Savia Andina was one of the first groups to have international success with traditional Andean music

Andean music

Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...

. They had this success starting in the 1960s and went on to have three albums to go gold. They toured Europe and are sometimes classed in the "new song/nueva cancion" movement of Latin American music. In the 1970s they became the most popular and influential music group in Bolivia, but were later displaced by Los Kjarkas

Los Kjarkas

Los Kjarkas is a Bolivian band from the Capinota Province in the department of Cochabamba, one of the most popular Andean pop bands in the country's history...

. They are also known for poetic love songs about mountains. Eddy Navia, a founder of the group noted as a charango

Charango

The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with...

 player, left in 1988 to join Sukay

Sukay

Sukay is a musical group known for playing music of the Andean regions of Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Bolivia. Sukay was started by Edmond Badoux from Switzerland and Quentin Howard from the United States in 1974. In 1975 they traveled to South America for a year where they studied Andean music in...

.