Concert: Niño de Elche

Past event

More than an album title, it is a statement of intent. Anthology of heterodox flamenco singing is the new album by Niño de Elche, a flamenco revolutionary who once again turns the genre upside down with a compendium of 27 pieces that reinvent the different palos. Through his particular prism, saetas, fandangos, seguiriyas and tanguillos are transformed into sound puzzles with the charm of electronic music, the audacity of rock and the personality of singer-songwriters.

Niño de Elche is already in his own right the great renovator of flamenco. With an unlimited restlessness (he is also a member of the group Exquirla, backed by the instrumental band Toundra), the double CD and triple vinyl that he releases on 23 February takes over from Voices from the extreme, the 2015 album that put him in the spotlight: album of the year for media such as Rockdelux, El País and Radio 3, as well as the Ruido Award from the Music Press Association.

Anthology of heterodox flamenco singing is directed by the artist Pedro G. Romero and produced by Raúl Fernández Refree. Both collaborate in a work that is an authentic collection of flamenco influences by a multidisciplinary cantaor, an artist who, through a variety of artistic proposals, has brought together genres and disciplines such as flamenco, electronic music, literature, performance, phonetic poetry, rock, singer-songwriter and contemporary music.

To create your Anthology, Niño de Elche has drawn on equally varied references, ranging from the filmmaker Val del Omar to the anti-flamenco writer Eugenio Noel, the performer Valcárcel Medina and singers such as Tim Buckley and Mikel Laboa, as well as the unique and unclassifiable Lola Flores and contemporary musicians such as Shostakovich, Crumb and Manuel de Falla.

In this new work he has worked with exceptional collaborators, such as the bailaor Israel Galván, the guitarists Diego de Morón and Andrés Herrera. Bird, organist Juan de la Rubia and pianist Alejandro Rojas-Marcos. Everything is very carefully designed, including the album artwork, designed by Filiep Taqc. The cover photograph is the work of Ricardo Cases. The artist is wearing a design by Sastrería Oteyza.

In this new journey he is accompanied live by Raúl Cantizano, on guitars and percussion, and Susana Hernández, on keyboards, synthesizers and electronics, with Juan Andrés Beato on sound engineering and Benito Jiménez on lighting. The first date of this new live tour, presenting their new album Anthology, will start on 24 February in Torrevieja and will take him to Rotterdam, New York and Miami, among other cities.

With the baggage of a published book and numerous collaborative projects with other creators, Niño de Elche reaffirms himself in Anthology of heterodox flamenco singing as a creative revolution with a deep political charge, a cantaor who is determined to blur the boundaries of the different arts. In other words, a free spirit with one of the most solid discourses on our country's musical scene.