The Ultimate Guide to Spanish Folk (Arc Music, 2013)
This compilation of Spanish folk music was put together by the Mundofonías team, Juan Antonio Vázquez and Araceli Tzigane. Juan Antonio and Araceli are well known in the Spanish world music and folk music scenes because of their national and international radio shows and their committed involvement in the promotion of Spanish and Portuguese traditional and contemporary folk music acts.
The Spanish folk music scene is too large to reduce it to one CD. However, Juan Antonio and Araceli have done a great job by selecting some of the best current talent. The Ultimate Guide to Spanish Folk features performers from practically every Spanish region (known as autonomous communities in Spain) as well as Sephardic music.
Most of the artists featured are practically unknown outside of Spain except for Mercedes Peon, Ana Alcaide and handful of others. Listeners will be able to sample the intriguing folk music sounds of lesser known regions of Spain.
As usual, every compilation has its highlights. Album favorites include multi-instrumentalists and innovators Mercedes Peon and Eliseo Parra, Sephardic music sensation Ana Alcaide, El Naán’s Afroiberian fusion, the mesmeric Medieval/Celtic music of Doa, the fascinating vocal and percussion ode to gazpacho by Manu Sequera, and the evocative Andalusian folk of La Jambre.
The following videos are by artists mentioned above:
Track list:
1. Isue – Mercedes Peon
2. Ven a veme – Anabel Santiago
3. Afroiberia – El Naán
4. El gazpacho – Manu Sequera
5. Transits II – Enric Pastor
6. La tia canaria – Jose Antonio Ramos Diaz
7. Neskato gazte tronpatia – Aintzina
8. Despertadera – Luis Miguel Bajen
9. Quisiera entrar en tu cuarto – Javier Lopez Jato
10. Tonadas – Viguela
11. El rio de Alejandria La Jambre
12. Tanye la kemane – Xurxo Fernandes 4:29
13. Primavera – Miquel Gil
14. Un somni en dos actes – Marina Rossell
15. Levou-se a fremosa – DOA
16. La cantiga del fuego ~ El viaje – Ana Alcaide
17. La llave de la alegria – Eliseo Parra
18. Coiroos 86 – Pan de Capazo
Buy The Ultimate Guide to Spanish Folk
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
