home for the next 14 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, Wynton Marsalis and at benefit concerts for the Victor Jara Foundation (London, Dortmund, Glasgow) with Paco Peña, John Williams, Emma Thompson, Karen Matheson, Maria Farantouri, Salsa Celtica and the Rambert Dance Company.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 17, 2006. Read the original PDF.