Xabier Díaz was born in A Coruña, in the Galician region of Spain, in 1969. His first musical instrument was a bagpipe that his music-loving grandfather bought him at the beginning of the 80s. The bagpipe became a vehicle that facilitated Xabier’s discovery of an unknown world, the music that villages still preserved at that time, the discovery of traditional music. Today, Xabier’s is one of the most relevant names in Galician roots music.
He was part of the legendary and now extinct progressive folk group Berrogüetto between 2008 and 2014. At the same time, he participated with Guadi Galego, Xosé Lois Romero and Guillerme Fernández in the aCadaCanto project, with which they released two albums.
Notably, Xabier Díaz made an essential commitment to play hand-held percussion instruments, in which he specialized. As a consequence, these instruments are currently an unmistakable hallmark of his work. One is favorites is the pandereta (tambourine), an instrument in which he is highly skilled. Indeed, he has obtained great recognition and prestige as a master tambourine player.
The awards followed one another and, above all, the most important: the birth of a new group together with the female percussion and vocal ensemble Adufeiras de Salitre. The Adufeiras follow the tradition of the Galician pandereteiras (tambourine players). Their joint work since 2014 is portrayed on four albums: The Tambourine Man (2015), Noró (2018), As Catedrais Silenciadas (2020) and Axúdame a sentir (2024).
The band has performed close to 400 concerts, leaving its imprint in Buenos Aires, Oslo, Lisbon, Algiers, Glasgow, Madrid, Bariloche, Köln, London, Gothenburg, Rotterdam, Brussels or Ghent, just to name a few.
The album As Catedrais Silenciadas (Músicas de Salitre, 2020), is a complex project, that goes beyond music. It refers to the part of Galicia, mostly its interior, that was abandoned as well as all the tangible and intangible heritage that was left behind. As Catedrais Silenciadas spent three months in the Top Ten of the World Music Charts Europe and won the Martín Codax Award in the Traditional Music category in 2020.
Always curious, Xabier continues looking for new ways to give a new life to those songs that hit the chest of that young man who left his Architecture studies to pursue his love for the “ferreñas” (tambourine jingles).
Discography:
Coplas para Icía (Musicas de Salitre, 2007)
Arrolos de salitre (Musicas de Salitre, 2010)
The tambourine man (Musicas de Salitre, 2015)
Noró (Musicas de Salitre, 2018)
As catedrais silenciadas (Musicas de Salitre, 2020)
Levantarse e caer (Musicas de Salitre, 2022)
Axúdame a sentir (Musicas de Salitre, 2024)
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.