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45 albums · 1961–2025

Music of Bolivia, from the charango and Los Kjarkas to Luzmila Carpio, the rock of La Paz and today

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

Sikuri players of Taypi Ayka in red ponchos and white hats, one with a siku panpipe
Luzmila Carpio on stage with her charangoMorenada dancers in gold-embroidered costumes and bearded masks at the Oruro carnival
The sikuris of Taypi Ayka, from Italaque, playing in La Paz in 2022. Photo: Carlosfiengo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · Luzmila Carpio with her charango at MICSUR in Mar del Plata, 2014. Photo: Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación, Argentina, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · The morenada in the parade of the Oruro carnival, 2012. Photo: Alfredobi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bolivia's popular music has the charango and the sikuri at its heart, Ernesto Cavour's charango, Alfredo Domínguez's guitar, Los Jairas and Wara's El Inca in La Paz, then the ensembles that carried the Andes abroad, Los Kjarkas from Cochabamba with Llorando se fue, Savia Andina, Rumillajta and Luzmila Carpio from Potosí, Jach'a Mallku's morenadas for the Oruro carnival, Gladys Moreno's taquirari from Santa Cruz, the cueca of Tarija with Nilo Soruco and Enriqueta Ulloa, Matilde Casazola's songs from Sucre, Luis Rico's saya from the Yungas, the rock of Loukass, Llegas, Atajo and Octavia in La Paz, and Chila Jatun, Vero Pérez and Luzmila Carpio's Inti Watana today. The list has 45 records from 1961 to 2025, one or two by each of the names above and only a small part of what they made; the carnival bands' own records beyond a nod, the song of the lowlands beyond Gladys Moreno and Los Cambitas, the church and baroque music of Chiquitos, the saya beyond one record, and the many cassettes that never reached streaming would each need a list of their own. About 31 hours of music, 4 days of a few records each.

By genre

Folk & Country 20%Rock 12%Pop 2%Other 66%
  • Folk & Country 20%
  • Rock 12%
  • Pop 2%
  • Other 66%

The genres named most: bolivian, folk, andean, rock, singer-songwriter, cueca.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 1 country: Bolivia 45. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Countries first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.