New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ The Gipsy Kings official website) Once again the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has nominated the
Gipsy Kings for the category of Best World
Music Album for the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards to be broadcast online at www.grammy.com and on CBS TV on January 26. This is the group's 6th Nomination, and a new record for the most nominations for the World
Music Grammy.
The Gipsy Kings' album, SAVOR FLAMENCO on Knitting Factory Records, is the group's first new release in six years. SAVOR FLAMENCO also marks The Gipsy Kings' 25th Anniversary of their first U.S. Release, GIPSY KINGS in 1987. It is also the first time that the
Kings have produced themselves and written all of their material.
In addition the
Gipsy Kings are touring the States, starting with East coast shows in January. We will have more dates announced for late
Spring and late summer/early fall. Please stay tuned to the band's web site www.gipsykings.com for more show dates.
The group is conducting advance interviews on SKYPE for the 25th Anniversary Tour. We will have a translator on hand because group members speak fluent French and minimal English.
Based in Camargue, the very famous land by the Mediterranean Sea, the
Gipsy Kings are made up of two families--the Reyes family from Arles and the Baliardos from Montpellier. The musical adventure of these two families started in the 1960s when Jose Reyes was singing with Manitas de Plata (Ricardo Baliardo) performing all around the world in theaters including Carnegie Hall in New York City. There is music by Manitas de Plata y Jose Reyes on youtube. Their fans included
Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Miles Davis and Charlie Chaplin.
When the duo parted ways, Jose Reyes became even more popular after starting his own band, Los Reyes. His sons backed him up. When the elder Reyes passed away in 1979, Nicolas and Andre began playing with the Baliardo brothers in Les Saintes Maries de la Mer during the The Gypsy's Pilgrimage. They traveled, busking nearby on the streets of Saint-Tropez, performing on beaches during the day and for celebrities such as
Brigitte Bardot by night. "Los Reyes" means "The Kings," and the band changed their name to The Gipsy Kings.
The Gipsy Kings' musical style has been called "Rumba Flamenca" which allows The
Gipsy Kings to combine traditional flamenco styles with Western Pop and Latin rhythms, Latin and Cuban styles, Arabic, reggae, jazz, and--of course--gypsy styles!
The band speaks French, and performs music in Spanish dialect of Gitane, the native Gipsy language, that is a mixture of Spanish, French, and Catalan. The root of the Gitane culture is in the southern part of Spain that includes Seville and Granada. One of the economically depressed areas of Europe, this region has given the world flamenco music, bullfighting and Moorish-influenced Architecture. The people in that area are known as "Gitanos," Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). (The term "gitano" comes from "Egiptano," a Spanish term for "Egyptian" as the English word "
Gypsy" comes from "Egyptian.")
CONFIRMED GIPSY KINGS TOUR DATES JANUARY 2014
FRI 17 Atlantic City, NJ - Revel Ovation Hall
SAT 18 Mashantucket, CT - Foxwoods
SUN 19 New Brunswick, NJ -
State Theatre
MON 20 Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
WED 22 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater
THU 23 Lynn, MA - Lynn Auditorium
FRI 24 NYC - City Winery
SAT 25 NYC - City Winery
