The Kjarkas

Los Kjarkas is a folk music group originating in Capinota, Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was founded on June 23, 1971 by the brothers Wilson Hermosa, Gonzalo Hermosa, Castel Hermosa and Edgar Villaroel. They achieved national and international popularity along with the composers: Ulises Hermosa, Élmer Hermosa, Edgar Villaroel, Edwin Castellanos, Fernando Torrico, Gastón Guardia and Guillermo Ponce.

Origin of the name

The name means "kjarka = rough, untuned". This is how the group felt in its beginnings; They sought to establish a comparison between an unadjusted instrument and the initial situation of the musical ensemble.

History

In principle, Los Kjarkas emerged as an economic necessity for its members, going from town to town playing Argentine zamba, since Bolivia's native music still did not have much impact. However, little by little, various clubs began to emphasize rhythms more typical of the country such as the cueca, huayño or bailecito by composers such as Simeón Roncal, Gilberto Rojas or Teófilo Vargas. It is in these years when Los Kjarkas take part in that transformation and forge their musical foundations that would later give them success.

After those beginnings, the members left the group and Gonzalo Hermosa refounded the group with the musicians Eddy Carpio, Antonio Canelas and Alcides Mejía, and for more than 10 years Los Kjarkas perfected themselves in the composition and interpretation of Andean music. They performed in La Paz for the first time in 1975 after playing at private parties. That same year they represented their country at the Brazilian folk music festival.

It was through José “Danger” Salamanca that Alcides Mejia met the Hermosa brothers: Elmer, Ulises and Gonzalo. The older Wilson brothers, Castel, Gonzalo and Edgar, were part of the initial Kjarkas group, who, returning from their trip to Chile, decided to disband Kjarkas, remaining disjointed for a long time. Alcides was a participant and Co-Founder of the 1st Kjarkas Restructuring, in 1974 together with Ulises and Elmer.

For some years, Los Kjarkas dedicated themselves to perfecting their own style of music, adapting native rhythms to the musical structure of Creole rhythms, giving priority to the interventions of wind and ronroco instruments, with choral arrangements. Thus, in 1975 they appeared in La Paz and began recording their first album the following year.

Members: Ulises Hermosa, Élmer Hermosa, Alcides Mejia, José Antonio Canelas and Edgar Villarroel. Once the recording was finished, Alcides Mejia left the group due to a disagreement with Ulises and Elmer based on their willingness to continue with their studies.

In 1976 they published their first album “Bolivia” in Mexico with the Heriba record label. It consists of 9 songs, almost all of them composed by Gonzalo Hermosa, among which is “Bolivia”, a song that achieved great popularity.

With the success already gained, the group is nourished by two other Hermosa brothers: Ulises and Élmer, Toño Canelas, Gastón Guardia, Guillermo Ponce and Édgar Villarroel (namesake of the founder).

In 1977 and 1978, two albums were published under the name Fortaleza (due to contractual restrictions) with songs with folkloric roots and that later, in 1995, would be reissued on a single CD with the name “Sueño millenario de los Andes ”. In the same way, 1979 the album "Kutimuy" comes to light highlighting the song that bears the same name, initiating the new generation and rebirth of the kjarkas with the help of Élmer Hermosa, Julio Lavayen, Ulises Hermosa and Gastón Guardia. The group became more popular, organizing tours not only in Bolivia, but throughout South America, Europe, the United States and Japan.

In 1980 they published “Cóndor Mallku”. The album includes romantic songs, marking a departure from traditional folklore.

In 1981 with the album "Canto a la mujer de mi pueblo" The group's most iconic and popular songs arrive, such as "Wayayay" and "Llorando se fue" with Gonzalo Hermosa participating in the charango, due to the departure of Julio Lavayen. Some time later, Julio Lavayen rejoined the group on the Charango, Ramiro de la Zerda on the guitar and Raúl Muriel on the wind instruments on the album “ Desde el alma de mi pueblo”, with participation in the song "Sunchu t&# 39;ikitay".

In 1984 The Kjarkas were invited to the 10th Yamaha Song Festival where more than 1,800 songs from around the world competed for first prize. Ulises Hermosa's composition “Florcita azul” came in tenth place. This event opened Los Kjarkas to the Japanese market.

At the end of the 80s an incident gave Los Kjarkas greater fame and worldwide impact. The Kaoma group released the song "Chorando se foi", or the "Lambada", which was danced to a Caribbean rhythm. The song turned out to be a plagiarism of "Llorando se fue", the composition by Ulises Hermosa, released in 1984 to the rhythm of saya caporal. This song was registered in Germany and therefore Kaoma had to compensate Los Kjarkas with a sum of money that was not made public.

Musicians Edwin Castellanos and Fernando Torrico joined the group, who would later leave the group to form the duo Tupay.

In 1990 they released the only album in which they did not sing, titled “Ch’uwa yacu”. In 1992 the group was strongly resented by the illness of the composer Ulises Hermosa. After traveling to the United States, he dies of cancer in Houston. Before dying he concluded his song “The Tree of My Destiny”. The following year Los Kjarkas published the album “Hermanos”, which includes the composition of the late Ulises “Tarajchi” but with lyrics added by his brother Gonzalo, which describes the history and feelings of the Hermosa family.

In the 90s, Ronaldo Malpartida, Eduardo Yáñez, Alcídes Mejía, Miguel Mengoa and José Luis Morales joined the group. They continued to achieve hits such as “Señora la hija de ella”, “My sin”, “Ave de cristal”, “A los 500 años”, “La pícara” and “Elleader de los humbles”.

In 1997 Los Kjarkas published their first video “Forever…” in which the presentation of the album at the Hotel Presidente is televised.

The new millennium brings important changes in Los Kjarkas, the group is rejuvenated with new and young artists: Gonzalo Hermosa Jr. Pilin Angulo and the Japanese Makoto Shishido. This gives a new focus to compositions such as “Life Lesson”, “Saya Sensual”, “Kamanchaca” etc. In 2006, Los Kjarkas released their last album to date, “35 Años,” which commemorates the anniversary of the group's appearance. In 2016 Los Kjarkas released their album 'La Leyenda Viva', in commemoration of their 45 years of artistic career.

In 1995 Alcides was called to be part of the 2nd restructuring of Kjarkas, since the “Pacha” Project took the time of Elmer, Gastón, Edwin and Fernando, leaving Kjarkas on a long break of 1 year, (time and strategy that Gonzalo Hermosa used to remove Fernando Torrico and Edwin Castellanos from the group), and then at the end of the “Pacha” Project, only Gastón and Elmer rejoined the group. It was a work of more than 1 year, preparing the ground for the relaunch and new restructuring of Kjarkas, in addition to preparing the repertoire for both the concert, as well as for the 25th Anniversary Album: “Kjarkas por Siempre” which were performed in the city of La Paz Bolivia. Members: Rolando Malpartida, Elmer Hermosa, Alcides Mejia, Gastón Guardia, Eduardo Yáñez and Gonzalo Hermosa “Kjarkas por Siempre” Album recorded at Discolandia Studios for the RCA label in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1996 technician: Fredy Roca After more than 2 years of tours, rehearsals, trips, recordings, filming and interviews.

Plagiarism and controversies around the topic “Crying he left”

The song titled "Llorando se fue" lyrics by Ramiro de La Zerda is one of the Kjarkas compositions most used by other artists to perform in various versions; in some cases leading to scandals and legal proceedings for plagiarism.

One of the most famous cases was that of the Brazilian-French group Kaoma in 1989, which released the song Chorando se foi (known simply as "La lambada"). The case was won by Los Kjarkas who demonstrated the authorship of the song and the plagiarism of the group Kaoma, receiving compensation.

Later, in 2006, the reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel would have used a part of the song in his song Pam Pam; 4 years later, in 2010, Don Omar would also use the song with part of his lyrics in Spanish in the song Taboo. At the beginning of 2011, artists Jennifer López and Pitbull performed the song On the floor, where part of the song's melody was used. In the cases of the songs "Taboo" and "On the floor" the artists mention the authorship of the brothers Ulises and Gonzalo Hermosa and lyrics by Ramiro de la Zerda

Over time, the theme "Crying Gone" It received many more plagiarisms that may not have been heard due to the popularity of the groups and artists who copied them, however there are still other versions by electronic music performers such as Bob Sinclair.

Members

The Kjarkas were initially made up of the Hermosa brothers: Wilson Hermosa González, Castel Hermosa González and Gonzalo Hermosa González, and Edgar Villarroel. Over the years, other members have joined, such as Elmer Hermosa González, Gastón Guardia, Edwin Castellanos, Fernando Torrico, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Rolando Malpartida, Eduardo Yáñez Loayza, Miguel Mengoa, Yuri Ortuño (this was the only replacement for Élmer Hermosa in the history of Los Kjarkas, the year 1981 during Elmer's absence due to a tour he made with Raúl Muriel and Julio Lavayén to the European continent) José Luis Morales, Gonzalo Hermosa Jr., Pilin Angulo, Makoto Shishido, Francisco Hurtado, Braulio Sánchez to mention a few. Another important member of this group is Iván Barrientos, bassist and sound engineer who has been working with Los Kjarkas for more than 20 years.

Death of Ulises Hermosa

In 1992, the group was strongly resented by the illness of Ulises Hermosa, who died of cancer in the city of Houston. Before he died, he completed the song El Arbol de mi Destiny , which was published posthumously by the group. The following year, Los Kjarkas published the album Hermanos, whose main theme is the composition Tarajchi by the late Ulises, but with lyrics added by his brother Gonzalo, which describes the story and feelings of the Hermosa family.

The tomb of Ulises Hermosa is located in the General Cemetery of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

New artists

The new millennium brings important changes in Los Kjarkas, incorporating new and young artists when Gonzalo Hermosa decides to re-found the group in the 2000s. This is what he calls the namesake of the founder Edgar Villarroel on voice and ronroco, Eddy Carpio on charango, Antonio Canelas on the guitar and Alcides Mejía on wind instruments (quena and zampoña) who will later be a member of the group Savia Andina for many years, another representative group of Bolivian folklore. Gonzalo limits himself to being the director of the group.

Later they included Gonzalo Hermosa jr., Pilin Angulo and the Japanese Manq'otu Shishido.

New millennium

For the century XXI The Kjarkas received recognition in Peru for their career, in addition to making national tours. The In 2010, Kjarkas recorded a song with the group Prisma titled "I can't forget you" which fuses the traditional instruments of the first group with the electronic instruments and the accordion characteristic of the second.

In 2009 some of the children of members of Los Kjarkas founded the musical group called Chila Pilin Jatun ("Chila Pilin" = small pilines; "Jatun" = large."from small to large"). Its members are Gonzalo Hermosa Camacho jr (Musical Director, Primeros Vientos) Jonathan Hermosa Andresen (First Voice, Roncoco), Huascar Hermosa Castro (First Guitar), Ulises Hermosa Fernández (Second Guitar), Luis Medrano Hermosa (Charango), Branly Yáñez Enríquez (Acoustic Drums), Mario Orellana Olivares (Segundos Vientos) and Luis Hinojosa Heredia (Electronic Bass).

Discography