Rocking in Chile, Post-Pinochet
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 01.04.07 | 5:13 PM ET
There may be cutbacks in content coming to the Los Angeles Times Travel section (at least according to LA Observed), and a couple of readers have complained recently that the section isn’t as compelling as it once was, but Sunday’s section did have one terrific story, particularly for those who, like me, love Latin music: Augustin Gurza’s The New Song of Santiago about Chile’s rock en espaņol and folksy New Song troubador scenes.
“Pinochet’s death earlier this month at age 91 may mark a turning point in the country’s drive to reclaim its cultural soul,” he writes. “Today, Chile’s artistic rebirth is being fueled partly by an economic boom that’s considered a model for Latin American prosperity. (Ironically, some attribute this surge to Pinochet’s policies.) Signs of new life are everywhere.”
Gurza traveled in Chile late last year, and his article touches on Los Bunkers, the late Victor Jara (“the Chilean Bob Dylan” killed after the 1973 coup), Los Tres, Los Prisioneros and La Ley, among others.
Gurza also invokes Cuba’s Silvio Rodriguez, whose haunting and beautiful song “Ojala” is interpreted often in coffeehouses throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Rodriguez’s live album, Mano a Mano