Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval, Jorge Sampaio Auditorium
Friday, November 19th, 20h
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A Gipsy Kings tape, given to him by his mother, was all that it took for Diego El Gavi, then a teenager, to feel the irresistible appeal of Rom music. Later, after returning to Lisbon, another artist would influence him in a crucial way: Camarón de la Isla, a major figure in Latin music. It was with this colorful influence map that the Portuguese-Spanish singer Diego El Gavi embarked on the adventure of flamenco. An eventful adventure, in which one album was lost to the memory of a corrupted computer and another was gained, re-recorded, re-thought, improved: Puerta del Alma (2019), his brilliant solo debut. The album, which features collaborations with Ricardo Ribeiro, Tatanka and Paulo de Carvalho, would reveal itself as decisive for the affirmation of Diego El Gavi’s singular proposition: music of the world, of his world, where the sounds of Cuba, jazz and flamenco coexist.
Another world was revealed to us when Areno sang his songs to Amália Rodrigues on SIC, a major Portuguese television channel, more than twenty years ago. There, a historical debt was beginning to be repaid: Portuguese music could no longer ignore Rom culture as part of its multiple influences. Today, the Youtube videos of Areno’s songs accumulate thousands of views and hundreds of comments, where people make declarations of unconditional love to the artist and his work. They are true sanctuaries for the admirers of a way of living and of singing that is so often relegated to the margins of artistic consciousness.
Wishing to do justice to the greatness of these two artists, LEFFEST wants to bring the Latin territories of Rom music to a wider audience. At Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval, November 19th, at 8pm, Diego El Gavi and Areno will be our two guides who, coming from different contexts, search for one, same point of arrival: to display the great strength of Rom culture.
Tickets: 15€ (full price) / 5€ (under 16 years old discount, tickets acquired on the day of the event)
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