Click image for song "Popurri de Kapishcas "

The Folklore trio, Los Alamas was created in 1982. This trio, in spite of still maintaining only one of the original members, improves its musical quality every day with a great versatility that lets them interpret almost all of the rhythms and genre that is native to Ecuador and Latin America, this is the reason for their success.

The name “Alamas” comes from the affectionate greeting of the ethnic group of the Oriental Quechua of Ecuador. Its members greet each other with this word: “Hola alama!” which means “Hi brother!” or “Hi friend!”. This shows that the group represents the brotherhood of man through their music.

The group emerged from the neighborhood of Chimbacalle in the city of Quito. The first members were Olivo Naranjo (from Amabato), Héctor Naranjo (from Ambato) and Jaime Carrasco. Olivo and Héctor Naranjo were founders and members of the group “Intiyán” and in1982 they separated to form the trio of the Alamas. Later Héctor Naranjo and Jaime Carrasco abandoned the group.

This gave rise to the current members of the group that are: Olivio Naranjo: harp, “requinto”, “charango”, mandolin, flute, pan flute, “rondador”, “dulzainas”, drum, maracas and first voice of the group, Maria Alexandra Naranjo: harp and Luis Nieto: guitar.

This group has an extensive artistic course, national and international. In Ecuador, the group has presented in different cities. But it was in 1986 that the group achieved international recognition when CETUR sponsored their participation in the festival of the Americas that was held in the Dominican Republic.

After different presentations in Colombia and Peru, in 1990, the Ecuadorian Aviation company sponsored the trio to musically represent Ecuador in the United States. During this year, they presented in various settings like the Garden Marriot in Palm Beach, the Sheraton Harbor in Fort Meyers, the Holiday International in Tampa, and others. These presentations were the reason that, in 1991, Don Francisco from the program of “Sabado Gigante”, invited them to present on the show.

Later, destiny took them to Europe where they opened doors in Switzerland, presenting in several cities in this country and in 2002, they participated in the World Folklore Festival. Afterwards, they continued their tour to Egypt, thanks to the sponsorship of the Ecuadorian Foreign Secretary in Cairo.

With their hectic and active artistic life of 25 years, the group has produced two CD’s of folklore music, Ecuadorian and Latin American. We leave you with a theme from their last CD where a potpourri of songs are sung to the rhythm of the harp, guitar and wind instruments in a true tribute to the country where they were born.

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Updated: 11/01/04