La Musgaña: Hortalinos Around the World

They are part of the history of popular music in our country [Spain], with more visible international recognition than in Madrid itself. We have known each other for years, always related to the [Madrid] district [Hortaleza], which is a good excuse to chat with Carlos Beceiro and Jaime Muñoz from La Musgaña.

It all started in 1984 at the Instituto Conde Orgaz de Canillas, the high school attended by Enrique and Jaime. 

Carlos: we were five kids who liked traditional music, folk music, and old instruments.

Jaime: Since1984 some of us folk musicians from Madrid gathered to play, especially Celtic music at the beginning. At that time in Madrid, there were two forms of contact with traditional music: South American Andean music with its various instruments or Celtic music from Ireland or Scotland. Paradoxically, at first around here, there was not much attention paid to the indigenous traditions!

Q. Where and who?

Jaime: It was in the summer of 1986 when the first bud of La Musgaña emerged. Hortalino [someone from the Hortaleza district of Madrid] Quique Almendros (influenced by Celtic music) and two guys from Madrid came together: José Climent (also influenced by Celtic airs) and Rafa Martin (Andean faction). Quique had overheard a grandfather playing the Salamanca flute and tambourine on the radio. He found him so powerful and exotic that he decided he wanted to learn that instrument. From there, they went on an “initiatory” journey through Castile collecting music and interviewing traditional musicians. They had decided that they wanted to work with indigenous music in a similar way as Andean; Irish and European musicians did with theirs. At the beginning of 1987, Carlos and I (also an Hortalino) entered the scene to form the group with which our journey began.

Carlos: We had no experience, we were learning from mistakes.

Jaime: It was very exciting, everything had to be done. We decided to focus on working with instrumental music, something unusual in the Castilian environment at the time, which was more of groups with rondalla-type voices. We were pioneers in using some instruments outside their traditional scope such as the three-hole flute and tambourine or the gaita de la Sierra de Madrid, a wind instrument with a simple reed that ended in a horn at the end. We had to learn to play the instruments. We were very daring; we would immediately go on stage with them in hand.

Q. How did people respond?

Carlos: Well, we played a lot on the street, in the Retiro Park, which gave us a different perspective.

Jaime: They welcomed us as something new, both the public and those knowledgeable about tradition and folk musicians. In 1988, we won the national traditional music competition for young performers organized by the Ministry of Culture. Another thing was when we played in towns in Salamanca, for example, where we collected a lot of music from. They did not like the modern arrangements we made at all!

They have recorded twelve albums under La Musgaña, released by RTVE, the North American company Green Linnet and self-managed on their own Lubicán label, to which we must add multiple collaborations.

Jaime: I have recorded quite a few medieval music albums with Eduardo Paniagua and Luis Delgado, collaborated with Chenoa (yes, on his first CD !!), Kepa Junquera, Eduardo Laguillo, Javier Bergia, Najla Shami, Mariem Hassan, Marful, Blanca & Chuchi, Tanxugueiras and some more that I will forget.

Carlos: Indeed, a dozen as a group and dozens of collaborations.

Without a doubt, one of the best remembered albums is the live recording.

Jaime: Memorable, very emotionally and musically intense recording. During the hours of waiting in dressing rooms the exchange of music between the invited artists did not stop, improvised mini bands were made, Radio Tarifa, Kepa Junquera, Amancio Prada … a dream and a luxury. I was the host of Johnny Cunningham, violinist and record producer, I can assure you that my liver suffered a lot during the week that the whole process lasted!! He was a very special guy; a folk historian. He passed away a few years ago.

International recognition and, with it, tours of the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, India, Morocco, Algeria, Mexico … including concerts for ten years in a row in the United States becoming part of the essential names in the world music guides along with national artists such as Joaquín Díaz, Paco de Lucía, Lluis Llach or Camarón.

Carlos: Without reaching the recognition of these greats of Spanish music, it is true that in the world of Folk we have recognition.

Jaime: A lot of responsibility! A measure of wonder, really. At the time when there were no social networks, YouTube, the internet … it was not easy to leave your neighborhood to do something moderately notable internationally. Our relationship with the United States helped a lot to this dissemination, the records that we released. Our American concerts were echoed by the specialized media, being disseminated in other international magazines and media.

Not all are good memories. Quique had a stroke seventeen years ago during a sound check, since then he has been in a wheelchair.

Jaime: It was very hard. We spent a couple of years thinking about what to do, we finally made the decision to continue with the group, thanks to the support of our musician friends and fans.

Carlos: The worst, without a doubt.

In these Covid times, they continue to present their latest album Raitán in trio format with Luis Antonio Pedraza; working on a project about Los Comuneros, remembering the revolt of 1521; collaborating in the live performances of Valladolid artist Vanesa Muela; and in smaller spaces in the duo format, La Musgaña: entre dos.

Despite the scarce dissemination that this type of music has in the mainstream media, it is evident that there is an audience that follows them with passion, surprising those who do not know them at their live shows. They are still linked to the district; Jaime’s daughter is a contributor to this newspaper.

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Written by By: Rubén Caravaca Fernández, @rubencaravaca. Originally published in Spanish in the October issue of Hortaleza Periódico Vecinal. Translated by Angel Romero Ruiz.

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