Tamarugo ‎– Tan Lejos Del Mar (1980, LP, Chile)

A Chilean trio that released one sole album on a French label, TAMARUGO named themselves after a very helpful edible shrub growing in deserted pampas. Obviously the group benefited from a lot of sympathy towards fleeing countrymen (and by now French refugees) LOS JAIVAS and CONGRESO whom both had much success with their Andean Folk music, a bit like other second wave Argentinean group Horizonte.
TAMARUGO's music was certainly much jazzier than the other three aforementioned groups, using much bossa nova and sometimes even sounding like CARAVAN, but they managed to remain distinctly Andean folk sounding, despite some tremendous instrumental forays in jazz-rock. Their sole album was released on the French label Escargot in February '79, and the songs are sung in Spanish, the lyrics were written bilingual, showing how this was more of a French products than it was in its Pinochet-dominated homeland. This was to be their sole album though, and I don't think the album received a legitimate Cd reissue, which is a damn shame.