After having performed their legendary songs in March at L’Olympia in Paris and in June at Baalbeck Festival in Lebanon, Chico and the Gypsies are going to be in Doha for three live concerts.
The concerts will take place at La Cigale Hotel Al Wajba Ballroom on November 26-28.
Co-founder of the Gipsy Kings, Chico is a real music legend. With over 20 million albums sold worldwide, co-author of songs such as Bamboleo, Djobi Djoba, Baila Me, Volare, Chico made the whole world dance to the infectious beats of his gipsy guitars. It is usually difficult to resist feet tapping and dancing when those energetic and colourful melodies are played.
Chico has been nominated “United Nations special envoy for peace” due to his humanitarian endeavors and his universal music.
The live concerts, to be held at La Cigale, will plunge the guests into a Spanish and Gypsy-themed atmosphere, which will awaken their senses. For the concert dinner, the chefs have prepared a special high end tapas themed cuisine. The concert ballroom will open at 7.30pm for the dinner and the concert will start at 8.15pm.
Originally, Chico and his band are from the south of France and they sing in Spanish.
Their music is described as rumba flamenca; many of their songs are influenced by Spanish flamenco, Afro-Cuban rhythms, salsa, and pop. As Gypsies, these travellers also picked up Arabic, Indian and Middle Eastern musical influences along the way, which resonate in their songs.
In typical Gypsy music style, they often create music with synchronised clapping or ‘Palmas’. When the focus is on one musician playing an instrument or a piece, the others gather around him and play.
Chico and the Gypsies do collaborate with many renowned artists and cover some of the most popular songs such as Aznavour’s La Boheme or Sinatra’s My Way. They also often revisit classic Rai or Arabic songs such as Boualem.
Spanish flamenco is said to have strong Arabic roots. Flamenco music was born in Andalusia in southern Spain.
The Arab roots of flamenco run deep. Some believe the word flamenco is a derivative from Arabic felag mangu, meaning “fugitive peasant”.
When the term came into use, it was first applied to the Andalusian Gypsies themselves, who were called either gitanos or flamencos.
When analysing specific flamenco music styles, such as jaleo, it is said that the basic structure, sung poetry and music, was inspired by the Arabs and Berbers who ruled Al Andalus from 711 to 1492. T B Irving notes in The World of Islam that “Gypsy music and cante jondo go back to the zajal [sung Arabic lyric poetry] and the five-tone scale.” The percussions, representative of jaleo, such as hand-clapping, drums and tambourines, are found in Northern Africa folk music.
Tickets will be available for sale at Virgin Megastore (in store and on-line).The Peninsula
