Search - Juan Pena Lebrijano, Orquesta Arabigo Andaluza :: Casablanca

Juan Peña Lebrijano is a Gypsy from Lebrija, Spain. He probably falls somewhere in the "nueva flamenco" school, although his previous albums have referred to "Andalusian fusion," a mix of flamenco with its deeper origins in North Africa's Maghreb. His Arab-Andalusian orchestra delivers a rich and vital music that is at once classical North African Arabic, full of string sections and large choruses (sometimes very Western European sounding), and part stripped-down flamenco. As a singer he is one of the greats, with a voice that is both wildly aggressive and yet retains a lot of control and subtlety. The core of this music is voice and palmas (hand clapping), abetted by small percussion, violins, and piano. There is little emphasis on guitar or oud, which at first makes the music sound more like Algerian classical folk than flamenco. But the core of the music is still in Spain, and while it is like no flamenco you may have heard yet, fans of Spanish Gypsy music will not be disappointed. --Louis Gibson