Flamenco | Musicosity

Flamenco

Justin King

Justin King is a self-taught guitarist, renowned for his percussive solo acoustic style which mixes elements of Flamenco, Jazz, Celtic, Classical, and African music. In 2001, King released Le Bleu. Named after the road on which he lived growing up, Le Bleu dramtically expanded on his acoustic instrumental abilities; out of the nineteen tracks, only one (Ashes) features vocals. The album, though independently released, would receive critical acclaim from many who heard it , and helped to expand Justin's fanbase.

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Diego El Cigala

Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar, known as El Cigala (Spanish for 'Norway lobster', a nickname given to him by Camarón de la Isla) is a famous Romani Flamenco singer.
One of his great albums is 2003's "Lágrimas negras", a collaboration with then 85 -year-old Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés. The easy fusion of Cuban rhythms and flamenco vocals made this record an international success.
Like several other cantaores, El Cigala started singing in the street...

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Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo ("Sorcerer's eyes" in Spanish) is an eight-piece band from Barcelona, Spain formed in 1998. The band describes its style as "hip-hop with a little flamenco", and is comprised of guitarists Ramón and Paco, singer Marina, percussionists Xavi and Max, DJ/keyboard player Panko, drummer/percussionist Sergio, and bassist Javi. The band has received several awards, among these the Radio 3 World Music Award for Europe in 2004.

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Peyoti For President

A unique hybrid of rabble rousing punk, roots reggae social consciousness and Brazilian/Latino inflected carnival sounds, these self-styled anti-heroes are led by Anglo-Italian beatnik Pietro DiMascio. Musicians from cultural backgrounds spanning Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brasil, Poland, Syria, Jamaica, Australia creat a totally original sound that is not easily pigeon holed. They recently were asked by Manu Chao, one of their heroes, to support him on his UK tour and described by Tom Robinson on his show for BBC6 music as 'not so much a pop group.

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Buika

Buika (b.1972) is a Spanish singer. Her music mixes flamenco with soul, jazz ,and funk. Born Concha Buika in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, her family came from Equatorial Guinea; she grew up among gypsy people. Ever since she was a child her musical talent was evident, but it was after a visit to London to study drama when, after being invited to a Pat Metheny concert that her life changed. From that moment she began her musical career. During the 1990s she took part in different productions, such as Ombra by La Fura Dels Baus and the soundtrack for the Spanish film Km.

Read more about Buika on Last.fm.

Estrella Morente

A promise for the Flamenco altogether. Her career dates far back. At age four she sang Levante chants, at seven recorded with guitar master Sabicas and at sixteen impressed thousands during the opening ceremony for the Sierra Nevada World Ski Championships. Her craft has amazed hard-to-please flamencologists as well as rockers like Lenny Kravitz. Her genetics plays along. The father, Enrique Morente, is one of the greatest innovators of the 'cante' and they collaborated together in many projects.

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Fernando's Kitchen

I don't know much about Fernando's Kitchen, but I do know that I saw them busking on the London Underground on a Friday night on the way home and they were pretty good, with a crowd gathering to listen and miss a train or two. When busking I heard them with two artists, one guitar and one percussion but the album has what sounds like a clarinet and a bass player to boot. Their site can be seen here: http://fernandoskitchen.co.uk/

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