At a concert hall in the Chilean capital, Santiago, an 80-year-old man edges unsteadily down a steep staircase. With one hand he grips the metal bannister, in the other he carries a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon, as if heading to bed.<\/p>\n
But when the red stage curtain is pulled aside for him, Luis G\u00f3mez, or JM as he is universally known, transforms in an instant. He skips on to the stage to a roar from the crowd and launches into a bolero, punctuated by hip thrusts and shuffling two-steps.<\/p>\n
JM is the frontman of Los Crack del Puerto, and one of the last remaining voices of a golden generation.<\/p>\n
Born and raised in Valpara\u00edso, Chile\u2019s vibrant second city, JM\u2019s late foray into music has taken him all around the country, as well as to Mexico, the UK, Argentina and France.<\/p>\n
Luis G\u00f3mez was raised in Valpara\u00edso, Chile\u2019s vibrant second city. Photograph: Delphotos\/Alamy<\/p>\n
But things could \u2013 and probably should \u2013 have worked out very differently.<\/p>\n
At 65, he was still hawking vegetables at the market he had worked at since the age of eight.<\/p>\n
This May, Los Crack del Puerto released their fourth record, Lo Mucho Que Nos Queda (So Much Yet to Come), as a cassette \u2013 to great acclaim.<\/p>\n
\u201cSinging has always been my release,\u201d JM says in a wavering voice, in contrast to his confident onstage vocals.<\/p>\n
The father of two speaks with captivating enthusiasm about his life, often leaping to his feet to re-enact minor scenes. Scattered with bursts of song, most conversations return to his mostly tongue-in-cheek fear of his wife of 55 years, his penchant for sports clothing, or the market on Avenida Argentina in Valpara\u00edso.<\/p>\n
Luis G\u00f3mez, known locally as JM, sings at La Quinta de los N\u00fa\u00f1ez in Valpara\u00edso, Chile. Photograph: Tamara Merino\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
JM was born in the O\u2019Higgins neighbourhood of Valpara\u00edso in 1945, the youngest of five children. He was three years old when his father died, and 10 when he lost his mother. For a time, he would sleep out on the street between parked cars, until his aunt and uncle took him in and laid down the law, insisting that he was home by 10pm each night.<\/p>\n
\u201cJM\u201d was a cheeky nickname bestowed upon him by the family \u2013 the initials of a childhood friend, Juan Mu\u00f1oz, with whom they said he spent too much time. The moniker has long since replaced his full name.<\/p>\n
Valpara\u00edso then, as it is now, was defined by its music. As in many ports, cultures and ideas have long arrived in the city and been woven into its fabric; but the musical styles of its 20th-century heyday, from boleros to waltzes, tango to cueca, Chile\u2019s official national dance, have barely changed in generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same songs that were sung before are still the ones they sing now,\u201d says JM decisively. Many now form Los Crack del Puerto\u2019s repertoire.<\/p>\n
JM is one of the most recognised voices of Valpara\u00edso\u2019s traditional music scene. Photograph: Tamara Merino\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
One of his cousins, Juan Navarro, known simply as Juan\u00edn, would bring friends home and play his guitar for them, and the younger JM would come sing along.<\/p>\n
The cousins remained lifelong friends while Juan\u00edn pursued a career in the police and JM sold vegetables at the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s still what I am \u2013 a market trader,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Through middle age, the self-taught double act entertained crowds in Valpara\u00edso\u2019s bars \u2013 JM the entertaining foil to his more serious older cousin, who would perch on a stool to play his guitar, always in an immaculate pressed suit.<\/p>\n
JM and Juan\u00edn began to take their music more seriously and formed a band with a group of local musicians in 2017. Photograph: Tamara Merino\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes Juan\u00edn would just invent chords,\u201d says Los Crack del Puerto\u2019s manager, Juan Nu\u00f1ez. \u201cThe rest of the band would stop and ask him what chord he\u2019d just played, and he\u2019d just shrug.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJM was the entertainer, he can make anyone laugh,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez adds.<\/p>\n
But the dynamic worked. In 2017, JM and Juan\u00edn began taking their music more seriously, forming the band with a group of talented local musicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat generation is an intangible cultural heritage. They\u2019re a living legacy,\u201d says 33-year-old musician Felipe Riveros, who has played with JM as a guitarist.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s charismatic. People go mad when he comes on stage. He and Juan\u00edn are the archetypes of the old porte\u00f1o.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juan\u00edn died in 2025 at the age of 87.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor three or four months, I missed him so much, I couldn\u2019t bring myself to get back on stage,\u201d says JM of his cousin. \u201cPeople would request Juan\u00edn\u2019s songs, but they were his, I didn\u2019t feel like we could play them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, as JM approaches his 81st birthday, the royalty cheques that supplement his miserly state pension are of little consequence to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never planned any of this, and I\u2019d be happy still working at the market,\u201d he says quietly during a break between songs at the Quinta de los Nu\u00f1ez, a hillside restaurant where he sings every Sunday for an adoring crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I suppose it\u2019s never too late to give something a try.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a concert hall in the Chilean capital, Santiago, an 80-year-old man edges unsteadily down a steep staircase.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-639113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}