Gipsy Kings: “We have seen sick people get up and dance to our music”

Despite the fact that they had been cheering up stages and audiences for a few years, it was in 1987 when the Gipsy kings they reached the category of world phenomenon and internationalized the flamenco rumba like no other group had done before. That year they released an eponymous album that included topics that soon became classics in his repertoire: “Bamboleo”, “You want to return”, “Bem Bem María”, “A mi mundo” or “Djobi, djoba”.

Today, despite the fact that they maintain the essence of their music, they are not a single group, but two groups that have the brand and the permission to freely use the repertoire of songs thanks to which they sold more than 60 million records: the Gipsy Kings by Nicolás Reyes and Gipsy Kings by André Reyes, his brother, who is arriving in Lima in the next few days. “Everyone has to know that the theme of the Gipsy Kings is that me and my brothers, since October 2014, have been separated from Nicolás. He wanted to have a story with his children, he wanted to continue with his own. That is why I have built my band and he has built his. Each one works for his part without problems or anything. Each has chosen to continue with their own clan without any quarrel. We both have the permits, we are still a family, we get along well and we always see each other”, André Reyes tells us from France with the same sympathy and naturalness with which he will go up on stage in the Parque de la Exposicion to sing the songs that made the band that his family formed with his cousins, the Baliardos, world famous. This is his word.

—With your music, you bring fun and beauty to many people. What is the most beautiful thing about being a Gipsy King and being able to present yourself before different audiences?

It is a pleasure for me to reach the public of Peru so that they can see this fantastic show. The most beautiful thing about being a Gipsy King is being able to sing the classic songs. I want to live a nice party on stage so that everyone dances and sings songs like “Un Amor”, “Djobi Djoba”, “My way”, “I will fly”. I will always be happy to be a Gipsy King, to sing and party with you. For me it is a great pleasure.

—A few weeks ago they released “La Negra”, a new song that is on Spotify and that is the first cut of what will be their new album. Tell us a little more…

It is a new song that is on digital platforms. I have played it for more than 30 years with my brother Nicolás in the Gipsy. I wanted to release it soon because it is a song that I like a lot, that I always loved, and I know that the public in the world will love it. It’s a gypsy rumba that gives a lot of joy, that everyone will like because it’s a song with a very up-to-date sound.

—What does recording “Nací gypsy” mean to you? This new album also gives name to the tour…

It is an honor to have the chance to record this album with new songs and new contributions from Mario, Thomas, Kakou, Tambo or Patchai – part of the Reyes family clan, all guitarists, who make up Andrés’ band, alongside Danny Marta (bass). ), Joseph Cortés (drums), Guilherme Alves (percussion) and Fred Bretón (keyboards)-. Everyone joins and participates. It is a pleasure to make everyone listen to this album because there is everything: good songs, good melodies, there are Mario tricks that are fantastic, with melody, heart, joy, and many surprises that will be shown on stage.

—The name of that new album, “Nací gitano”, is a vindication of your roots. Do you think that this claim is necessary in a social situation that is sometimes difficult for minorities such as the gypsies in Europe?

Exactly. I am a gypsy, of the blood of my father and my mother, the children too. It is an honor for us to carry the message that the gypsies are good, they have a big heart, a fantastic cante, good things within the world of simplicity, that accompany us every time we go everywhere. I want to keep this music forever because it is music that touches everyone’s heart, because every time they listen to it they dance and sing. It’s something I can’t explain. Before, in the days of my grandparents, we gypsies lived in caravans. Because of the Civil War and Francisco Franco, everyone left Spain for different places: Italy, Romania or France, like my grandparents, of whom I have very good memories. Now, we travel all over the world to share our music.

—Given the current musical scene, with prominence of urban rhythms and fusions, what can we expect from the future of Gipsy Kings by André Reyes? Did you ever think of merging your music with the Peruvian?

Sure, we can always do things with the Peruvians. There are many rhythms of his that we like. With the Gipsy we already made versions merging other rhythms and it went very well, like with My Way, Volaré or Hotel California by the Eagles. We always work on fusion so that they can be heard and sung before different audiences. Again, I can’t explain how we achieved it, because I live it, I sing it, I play it, people tell me they like it and that for me is strange, inexplicable, but magical.

—One of the keys to the Gipsy Kings is joy, it is one of their hallmarks throughout their career…

Well, I share the phenomenon with my children too. There are the 3, they are artists, and behind there are four musicians, the ones who play the tombs, the drums, the bass, the keyboard. You have a great time with them when we do the show, because each one brings something different. This will be a true show, always with the joy you mention, because that is our strength. The combination of forces is what generates joy on stage, because we have great complicity. On every occasion we give the best possible energy.

—Your father was a great flamenco singer, so music comes from a family tradition. What is the first memory you have in life associated with music?

I was about 6 years old when it was the first time I saw my dad sing and my older brothers too. I looked at them and in my head, in my heart, I thought one day I would do that with them. And in the end it happened. I have very good memories of that day. It’s like my whole life has been musical for me since then. Like the bullfighters. They have that in their blood, like their father, their children, their grandchildren, to continue and honor a tradition. We also do bullfights, it’s part of our culture. I think that gypsy music mixes well with bullfighting. In the Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer square in France we have had great moments. It is a divine gift.

—Almost 40 years have passed since Allegria and, later, Luna de Fuego, the first albums by the Gipsy Kings. How do you evaluate at this point, with everything achieved, the legacy of the group?

I met them, of course, I have them, I remember them, I listen to them, but I wasn’t on those records yet. I started with my brother Nicolás, with Canut, Pablo, Patchai, Tonino Baliardo. Allegría is a wonderful album. Luna de Fuego is very happy, because when you listen only to the cante and the guitars, it’s a pure sound. That is still important today. In any case, what I do today respects the group’s legacy, and there are the usual songs, like “Háblame”, “Un amor” or “Bamboleo”. Thus began and grew the music of Gipsy Kings. The key is to keep that, not do it any other way.

—Precisely, songs “Bamboleo”, “Volaré” or “Djobi Djioba” are examples of their permanence in the memory of the public. What do you feel is the key to the success of flamenco music in other parts of the world as different from Spain or France as India, the Middle East or Latin America?

It’s something I can’t explain. Songs, good melodies, we touch the world with them, thanks to the fusion we made and that manages to please children, old people, young people, men or women, I don’t know why. And the sick too. We have seen sick people get up and dance to our music. That was a lesson to show us that our music can always work. It is a way of playing and singing the gypsy compás that we have and share with everyone. It’s important to me to play music that touches the heart of everyone, everywhere. We leave our hearts there.

—Despite the mergers, do you feel you are followers of the Camarón de la Isla tradition, close to Paco de Lucía or El Cigala?

It’s different, because Camarón, Paco, Cigala make very deep music, very gypsy, very cante jondo. It’s deeper inside, from the depths of the cante jondo of Spain or Andalusia. Ours is a little different, because it is raised to be heard in the world. It’s our rumba, which is also gypsy, but different from toco, cante, Camarón’s fandango or El Cigala. Very different. Respect is here, because all those artists respect each other in one way or another. I loved Paco Lucía, Camarón too. For me, all of them are great from Spain and people that I respect a lot.

—What are the main qualities that a good flamenco singer needs?

A good singer has to be good, of course, from a young age. That is in the blood. Either you have it or you don’t. Is that. He has to vibrate the song in your blood. And you must sing with your memory and your heart and learn to convey the emotions of your deep cante until people say “Olé!, Olé!”.

—Now that you lead your own group, what do you feel will be your personal legacy in the history of flamenco music?

It is an honor for me, because before I was with Nicolás or Tonino and I was a little behind. Now I’m the one who sings with the children, I live it from the heart, really, too much. These last ones are my most intense years on stage. I think my legacy is to sing from the heart. Singing from the heart is the key.