LATINFLUTES presents: QUITUS (pronounced kee-toos) represented by professional
musician Guillermo Villagomez that has been performing the magical and
soul-stirring folkloric music of South America (especially Peru, Bolivia
and Ecuador) The traditional music he plays has a rich history, extending
back before the time of the Incas, even before Christ, a time enshrouded
in mystery and legend, evoked by the enchanting sound of the native instruments.
The name QUITUS, in fact, is in memory of a group of people of the same
name, indigenous to the area of modern Quito, Ecuador, before the Incas
consolidated the different native groups of the Andes Mountains into their
monumental empire, Tahuantinsuyo. Even before then, the Quitus of Ecuador
were creating and experimenting with music, utilizing quena, flutes of
bone, rondadors, panpipes constructed from the wings of condors, and bombos,
drums made from the skins of cows, moose and elk. The Quitus were the
creators of the lively and celebratory religious dances called Sanjuanitos,
which is now the national dance of Ecuador.
With the arrival of the Incas and the subsequent conversion of cultures,
the music went through inevitable changes, merging with that of other
various native groups in the region to become known as ''Inca music"
(1200-1500), although what we have today is the result of further extensive
intermixing of native rhythms with the musical influences later brought
on by the Spanish conquest. The most important musical influence of the
Spanish was the introduction of the stringed instruments (the title, cuatro
and bandolin), and a European notation system in addition to the native
pentatonic system. Other instruments include guerilla, quenacho, bocina,
zampona, siku, antara, palla, toyo, ocarina, chajchas, whistles and rainsticks
from the jungle.
Finally, never static, the music is currently incorporating worldwide
influences and technology to become a dynamic and flourishing testament
to a culture, which, though conquered and repressed, is indestructible
because of its ingenuity and ability to survive and renew its legendary
memory, wisdom and pride in the modern world through an ancient art form.
The music has been the timekeeper, preserving Andean history, myths and
cultural pride from generation to generation when there was no other permitted
means of expression in the face of Indian repression, genocide and denial.
It is uncanny in its never-failing ability to captivate the listener from
any part of the world with its precise and profound evocation of the sorrows
and joys of all of life's seasons, the personal and the naturals from
the poignant sensation of the deep mysteries of space and time so well
understood by our indigenous forefathers, to the ancient call of the earth
and sky's magic harmony. In the poetry of the ancestral language (Quechua
or Aymara) or in Spanish: it is an enduring and spirited homage to Mother
Earth (Pachamama) and Father Sky (Taita inti).
QUITUS is proud to be a part of this fascinating legacy and wants to share
the beauty of this cultural renewal with the rest of the world.
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