Radio Tarifa

Last updated

Radio Tarifa was a Spanish World music ensemble, combining Flamenco, Arab-Andalusian music, Arabic music, Moorish music and other musical influences of the Mediterranean, the Middle Ages and the Caribbean. The name of the ensemble comes from an imaginary radio station in Tarifa, a small town in the Spanish province of Cadiz, Andalusia, the closest part of Spain to Morocco. Instead of simply fusing musical styles as they are currently known, Radio Tarifa went back in time to the common past of those styles, before the final conquest of Granada in 1492, when the Moors and Jews were exiled from Spain. This invented style sheds light upon the real styles of Spain, most notably flamenco, [1] although the band rejected all musical purism, preferring to mix arrangements of traditional compositions with their own melodies and combining instruments from Ancient Egypt, classical Greek and Roman times with modern saxophones and electric bass. [2]

Contents

History

Both Fain Dueñas (percussion, Spain) and Vincent Molino (flute, France) were students of Moroccan multi-instrumentalist and composer Tarik Banzi of the Al-Andalus Ensemble. Together they founded an early music group playing music from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance called Ars Antiqua Musicalis, but this group was unable to attain commercial success. When they met Benjamin Escoriza from Granada — a flamenco singer raised by Gypsies — in Madrid in the late 1980s, the last piece for a new band was in place. [3]

Their first album, Rumba Argelina, was recorded in 1993 and became a success in Europe when it was released in 1996, and again, when it was re-issued (through association with Nonesuch Records) in America in 1997. The critical and financial success of that disc made it possible to put together a full-fledged touring band which played in 17 European countries, as well as in Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Canada and the United States". [2]

After 14 years of intense musical activity, the band announced they would take an indefinite break; their farewell concert was performed in Barcelona on 11 November 2006. [2] - On 9 March 2012, singer Benjamin Escoriza died at the age of 58. [4]

Discography

Personnel

Guests

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musical ensemble</span> Instrumental and/or vocal music group

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Other music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo-wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds, and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds, and percussion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gipsy Kings</span> French flamenco, salsa, and pop group

Gipsy Kings are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, salsa, and pop. They perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish and languages of southern France, such as Occitan.

New flamenco or flamenco fusion is a musical genre that was born in Spain, starting in the 1980s. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity and traditional flamenco music with musical fusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-instrumentalist</span> Musician who plays multiple musical instruments

A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency.

<i>The Last Waltz</i> (soundtrack) 1978 soundtrack album by the Band

The Last Waltz is the second live album by the Band, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1978, catalogue 3WS 3146. It is the soundtrack to the 1978 film of the same name, and the final album by the original configuration of the Band. It peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200.

Al-Andalus Ensemble is a husband and wife musical duo that performed contemporary Andalusi music. The ensemble featured Tarik Banzi playing oud, ney and darbuka, and Julia Banzi on flamenco guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ojos de Brujo</span> Spanish hip hop band

Ojos de Brujo was a nine-piece band from Barcelona who described their style as "jipjop flamenkillo". The band sold over 100,000 copies of their self-produced Barí album and received several awards, among these the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for Europe in 2004, having also been nominated in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praful</span> Musical artist

Ulrich Schröder, known under the pseudonym Praful, is an acid jazz artist who performs on several instruments including tenor and soprano saxophones, Indian bamboo flutes, pandeiros, Fender Rhodes and many electronic effects. Two of his CDs One Day Deep and Pyramid in Your Backyard have won many awards and worldwide recognition. "Sigh", included in the One Day Deep CD and as a single, had stayed in the Billboards for over 70 weeks.

Rumba flamenca, also known as flamenco rumba or simply rumba, is a palo (style) of flamenco music developed in Andalusia, Spain. It is known as one of the cantes de ida y vuelta, music which diverged in the new world, then returned to Spain in a new form. The genre originated in the 19th century in Andalusia, southern Spain, where Cuban music first reached the country.

<i>Zyryab</i> 1990 studio album by Paco de Lucía

Zyryab is a 1990 album by flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía and his sextet. It features jazz pianist Chick Corea and guitarist Manolo Sanlúcar. The album is named after Ziryab, a 9th-century Arab artist who is credited with introducing the Arabic oud to Spain, an instrument that would later become the Spanish guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Chichos</span> Spanish band from the 1970s

Los Chichos is a Spanish band that was formed in the mid-1970s by singer-songwriter Juan Antonio Jiménez and brothers Julio and Emilio González. The band reached its peak popularity in the 1980s and restructured in 1990 when Jiménez began his solo career. Los Chichos has sold 15 million records, making it one of the best-selling Spanish groups in history. They performed the popular rumba flamenca in the vein of Los Chunguitos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen (band)</span> American-British band (1970–1975)

Carmen was an American-British band active from 1970 to 1975. Their style was a fusion of rock, progressive, and flamenco music and dance. Carmen's first album, Fandangos in Space, is ranked number 46 in the Rolling Stone list of 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time.

<i>Compas</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Gipsy Kings

Compas is the ninth studio album by rumba band Gipsy Kings. It was released in 1997 in Europe and the US, using a different song order. The European version has one completely new track, "Sueño de Noche", as well as a remixed version of "Ami Wa Wa ".

Ketama is a Spanish musical group in the new flamenco tradition. Fusing flamenco with other musical forms, they created a style that lies somewhere between flamenco and pop salsa. Their music drew as much criticism as praise because purists did not like the change from traditional flamenco, but the group won over the young public. They continued to fuse other music in, and their 2002 album, Dame la Mano, added hip hop and house music.

<i>Concert in the Garden</i> 2004 studio album by Maria Schneider

Concert in the Garden is the fourth studio album by American jazz composer Maria Schneider. The album was released in 2004 by ArtistShare and won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2005.

<i>For Losers</i> 1970 studio album by Archie Shepp

For Losers is an album by Archie Shepp released on Impulse! in 1970. The album contains tracks recorded from September 1968 to August 1969 by Shepp with three different ensembles. The AllMusic review by Rob Ferrier states "for anyone wishing to understand the music and career of this brilliant musician, this is an undervalued piece of the puzzle".

<i>Live in América</i> 1993 live album by Paco de Lucía Sextet

Live in América is a live album by Paco de Lucía Sextet, the band formed by famous flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía.

<i>Saluting Sgt. Pepper</i> 2017 studio album by Django Bates and the, Frankfurt Radio Big Band

Saluting Sgt. Pepper is an album by the composer, multi-instrumentalist and band leader Django Bates with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, which was released by Edition Records in 2017. The album was commissioned by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’s Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is the UK’s best-selling studio album as of 2020. The recording also features the Danish group, Eggs Laid By Tigers and the multi-instrumentalist Stuart Hall. It was performed live at Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt and at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 2016.

<i>Temporal</i> (Radio Tarifa album) 1997 studio album by Radio Tarifa

Temporal is the second album by the Spanish band Radio Tarifa, released internationally in 1997. The band supported the album with a North American tour.

<i>SALSWING!</i> 2021 studio album by Rubén Blades and Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

SALSWING! is the sixth studio album by the Panamian singer Rubén Blades and Roberto Delgado & Orquesta, released on April 16, 2021, through Rubén Blades Productions. It was produced by Roberto Delgado and features songs by Blades like "Paula C" as well as salsa songs and jazz standards such as "Pennies from Heaven" and "The Way You Look Tonight".

References

  1. ↑ Liner notes to Cruzando el Rio
  2. 1 2 3 Radio Tarifa website http://www.radiotarifa.com Archived 2005-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Liner notes to Fiebre
  4. ↑ Benjamín Escoriza obituary, Robin Denselow, The Guardian, 14. March 2012
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.