radio tarifa: temporal

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre

World music and Andalusian folk. Temporal deepens Radio Tarifa's distinctive synthesis of flamenco, Arab-Andalusian music, Sephardic song and medieval European polyphony, incorporating more flamenco material than their debut while deploying instruments ranging from darbuka, oud, ney, and crumhorn to modern saxophone and electric bass.

Release

BMG Ariola (Spain), 1996. Subsequently licensed to World Circuit Records for international distribution and to Nonesuch Records for the North American market

Production

Produced by Faín S. Dueñas and Vincent Molino, with Dueñas also serving as musical director. Recorded by Antonio Del Rosal at Audiotécnica S.L., Madrid, and mixed by Dueñas and Molino at Estudios Trak, Madrid, Spain.

Reception

The album was enthusiastically received by the international world music press. The Washington Post noted that Radio Tarifa "moves assuredly from the café to the cathedral," praising pieces such as the flamenco "Soleá" and "Conductus," a 12th-century processional. The Guardian described it as "postmodern early music, poised, surprising, inspiring, throbbing with percussion." The album was supported by a North American tour and consolidated Radio Tarifa's international standing in the world music circuit.

Radio Tarifa

Radio Tarifa are a Spanish world music ensemble formed in Madrid, taking their name from an imaginary radio station in Tarifa — the small Andalusian town closest to Morocco — which evokes the group's central artistic premise: the musical world of the Iberian Peninsula before the final conquest of Granada in 1492. Rather than simply fusing existing styles, the ensemble researched the common pre-Reconquista roots of flamenco, Arab music, and Sephardic song, combining instruments from ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and medieval European traditions with contemporary electric bass and saxophone. Their core members are vocalist Benjamin Escoriza, multi-percussionist Faín Sánchez Dueñas, and multi-instrumentalist Vincent Molino. 

This text was generated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.

baile de almut

radio tarifa: cruzando el río

album rating: ★★★★★

Genre: Flamenco / world music / Andalusian / Moorish-medieval / North African / folk. Cruzando el Río ('Crossing the River') is the third and final studio album by Radio Tarifa, the Spanish ensemble that created one of the most distinctive and haunting sounds in European world music of the 1990s. The group's core trio consisted of vocalist Benjamín Escoriza — a troubadour flamenco singer raised by Gypsies — wind player Vincent Molino, and guitarist and oud player Fain Dueñas. Dueñas and Molino had previously founded Ars Antiqua Musicalis, a group dedicated to late medieval and Renaissance music, before joining with Escoriza to form Radio Tarifa. Their debut album Rumba Argelina was recorded in 1993, released in Europe by World Circuit in 1996 and in the United States in 1997 via World Circuit / Nonesuch, and achieved considerable critical and popular success. The second album, Temporal (1997), moved toward the roots of flamenco and was also well received. Cruzando el Río was recorded and produced at Local No. 5, and mixed at Sonoland in Madrid. It was released in spring 2001 on World Circuit / Nonesuch / BMG Spain. The album contains eleven tracks running 36 minutes. The Apple Music biography notes that each Radio Tarifa album brought a touring ensemble 'that has crossed both Europe and the United States.' Cruzando el Río features the first appearance of a woman vocalist in the group's history, on 'Ramo Verde', a Castilian folk song. The title track is described by AllMusic as 'a primitive tango.' The tracklist includes: 'Sin Palabras', 'Ramo Verde', 'Cruzando el Río', 'El Viaje de Lea', 'Alab', 'El Quinto', 'Niña', among others.

Label: World Circuit (UK) / Nonesuch (US) / BMG Spain, released spring 2001.

Producer: Recorded and produced at Local No. 5. Mixed at Sonoland, Madrid.

Recording studio: Local No. 5 (studio location not individually specified). Mixing: Sonoland, Madrid.

Critical reception: An eBay seller's catalogue describes it as 'a frothing fusion of flamenco and Arabic rhythms and sounds, blending an even more heady mix of folkloric traditions', rated four stars. AllMusic critic Kurt Keefner observed that the group 'seems to have dug deeper into music of the modern Spanish countryside', singling out 'Ramo Verde' and the title track as 'two of the album's most intriguing tunes.' His main reservation was the brevity of the album: eleven tracks in 36 minutes, 'allowing too little time for development.' An eBay reviewer called it 'recommended equally for fans of spaghetti westerns and belly-dancing.'

Commercial success: Cruzando el Río was the final studio album from Radio Tarifa, who did not release further material after 2001. As a farewell album by a group with an established international following built through three albums and extensive touring across Europe and the United States, it maintained the audience cultivated since Rumba Argelina. Radio Tarifa's music brought the Strait of Gibraltar — the meeting point of Europe and Africa, of Christian, Muslim and Jewish Iberian cultures — into the global world music conversation of the 1990s and 2000s.

text generated by artificial intelligence — claude, sonnet 4.6 — free version, liable to contain errors

la molinera

patas negras