Sukay is an

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

folk music band.

History

Sukay, an international touring musical group, is known in the United States for bringing the music of the Andes for the first time to cities and concert stages throughout North America. The group's name came from the ancient language and culture of the Quechua of the

central Andes Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, and it means “to open the earth and make it ready for planting”. For 25 years before the opening of Peña Pachamama in San Francisco in the late '90s, SUKAY had appeared on hundreds of the great stages across America including New York's Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, Colorado's

Red Rocks Amphitheater Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind ...

and Vilar Center for the Arts, San Francisco's Herbst Theatre, Masonic Auditorium, Washington DC's

Lisner Auditorium Lisner Auditorium is a performance venue sited on the Foggy Bottom campus of The George Washington University, at 730 21st Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. Named for Abram Lisner (1852-1938), a university trustee and benefactor whose will provid ...

and Smithsonian's Baird Auditorium, Bushnell Performing Arts Center, Hartford, Banff Center Theatre, Alberta, Detroit Institute for the Arts, MI, Arizona's Roy Disney Center for the Performing Arts and Centennial Hall, AZ, Spivey Hall, GA, Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary,

Wilder Hall Wilder may refer to: People * Wilder (name), including a list of people with the name Places Austria * Kaisergebirge, also called Wilder Kaiser, a ski area in Austria United States * Wilder, California * Wilder, Idaho * Wilder, Kansas * ...

at Oberlin College, OH, Live Oak Theatre, Austin, Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, PA, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley CA, Scottsdale Center for the Arts, AZ, Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater, NY, Obert C.Tanner Amphitheater,

Zion National Park Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety o ...

, UT and the Colisée in Quebec City (opening for

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

and

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

). The group also appeared at major festivals in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto, at

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

Clearwater Festival The Clearwater Festival (officially the Great Hudson River Revival) is a music and environmental summer festival and America's oldest and largest annual festival of its kind. This unique event has hosted over 15,000 people on a weekend in June ...

and countless other venues. Sukay recorded twenty-four albums. Among the Andean legends joining them were

Yuri Ortuño Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name * Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. * Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine J ...

“the

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, Conducting, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded Plácido Domingo discography, over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

”, Savia Andina’s renowned wind instrumentalist Alcides Mejia, Argentine guitarist

Enrique Coria Enrique "Quique" Coria (coh-rhia) is a guitarist from Dique Los Molinos, Argentina. Coria has appeared on over 400 recordings in South America and the US including with David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mand ...

and Eddy Navia, one of Bolivia's beloved charangists. Eddy went on to become Sukay's artistic director and husband of Sukay's co-founder Quentin H Navia. In the mid-'70s, Eddy had Eric Clapton status in his native country. The music of his band stayed atop the South America Top 40 charts, and several of their 35 album recordings on CBS and

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

went gold. Sukay was founded in 1975 by

quena The quena (hispanicized spelling of Quechua ''qina'', sometimes also written ''kena'' in English) is the traditional flute of the Andes. Traditionally made of cane or wood, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole, and is open on both ends or ...

player Quentin H Navia and Edmond Badoux, and she is the band's only remaining original member. In 1978 the group brought pan-pipe player Gonzalo Vargas from Bolivia and together with Bolivian guitarist Javier Canelas the group became a quartet. Gonzalo Vargas left Sukay in 1984 and in the late 80s formed his group Inkuyo with another musician who toured with Sukay, Omar Sepulveda. Renowned Bolivian composer and

charango The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua and Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments were introduced by the Spanish duri ...

player Eddy Navia joined Sukay in 1989. Eddy & Quentin Navia founded the Peña Pachamama in San Francisco, CA, which for the past 22 years has become a gathering place for great world music artists. Quentin & Eddy Navia are the owners of the copyright and publishing rights of all recordings of Sukay, Eddy Navia, Savia Andina Classics 1, 2 and 3, Great Instrumentals of Bolivia, Pachamama (the call and the entire Discography below). Flying Fish (Bruce Kaplan was a friend of the group) only leased and distributed a few albums that were produced completely by SUKAY WORLD MUSIC.

Discography

*Music of the Andes (1976) - Sukay World Music *Pacha Siku (1978) - Aural Tradition Records *Socavon (1985) - Sukay World Music *Tutayay (1986) - Sukay World Music *Mama Luna (1987) - Sukay World Music *Huayrasan (1988) - Sukay World Music *Sukay Instrumental (1988) - Sukay Records *Cumbre (The Summit) (1990) - Sukay Records *Return of the Inca (1991) - Sukay Records *Navidad Andina (Christmas) (1993) - Sukay Records *Savia Andina Classics 1 *Savia Andina Classics 2 *Savia Andina Classics 3 *Encuentros (Meetings) (1995) - Sukay Records *Love Songs of the Andes, Yuri Ortuño and Quentin Navia (1995) - Sukay Records *Andean Guitar Instrumental *Pachamama La Llamada, The Call (1999) - Sukay Records *Andean Pan Pipes - Sukay World Music *Eddy Navia En Charango - Sukay World Music *Eddy Navia Mozart En Machu Picchu - Sukay World Music *Eddy Navia World Instrumentals - Sukay World Music *Piano Charango Chuchito Valdés & Eddy Navia - Sukay World Music nominated for a Latin Grammy *Carnaval en Piano Charango - Sukay World Music nominated for a second Latin Grammy *Chuchito Valdés & Eddy Navia - Sukay World Music *Great Instrumentals of Bolivia - Sukay World Music

External links

References

{{Authority control Folk music groups Andean music Flying Fish Records artists