The origins of Los Jaivas can be found in the family nucleus made up of the brothers Eduardo, Claudio and Gabriel Parra, from Viña del Mar.

Together with their friends and classmates from high school at the Liceo Guillermo Rivera Cotapos, located on Calle Montaña (a few steps de la Quinta Vergara),[1] Los Jaivas appeared in Chilean music on August 15, 1963, under the name of The High & Bass as a progressive-rock-andino group, mixing rock with South American ancestral music.

[8] Between 1970 and 1971, and with its Spanishized name "Los Jaivas", the group's concerts became absolute improvisations, without scripts or prepared schemes, and with each musical instrument generating its own atmosphere, even with the help of the audience.

[2][7] Several concerts from this time, including those held at the Vanguard Music Festival of Viña del Mar (January 1970), the Sala de la Reforma of the Faculty of Musical Arts and Sciences of the University of Chile (May 1970), the Cine Arte de Viña del Mar (June 1970) and the Park of the Cultural Institute of Las Condes (May 1970), in addition to the soundtrack prepared for a film that was never made (¿Qué Hacer?

by Raúl Ruiz, soundtrack recorded in October 1970), are reflected in the five-disc collection entitled La Vorágine, which documents the stage known as the Prehistory of Los Jaivas.

The album, released in 1971, contains improvisations along the lines of the avant-garde explored previously, but it also includes the first compositional sketches, especially on songs like "Foto de Primera Comunión" and "Que o la Tumba Seras".

[citation needed] Among various other activities, in 2006 the group performed a historic concert on Easter Island, in addition to the Chilean Navy orchestra, and as part of the celebrations for the month of the sea.

On September 20, 2006, Canal 13 broadcasts the television special Los Jaivas en Rapa Nui: Ojos Que Miran el Universo, which includes fragments of the recital, as well as interviews with the group and with inhabitants of the Island.