Son de La Frontera is one of the great flamenco discoveries of this time. The group from Moron de la Frontera is inspired by the ancient melodies of guitarist Diego de Gastor (1908-1973) from Moron and re-creates the musical heritage of this grand master in the best local gypsy tradition. Son de la Frontera (‘Sounds from the Border’) is not afraid though to stretch that border in the direction of jazz, pop and their passion: Cuban music. Led by tres player Raul Rodriguez the group has been researching the musical connection between Andalusia and Cuba. Rodriguez introduces the Cuban guitar tres, originated from string instruments that were brought to Cuba by the Spanish, as a valuable, ‘new’ flamenco instrument. the dialogues between the tres and the flamenco guitar are sparkling and strongly determine the group sound. Son de la Frontera made a big impression on the Q-ba Musica Festival 2004. The group returns to the Netherlands for the presentation of their second album Cal. FIRST DUTCH FLAMENCO BIENNALE In 1922, poet Federico Garcia Lorca and composer Manuel de Falla organized the first official Concurso de Cante Jondo flamenco contest in Granada. They wish to keep the ‘art, the cry of the Andalusian people and gypsies’ from extinction. In the year 2006 their old fear seems ungrounded. The flamenco is totally alive in Spain and many other countries. New York, London, Rome, Berlin and Paris all have their own flamenco festival and now Utrecht and Amsterdam join in. With the flamenco biennale a green light is given for a solid flamenco tradition in the Netherlands. In seven days time, with no less than seventeen performances, films, documentaries, workshops and master classes the festival shows that a new generation of flamenco artists arose, creating a new flamenco idiom coming from the old roots. The festival presents the flamenco as an open and contemporary form of art in which the tradition sounds through, inevitably, but with space for new developments.

FLAMENCO JAZZ
1e NEDERLANDSE FLAMENCO BIENNALE

Raúl Rodríguez-tres, Paco de Amparo-guitar, Pepe Torres-dance, Moi de Morón-vocals, Manuel Flores-palmas