World Music from Catalonia 2007

Artist : Various artists

Release Date : february 1, 2007
Label : Catalan Arts
Format : CD

Oriol Roca appears on the track Corrandes d’exili, performed by Immigrasons.

Barcelona is the European capital of World Music of the moment. For years, the so-called “So Raval”, a district in the city centre turned into a haystack of mixed sounds and quality original proposals, has triumphed around Europe.

But the musical wealth of Catalonia does not end in the Raval. This is a particularly good time for La Garriga (the origins of La Troba KungFu), Girona, the lands of the Ebro river and the peripheral districts of Barcelona (where the rumba has found great successors in groups such as Barrio Negro and Talegueros), for example. And if we refer to music in Catalan, we must also count the contributions to World Music of performers and instrumentalists from València, such as Miquel Gil and Al Tall.

All of the mentioned names form part of the selection of 20 records that Philip Sweeney, an English music critic specialised in the genre, has made for the CD World Music from Catalonia 2007. A compilation that includes traditional song passed through a modern musical sieve, rumba, hip hop, bulerías and other flamenco styles performed by the young children of the working class outskirts of Barcelona, and dance songs and havaneras, all mixed between the many other styles that make up the rich variety of proposals that can now be heard in any corner of Catalonia.

• Raül Fernández: guitar, vocals
• Ernesto Snajer: guitar
• Sílvia Pérez Cruz: vocals
• Mariano Cantero: percussion
• Giovanni Di Domenico: piano, keyboards, accordion
• Guido Martínez: electric bass, double bass
• Oriol Roca: drums