Gabriel Parra

I'm a big fan of music in general, I believe that the good music could be anywhere, in any music gender. But if I need to talk about a very good chilean band, I would talk about Los Jaivas. I strongly believe that they are one of the greatest bands, not only in Chile but in all the world. Currently Los Jaivas are more like a tribute band, because there are only two original members left :(

The merit of this group is the mix of progressive rock and folklore rhythms, with a lot of virtuosity. 

And if we are talking about virtuosity, Gabriel Parra is a reference. He was the drummer of the band and he was freaking amazing. A lot of the success of Los Jaivas came of the great talent of Gabriel Parra. When the band played in Europe, the people wanted to see them because they said that the drummer plays in a funny way, and it is true. When you listen to the songs you may believe that you are hearing a rock song, but then you realize that the drums are playing cueca's rhythms. Even in the 70's a magazine of England said that Gabriel Parra was the third best drummer of the world, below the drummer of Led Zeppelin and The Who (both monsters of the drum). 

Sadly Gabriel died in 1988 in a motorcycle crash in Peru. Los Jaivas was in their best moment and after that it never was the same. But the memory of Gabriel reminds to today. In Chile the day of music is the day of his birthday, and that is a proof of his relevance and talent. So I strongly recomend to listen to the drums when you are listening Los Jaivas.