Jaime Guardia, the silence of the charango

In one of his songs, Jaime Guardia, to the sound of his charango, sings: "I'm leaving, I'm leaving, / tomorrow I'm leaving, / but I'm leaving with the hope of coming back, otherwise I'm dying". This, however, is no longer true. Jaime Guardia is not going back, he left forever in the early hours of Monday, perhaps, more than defeated by his 85 years, broken by carelessness and his illness.

He was a great artist, and the people. His charango was a jewel that Peru, as a state, held little or nothing, as was the case of the violinist Máximo Damián. However, destiny meant that in the early times, the great José María Arguedas recognized in them the authenticity of their art and protected them. Not for nothing, the Andalusian writer dedicated the novel All Bloods with the following words: "To Jaime Guardia, from the city of Pausa, in which the music of Peru embodies like fire and unbounded tears "

From Pausa I Come

Jaime Guardia came from afar, from his city Break He was born in February 1933. He grew up in a family where there were uncles , cousins ​​and even neighbors dedicated to music, but for him it was forbidden.And he, though he was still a child to become a musician, was already a wind that does not ask for permission , a river that does not respect the imposed channel and resorts to all the tricks to have an appointment with his charango every day.One day, he told us that before the police zeal of his parents, he had chosen to hide his charango in the bushes, and there, in the solitude, in the immensity of the night, delivered to the ropes, he heard the Trill of his charango.

It is also known that one of his cousins ​​gave him a charango made of willow wood and gut strings of goat. Or that other, when his charango is broken. His mother, as a consolation, gave him a nice ball, but he, without further ado, changed it for a charango.

Lima and Arguedas

In the 40s, he traveled to Lima. He was a young man of 20 and he formed and joined the musical group La Lira Pausina created by his compatriot, the musician Jacinto Pebe Pueyrredón.

Then, Jaime Guardia started walking with the group through the coliseums that were then in Lima. And he met José María Arguedas.

"It happened at the Lima Coliseum, in Breña, I came down from the scene and I approached a white man with a mustache, all excited me tight in my arm and m said: 'What a wonderful boy, I congratulate you! This must be kept.This style must be preserved until the end.Do not be fooled by the contractors.You will will offer money to change their style, but do not pay attention to them because they take care of their money and not their culture.It is what it m 39. said and that's what I'm doing up here, "he confesses in one of my interviews

Just like Arguedas, Jaime Guardia knew who he was. is dead, I want to remember his answers to our conversation:

"Does that scare you?

Fear, no, we must all finish, that's why you better make sure of yourself, even when you can and if you can.

What would you say if on his last day, a president takes his charango and says, "It's the musician of the city"?

I would say: This is the city, but why do you take it if the artist does not give you anything? "

It was Don Jaime, brave like his charango. ❧ [19659002] the data

• The mortal remains of the master of the charango are monitored at his home, Morillo street Mz 1, lot 7, La Campiña, Chorrillos (at block 14 of Av. El Sol)