The charm and overwhelming energy of gypsy music with Gipsy Fiesta / Family Reyes & Baliardo , scheduled for today, Saturday 1 November at 7 pm at the Municipal Amphitheatre of San Gavino Monreale : the concert is the first event of the cultural initiative “Sangarena” , supported by the Regional Department of Culture , which aims to enhance and promote culture in order to make cultural heritage - both tangible and intangible - more accessible to an ever wider audience, encouraging the cultural growth of the Medio Campidano community.
The Gipsy Fiesta / Family Reyes & Baliardo concert, which has been touring the world for some time and has already been presented in Italy at the most prestigious venues – at the Maschio Angioino in Naples; at the Teatro Greco in Taormina; at the Teatro Sistina in Rome; and at the Festival Latino in Milan – represents the essence of gypsy culture from the south of France, from the melancholy of flamenco to the explosive joy of popular rumba, in a journey of music and dance, experienced with the free spirit that animated the gypsy communities of Montpellier, Arles, and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, and which allowed gypsy music to conquer the world. It will be a sparkling and engaging event , centered and directed by some of the most influential artists of the gypsy world, internationally acclaimed, important and recognized exponents of gypsy culture, which has conquered and continues to enchant audiences in Europe and around the world, thanks above all to the work of two legendary musical families , the Baliardos and the Reyes . Among all, the guitarist and singer Raymond “Bambo” Baliardo stands out, a refined guitarist and singer, whose name is inextricably linked to that of another great exponent of the family who brought his guitar and flamenco rumba from the fields of the Camargue to the stages of Paris and New York: Ricardo Baliardo “Manitas de Plata ”.
Since the 1970s, “Bambo” has taken part, often together with “ Manitas” himself and his cousin Mario Reyes (son of the famous David Mario Reyes “The Gipsyman” , lead guitarist of the Gipsy Kings ), in major events and concerts that have marked the path of gypsy rumba in international music. In particular, in Italy the duo Bambo Baliardo / Mario Reyes composed the song “Sin tu amor” , performed by Andrea Bocelli , produced by Humberto Gaticca, Tony Renis and David Foster, recorded by Universal, which has sold more than 9 million records worldwide.
But the great merit of Raymond “Bambo” Baliardo , shared with many other members of his family, was that of managing to keep the spirit of gypsy rumba alive in a period of insidious transformation: when flamenco was becoming internationalized and gypsy music was finding new paths in global pop, he chose to remain faithful to the original essence , that of community, of celebration, of shared feeling.
It is no coincidence that the Gipsy Fiesta , together with some of the best flamenco guitarists of the Camargue, such as El Kassakà , Patrick Chet and Paul Santiago (regular collaborators in all gypsy music groups, from the Gipsy Kings to Los Reyes to Chico & The Gipsy’s etc.), a great pianist and keyboard player like José Fernandez , and an extraordinary dancer, irreplaceable protagonist of all the fiestes, like Leila Souza Benameur , fields as main frontman and fifth guitar a very young extraordinary talent whose name is, as was the case for his father and grandfather, Mario Reyes Jr.
