The Catalan rumba ( ca, rumba catalana, ) is a genre of music that developed in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

's Romani community beginning in the 1950s and 1960s. Its rhythms are derived from the Andalusian

flamenco rumba Rumba flamenca, also known as flamenco rumba or simply rumba (), is a ''palo'' (style) of flamenco music developed in Andalusia, Spain. It is known as one of the '' cantes de ida y vuelta'' (roundtrip songs), music which diverged in the new world, ...

, with influences from

Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban mu ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

. The Catalan rumba originated in the Romani communities in the

Gràcia Gràcia () is a district of the city of Barcelona, Spain. It comprises the neighborhoods of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents, El Coll, La Salut and Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Gràcia is bordered by the districts of Eixample to th ...

, ''carrer (street) de la Cera del Raval'' and Hostafrancs neighborhoods. The Romani community in those neighborhoods is long-established and bilingual in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

and were influenced by the heavy Andalusian immigration to Barcelona during this period. The genre is based in a fusion of Catalan-Andalusian

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

singing and the Afro-Cuban

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony o ...

. It is in time, and consists of vocalists and handclaps, accompanied by

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, and güiro; later groups also incorporate

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

conga drums The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

, small percussion instruments,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

wind instruments A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, and

electric keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs a ...

. Among the most important early artists in the genre were Antonio González "El Pescaílla",

Peret Pedro Pubill Calaf ( ; 24 March 1935 – 27 August 2014), better known as Peret, was a Spanish Romani singer, guitar player and composer of Catalan rumba from Mataró (Barcelona). Known for his 1971 single, "Borriquito" (Ariola Records), Per ...

, Josep Maria Valentí "El Chacho", followed by the duo Los Amaya. In the 1970s, Gato Pérez rejuvenated the Catalan rumba. An important medium for diffusion of this genre were cheap cassette tapes sold at gas stations. In the 1980s and 1990s, the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

and Los Manolos brought their spirit to Catalan rumba. 13 rumba songs were played as the final act of the 1992 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. Recently, popular groups in the genre have included Gitano Family, Ai, ai, ai, Sabor de Gràcia,

Estopa Estopa is a Spanish rock/rumba duo from Cornellà de Llobregat, Spain. Their songs "El Run Run" and "Cuando Amanece" reached number one on Billboard's chart in Spain, and "Con La Mano Levanta" reached number four. The band consists of brothers ...

, El Chinchilla,

Melendi Ramón Melendi Espina (born 21 January 1979), known as Melendi, is a Spanish singer-songwriter. His specialties are rock, flamenco, and rumba styles. Early life He was born in Oviedo, Asturias. He went to class with Formula One race car driv ...

, Muchachito Bombo Infierno, Gertrudis, and La Troba Kung Fú. Most recently the genre has been adopted by Brazilian singer Flávia Coelhobr>

Bibliography

*''Peret, l'ànima d'un poble.'', by Cèlia Sànchez-Mústich. Edicions 62 (2005) *''Gato Pérez''., by Juan Marcos Ordóñez Diví, Ediciones Júcar (1987)

References

External links

rumba-catalana.com - Website about the history of Catalan rumba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catalan Rumba