Search - Victor Jara :: Victor Jara Complete

Victor Jara's music is the ultimate folk/political statement

10/12/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Victor Jara was raised a poor peon by a musically talented mother and a drunken father. He left the country life by going to Santiago and enrolling in the military acadamy. He became more and more involved in music, and finally recorded traditional folk music and his own blend of folk and political music. This style of music became known as Canciones Nuevas. Victor, Los Parra (Violeta and her children Isabel and Angel), Inti-Illimani, Quilapayun among others all recorded and performed Canciones Nuevas. Victor, highly political, became a symbol for the Socialist party and actively supported Dr. Salvadore Allende. Thus, he became a martyr for the common people when he was brutally murdered for the music included on this CD set. The music ranges from highly political commentary, irony, and pure folk songs more than a hundred years old. Some have been adapted to the current days, some are not. However, the collect is a faithful sampling of Victor's work. It tells the story of his life and his beliefs and what he died for. Americans like Phil Ochs visited Victor, and Victor recorded songs like the American 'Little Houses on the Hillside,' adapting the lyrics but not the message to Santiago and Chile. Victor served as a political movement's voice. Listen to the voice and judge for yourself if that voice was unjustly silenced by torture and ultimately death."