Flamenco guitar ensemble Los Reyes was founded nearly 20 years ago by the legendary Jose Reyes, but still remains a family affair with the expert direction of son Antonico Reyes, shown on Gipsy Legend, (Wild Sky/Lightyear 54196-2; 43:18) the band’s first major release to North America. Fans of the popular Gipsy Kings (for whom Antonico has penned several hits) will undoubtedly go wild for Los Reyes’ thick tapestry of hand-clapping flamenco rumba rhythms, compelling vocals and wall of driving guitar. The voices are loud, throaty and emotional on power tunes like “Todos Ole,” and heart-rending on darker melodies like “Corazon Gitano.” But the six-guitar ensemble’s raw, elemental sound is also given appealing pop colors on “Avoir un Ange,” which glides over a modern bass core, and “Noche Blanca,” whose swirling textures include warmer, Mediterranean styles. Reyes gently modernizes the group’s classic flamenco roots, making Gipsy Legend a compelling listen.
Originally PublishedRelated Posts
Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee: Backwater Blues
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Jonathan Butler: The Simple Life
Jonathan Butler’s optimistic music belies a dirt-poor childhood growing up in a South Africa segregated by apartheid. Live in South Africa, a new CD and DVD package, presents a sense of the resulting inner turmoil, mixed with dogged resolve, that paved the way to his status as an icon in his country and successful musician outside of it. Looking back, the 46-year-old Butler says today, the driving forces that led to his overcoming apartheid-the formal policy of racial separation and economic discrimination finally dismantled in 1993-were family, faith and abundant talent.
“When we were kids, our parents never talked about the ANC [African National Congress] or Nelson Mandela,” he says. Butler was raised as the youngest child in a large family. They lived in a house patched together by corrugated tin and cardboard, in the “coloreds only” township of Athlone near Cape Town. “They never talked about struggles so we never knew what was happening.”
Start Your Free Trial to Continue Reading
Become a JazzTimes member to explore our complete archive of interviews, profiles, columns, and reviews written by music’s best journalists and critics.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Direct Hits
Two decades after his commercial breakthrough, Harry Connick Jr. taps legendary producer Clive Davis for an album of crooner roots and beloved tunes
Scott LaFaro
Previously unavailable recordings and a new bio illuminate the legend of bassist Scott LaFaro