Ortega Shines on New Las Guitarras De España Album
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 3, 2011 9:40PM
Tantos Cosas, the new album from Las Guitarras de España, is the strongest release yet from the popular and long running local nuevo flamenco group. Since Carlo Basile formed the band in 1999 as a way to work on his research for his Master's Degree lecture/recital, it's long been a collaborative effort.
For Tantos Cosas ("Many Things"), vocalist Patricia Ortega has taken on a more assertive role in the band's material. She and Basile co-wrote most of the songs on the album, with Ortega drawing inspiration from a litany of artists ranging from the Latin rock of CafĂ© Tacuba and Ojos de Brujo; the alt-country and Tejano mélange of Calexico; Spanish vocalist Concha Buika, who works equally among fado, copla, jazz and house music; Rodrigo y Gabriela's mashups of metal and flamenco, and the grooves of James Brown, African rhythms, soukous; pop ballads, driving rock rhythms and jazz can be heard, all infused with the flamenco that forms the foundation for Las Guitarras de España's sound. It all may be enough for the band to finally move past the nuevo flamenco pigeonhole and earn itself a wider fan base.
Las Guitarras de España plays Tantas Cosas in full tomorrow night as part of Mayne Stage's "Flamenco Collboration Series" with Flamenco rock band Dientes de Carameelo. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and tickets are available online at Ticketweb.