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Paco de Lucía

Paco de
Lucía (born December 21, 1947) in Algeciras, Spain, is recognized as a
flamenco legend all over the world and is a famous musician in Spain. He is a composer and guitarist, and
leading proponent of the Modern Flamenco style. Not only skilled in
flamenco, he is one of the very few flamenco guitarists who has also
successfully crossed over into other genres of music, such as jazz,
classical, and world music. He is the winner of the 2004 Prince of
Asturias Awards in Arts, and is the uncle of Spanish pop singer Malú.
De Lucía was born Francisco Sánchez Gómez in Algeciras, a city in the
province of Cádiz, at the southernmost tip of Spain and Europe, the
youngest of five children. The son of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sánchez,
and brother of flamenco singer Pepe de Lucía and flamenco guitarist
Ramón de Algeciras, he adopted the stage name Paco de Lucía in honor of
his Portuguese-born mother, Lúcia Gomes.
In 1958, at age 11, de Lucía made his first public appearance on Radio
Algeciras, and a year later he was awarded a special prize in the Jerez
flamenco competition. In 1961, he toured with the flamenco troupe of
dancer José Greco. Between 1968 and 1977, he enjoyed a fruitful
collaboration with fellow New Flamenco innovator Camarón de la Isla. The
two recorded 10 albums together.
In 1979, de Lucía, John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell formed "The Guitar
Trio" and together made a brief tour of Europe and released a video
recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall entitled "Meeting of Spirits".
Coryell was later replaced by Al Di Meola, and since 1981, the trio have
recorded three albums under that line-up. His own band, the Paco de
Lucía Sextet (which includes his brothers Ramón and Pepe) released the
first of their three albums that same year. He has released several
albums encompassing both traditional and modern flamenco styles. Through
his wide discography he has given rise to a new way of understanding
flamenco and has launched his music and his instrument to a level
superior to modern jazz performers[citation needed]. It's difficult to
compare anyone to Paco de Lucia in terms of technique. The University of
Cadiz recognized de Lucía's musical and cultural contributions by
conferring on him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on March 23, 2007.
De Lucía is considered a master of rasgueados and picados[citation
needed] and is capable of playing with blinding speed on the nylon
string guitar.
Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de
Aranjuez in 1991, de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical
notation. As a flamenco guitarist, de Lucía claimed in Paco de
Lucia-Light and Shade: A Portrait, he gave greater emphasis to
rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the Concierto at the
expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín
Rodrigo declared that no one had ever played his composition in such a
brilliant manner.
wikipedia
http://www.flamenco-world.com/guitar/pacodelucia/
pacodelucia.htm
Ricardo Gallén
Ricardo
Gallén was born in Linares, Jaén, in 1972 and began to play the guitar
at the age of four, making his first public appearance a year later. He
entered the Linares Conservatory when he was ten, studying with the
composer Tomás Villajos Soler, and continuing his studies in the
conservatories of Jaén, Córdoba, Madrid and Granada, as well as
participating in master classes. He studied the guitar and early music
at the Salzburg Mozarteum and at Munich University. A prize-winner in
many national and international competitions, he has appeared as a
recitalist and soloist in Spain and throughout Europe, as well as in
Cuba, Mexico and the Middle and Far East, with masterclasses in many
countries. His recordings include highly acclaimed performances of
concertos by Rodrigo and other releases for Naxos. He serves as a
professor at the Barcelona Escuela de Artes “Luthier”.

Kepa
Junkera
Infernuko Auspoa - Kepa, Zabaleta eta
Motriku - (1986)
Triki Up - Kepa, Zabaleta eta Imanol - (1990)
Trikitixa Zoom (1991)
Trans-Europe Diatonique - Kepa Junkera, John Kirkpatrick and Riccardo Tesi
- (1993)
Kalejira Al-buk (1994)
Lau Eskutara - Kepa Junkera and Julio Pereira - (1995)
Leonen Orroak - Kepa Junkera and Ibon Koteron - (1996)
Bilbao 00:00h (1998)
Tricky! (2000)
Maren (2001)
K (2003)
Atlhetic Bihotzez (2004) website
Spanish Basque
KEPA JUNKERA is the Basque country's most notable young musician, having
first visited this country in a trio - Trans-Europe Diatonique - with John
Kirkpatrick (UK) and Riccardo Tesi (Italy). From an early age Kepa showed
an interest in the diatonic accordion (trikitixa in Basque) and started
playing it from an early age. His dream came true when the great Basque
group OSKORRI took an interest in the young lad with the lightning fingers
on the 'triki' buttons, and invited him to play and record with them - he
is still there! His career soon blossomed as he won numerous top level
awards and as he travelled around the world to delight audiences. He has a
boundless energy to submerge himself in projects and as such he has
recorded and travelled with many great musicians including The Chieftains
(Ireland); La Bottine Souriante (Québec); Carlos Nuñez (Spain), amongst
others. With his own band (voted as best live act in Spain) he adds an
exciting new dimension to his music with the use of the 'txalaparta' -
wooden poles/sticks beaten on horizontal planks of wood - which add a
drive and depth to the music.

Carlos Piñana
Carlos Piñana was born in Cartagena in 1976, into a
flamenco family. His father, Antonio Piñana, is a guitarist of orthodox
flamenco and obviously led his son to compete for guitar prizes. By 1998
he won the "Ramón Montoya" National prize of Córdoba and the "Sabicas"
first prize in the National Festival of Young Flamenco
Read an
interview in flamencoworld.com

Muchachito Bombo Infierno

KID
BIG DRUM HELL
The racially mixed sound was needing an urgent
renovation. The charisma of Jairo, the Kid, has shaken the foundations of
a mestization anchored in the names of always. From Santa Coloma, the
genuine Barcelonian suburbs, Mr. Bombo Hell has the world on his feet.
The rotten racially mixed sound that has generated Barcelona to the heat
of the immigration of the district of the Raval a long time ago it stopped
being as exciting as the section of World music of the BBC wants to make
believe to us. In spite of the success of Eyes of Wizard, Macaco, or
08001, the sound that the parameters of the fusion and the tradition have
drawn under requests to shouts a change that, one of two: or it is sent to
the absolute comercialidad, or aims above and it proven new prescriptions
that obtain a revision with face and eyes. In order to break with the
Barcelonian dominion, and to insufflate of impudence to the mestization,
it arrives “We go that we go away” (Nomadic Musics, 05) of Kid Big drum
Hell, old Trimelón member, ex--street cleaner in the Carmel, and musician
to wander about with pleasure.
An atypical personage with a form to compose still more atypical music: “I
never feel to compose - he assures. Without going more far, “World snail”
(a Trimelón subject) I did it while it swept the streets of the Car it to
me. Melodía left a day to me that went of joint. Now the together rate and
the letter arise to me, sometimes in the sound tests or improvising while
I touch. I put myself to touch, and they leave to me”. And it is that its
debut in length has made it mature and places as a perfect crossing
between Jose Feliciano, Manu Ciao and macarra of district that seems to
be. The fame, for that reason, has not risen to him at the top: “when it
touched in bars was happy and for me already it was sufficient. ”

José Ángel Hevia Velasco
http://www.hevia.es/
In the late 20th century,
various models of electronic bagpipes have been invented. The first custom-built
MIDI bagpipes were developed by the Asturian piper José Ángel Hevia Velasco
(generally known simply as Hevia).[3] Some models allow the player to select the
sound of several different bagpipes as well as switch keys. As yet they are not
widely used due to technical limitations, but they have found a useful niche as
a practice instrument (particularly with headphones).
José Angel Hevia Velasco, now known to the world as
Hevia, has made quite a name for himself in the bagpipe world. Whether
you love or hate his innovations (electronic bagpipes that have no
physical drones and don't use actual reeds), he has certainly brought
the bagpipe to the consciousness of thousands of new devotees in his
native Spain and throughout Europe. His album Tierra de Nadie, and the
unlikely hit single, "Busindre Reel," have made him a household word at
home and abroad. In the wake of that success, Hevia released this video,
recorded live in concert, before an adoring audience in Madrid.
It's hard to complain about the music on Live in
Madrid. Hevia surrounds himself with an eight-piece band that features
at least four percussionists. This may be a bit of overkill, as his
sister María José Hevia, one of the percussion players, is completely
inaudible about half the time but is clearly a talented musician when
you can hear her. Other instruments you'll hear are fiddle, didgeridoo,
oud, guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. The band goes to town on
versions of Hevia's Tierra de Nadie material, including "Busindre Reel,"
"La Linea Trazada," "Barganaz," and the Ramón Prada composition "Sobrepena."
Some tracks feature Hevia's flute backed by roaring didgeridoo, swirling
fiddle, and bass; others are fronted by his smooth-sounding electronic
bagpipes, which look strangely bald without drones; and a surprising
number feature the low whistle as the main instrument. Whatever he's
playing, Hevia is clearly a master musician, and all the music is
superb.
One of the nicest facets of this video is that Hevia
invites some traditional musicians along to share the limelight. He is
particularly generous to Collectivu Ethnográfico Muyeres, a group of
women who sing in strong, sharp voices and play the pandero, or square
tambourine. They provide most of the vocals on the video and are
introduced by Hevia right after his opening number. Hevia also invites
along a large pipe band made up entirely of his students, who join in on
some tunes.
If there is a fault here, it's clearly that some of
the arrangements get too busy. At one point, when the eight-piece and
the pipe band are suddenly joined by what sounds like a boys' choir, it
gets downright turgid. But Hevia keeps most of it lively and interesting
without overloading us too much. For an encore, he picks up his good old
acoustic bagpipes and treats the audience to some rapid-fire
improvisation; it's a great way to prove he's not dependant on any of
the bombast or electronics to make stirring, beautiful music.
Celtic music is found in two regions of Spain -
Asturias and Galicia - both situated in the northwest corner of the
country. In fact, according to researchers from Oxford University, the
original inhabitants and the Celts of the British Isles would have
migrated from these regions in the Iberian Peninsula around 5000 BCE:
"People of Celtic ancestry were thought to have descended from tribes of
central Europe. Professor Sykes, who is soon to publish the first DNA
map of the British Isles, said: "About 6,000 years ago Iberians
developed ocean-going boats that enabled them to push up the Channel.
Before they arrived, there were some human inhabitants of Britain but
only a few thousand in number. These people were later subsumed into a
larger Celtic tribe... The majority of people in the British Isles are
actually descended from the Spanish."
The music of the region of Asturias in northern Spain has more in common
with Brittany, Wales and Ireland than Spanish music from Castille or
Andalusia. Traditional Asturian instruments include bagpipes, called the
Gaita, the harp loom and Asturian drums.
Jose Angel Hevia is an Asturian bagpiper and flautist who combines
Celtic and traditional Asturian elements in his music. Hevia began
playing the Asturian bagpipe as a young boy and has acheived great
success with his albums on Spanish Celtic music
"From Piano to Voice"
duo
Maria
Soledad Lopez and Roberto Martinez
http://www.myspace.com/
depianoavoz
Contacto
Móvil: (34)-652-948382
Mail: depianoavoz@gmail.com
Web:
http://www.myspace.com/
depianoavoz
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Musicians in Spain
Singer's in Spain
Group's in Spain

David
Russell
GRAMMY
award winner in 2005 for his CD AIRE LATINO, in the category of best
instrumental soloist in classical music.
Classical
guitarist David Russell is world renowned for his superb musicianship
and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences
and critics alike. In recognition of his great talent and his
international career, he was named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of
Music in London in 1997.
In May 2003 he was bestowed the great honor of being made "adopted son"
of Es Migjorn, the town in Minorca where he grew up. Recently the town
named a street after him, "Avinguda David Russell", in recognition for
his musical career.
In November 2003 he was given the Medal of Honor of the Conservatory of
the Balearics.
After winning the grammy award, the town of Nigrán in Spain where he
resides, gave him the silver medal of the town in an emotional ceremony.
During his studies at the Royal Academy, Mr. Russell won twice the
Julian Bream Guitar Prize. Later he won numerous international
competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition , the José
Ramírez Competition and Spain's prestigious Francisco Tárrega
Competition .
David Russell spends his time touring the world, appearing regularly at
prestigious halls in main cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los
Angeles, Madrid, Toronto or Rome. Concert-goers everywhere are in awe of
Mr. Russell's musical genius and inspired by his captivating stage
presence. His love of his craft resonates through his flawless and
seemingly effortless performance. The attention to detail and
provocative lyrical phrasing suggest an innate understanding of what
each individual composer was working to achieve, bringing to each piece
a sense of adventure.
This year he received a homage from the music conservatory of Vigo,
culminating with the opening of the new Auditorium, to which they gave
the name "Auditorio David Russell".
Since 1995 David Russell has an exclusive recording contract with Telarc
International, with whom he has recorded eleven CDs up to now, among
them Aire Latino, which received a grammy this year.
The New York Times wrote about his performance: "... Mr. Russell made
his mastery evident without ever deviating from an approach that places
musical values above mere display. It was apparent to the audience
throughout the recital that Mr. Russell possesses a talent of
extraordinary dimension".
Upon hearing play in London, Andrés Segovia wrote: "My congratulations
on your musicality and guitaristic technique".
http://www.davidrussellguitar.com/
index.html

Berrogüetto
website
Only five years ago, a band started in
Galicia with the feeling of being just a cry of a minority culture, a
culture that was always second to "popular" music. As unbelievable as it
is, but in these five years it all changed in Galicia: The "Scream from
the Ghetto" of folk music was heard all over Spain, and today the definite
number 1 in Galicia is not rock, but folk music...
It was in 1995 when Matto Congrio split. This band is from this day's
perspective one of the really important and innovative bands of the new
Galician folk revival, mixing with their impressive line-up Galician
Celtic music with influences of diverse styles and musical regions. The
album of Matto Congrio from 1992 directly starts with a special version of
a traditional Muiñeira in a Reggae/Folk Rock treatment, and during the
rest of the 10 tunes there are lots of other surprises, including a tune
featuring the uillean pipes of Paddy Moloney counterplaying against a
Galician gaita.
The former members of Matto Congrio devided in 1995 in friendship,
developing two new formations. Matto Congrio's gaita and flute player
Carlos Núñez and the string instrumentalist Pancho Alvarez went on to form
the Carlos Núñez Banda, becoming the biggest musical success that Galicia
has ever seen, and paving the way for a new young and dynamic scene in
Galicia. The other three former Matto Congrios formed what is today
possibly Galicia's finest live band: Berrogüetto. The three - accordionist
Santiago Cribeiro, soprane saxophonist/fiddler/gaiteiro Anxo Pintos and
percussionist Isaac Palacín - were joined by other musicians of famed
Galician groups such as Dhais, Armeguin, Fía Na Roca, Fol de Niu: these
were Quim Farinha (violin), Guillermo Fernández (guitars) and Quico
Comesaña (bouzouki, Celtic Harp). Once formed, things went off quickly -
in 1996 the first, and very brilliant, CD called "Navicularia" was
recorded with the Galician Do Fol record company. The next three years saw
Berrogüetto playing in Galicia, in Spain, Portugal, three tours of
Germany, Switzerland and Austria. With the recording of their second
album, "Viaxe por Urticaria", they were joined by their seventh regular
and first female member: Guadi Galego adds since then not only a new
beauty spot, but also a great singing voice and skills on the tamboruine
and even on the Gaita.
Guillermo explains the background of the
band name:
"Berro is a Galician word meaning scream or shout, and güetto is ghetto.
So Berrogüetto is the scream of the Ghetto. In Galicia this kind of music
was only second, it was not as important as rock music. So this is a
scream for Galician music."
So it was only five years ago that the Galician scene needed such a scream
- and this scream was highly successful, wasn't it? "Yes, more than we
thought it would be doing, yes. Now things are changing in Galician music.
For the first time the audience goes to concerts to see Galician bands and
reacts in the same way as they would do with foreign rock bands."
These days, Galician music and Galician bands are very often the stars of
folk festivals and the club circuit not only in Spain, but all over
Europe. What do Berrogüetto think is the mystery behind Galician music
that it is so attractive also to international audiences? - "No, no
mystery! This process is involved in a whole process all over the world I
think. The audiences seek for new - not for new music but new ways of
making music. People seek that you come back to your roots. And I think it
is for the first time that Galician music is placed in this whole process
as a roots music. No, no mystery, that's important."
The aim of Berrogüetto is to carry the old traditional music of Galicia
into our times, and the musicians show themselves very open in bringing
new elements into the music. "We have no problems when we use traditional
instruments with modern rhythms and with instruments like the keyboards or
bass. And to use the different influences of our tradition." As diverse as
their influences are the backgrounds of the band members, coming from
traditional music, rock music, jazz music. And they try to use those
different influences in their music.
On the traditional side of influences, the Celtic element is strong, yet
it is only one out of many influences. "The influence from other cultures
is very important in our music history, because the pilgrim's way of
Santiago was a very popular way in Europe. So we have in our tradition
typical rhythms from the Northeast of Spain, we have waltzes, polkas, even
some Latin things from South America, like tango, that has come back with
the Galician emigrants coming home. It's all natural cultural influence."
Berrogüetto use an exciting range of traditional Galician instruments. Of
course there is the national instrument of Galicia, the Gaita. Then there
is also a hurdy gurdy - "hurdy gurdies can be found in traditions all over
the world, also in Galicia." Also the tambourine is very traditional.
Fiddle was traditional in Galicia, but it was lost many years ago,
"because people connected it only to the blind, to the traditional songs
from blinds. There is only one recording conserved; of Florencio". (FolkWorld
had a report about Florencio's music some issues ago.) These old
instruments are joined with modern ones, like guitar or bouzouki or most
of the percussion.
The material they play is partly traditional, partly own material. While
on Berrogüetto's debut CD, more than half of the numbers were traditional,
the new CD features only two traditional songs, the rest being own
compositions. "We try to preserve the tradtional music, the rhythm",
explains Guillermo. "But we have no problems if we have to change
anything; yet our tunes are based on traditional rhythms
With this eclectic mix, along with an impressive, yet natural live
performance, they catch an always bigger and always more mixed audience.
"It is something that surprised us: Because you can see very young people,
but also older ones. We think we play music that everyone can understand.
It sometimes depends on the place were you play the concert. In a theatre
you can find older people, but maybe in open space later in the night when
you are drunk..."
The title of last album of Berrogüetto has its background in the utopia of
Etienne Cabet, writing in 1840 a book about an utopian village Icaria.
Looking from this day's point of view, these descriptions sound not
utopian at all: A town with drainage, bathrooms in the houses, retirement
at 65, eight working hours a day.... Yet it took 160 years until this
utopia became true.
Maybe this utopia gives a link back to the last 5 years, as in these five
years an utopia was fulfilled: The utopia of folk music becoming the
number one in Galicia. The ghetto from where 7 musicians screamed five
years ago has become by now the majority's interest. You just have to
believe in your utopias, then they might work, won't they...

CARLOS NÚÑEZ
CARLOS NÚÑEZ bagpipes, flutes, whistle, ocarina
XURXO NÚÑEZ percussions, drums, keyboards
PANCHO ÁLVAREZ bouzouki, bass
NIAMH NI CHARRA violin, concertina
The piper from Vigo, Carlos Núñez
The relationship between the music of Carlos
Núñez and the world of images is obvious (let us
not forget that his international career was
launched after working with The Chieftains for
the music on Treasure Island). In fact,
much of his songs are like soundtracks for
imaginary films, for everyone to dream up a
script or landscapes to suit them. But Núñez
goes effortlessly beyond music for the big
screen –The Mission, Barry Lyndon
and The Godfather– exploring the limits
of the bagpipes with pieces such as the
Concierto de Aranjuez, Bach’s Prelude to
Suite N. 1 for Cello or Ravel’s Bolero.
More than a million records sold, Premio Ondas,
two nominations for the Latin Grammys … Carlos
Núñez has been defined as: “the bagpipe’s only
star” or “the Jimi Hendrix of the bagpipes”. He
is considered one of the greats of popular music
for his ability to cross frontiers and bring
together music from different countries and
styles using solid, original ideas and enormous
emotional strength.
Naiara Castillejo Garcia
Classical music for all events
Weddings
Parties
Concerts
Naiara Castillejo Garcia
Classical Music for events
naiara.castillejo@gmail.com
 
http://www.fabiomiano.com/
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