Inti-Illimani

For more than three decades Inti-Illimani, whose name means “Sun God,” has kept Chilean music—both longstanding folk traditions and the newer nueva cancion—alive and visible. A handful of students at Santiago’s Technical University came together in 1967 to play folk material. They adopted an Aymaran name drawn from the language of the Andes, devoted themselves to traditional repertoire at a time when few ensembles did so, and soon built a following in the capital while steadily sharpening their instrumental skills. During the 1970s the group took on a sharper political edge, embracing the nueva cancion style favored by many younger ensembles and adopting lyrics that were outspoken enough to provoke exile in 1973, an absence that lasted fifteen years. They refused to yield to the Chilean dictatorship. Settling in Rome, the musicians kept recording and increased their touring schedule dramatically, thereby gaining worldwide recognition as unofficial ambassadors for Chilean music and as vocal critics of the regime. They shared stages with such politically engaged artists as Pete Seeger and Mikis Theodorakis and appeared on the high-profile 1988 Amnesty International Tour alongside Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen. That international exposure marked a career peak and paved the way for their eventual return home, where they have remained outspoken. Although they continued to exert influence in world music, their American visibility suffered from the absence of a steady label deal until 1994, when they signed with Xenophile, an offshoot of Green Linnet. Until then, only scattered titles among their more than thirty albums had reached U.S. stores. The eight-member lineup held steady until 1996, when Max Berru stepped away after nearly thirty years; shortly before his departure the band had been honored with a retrospective collection in Italy, distinct from the 2000 Xenophile compilation that drew solely from their four most recent releases. Rather than recruit a replacement, the remaining members carried on as a septet. In 1997 they received the U.C. Berkeley Human Rights Award in recognition of their earlier activism. Since that time they have continued to issue recordings and perform, albeit at a less relentless pace, while also expanding their musical scope; the 1999 album Amar de Nuevo surveyed the full range of Latin American roots traditions and their Creole inheritance.