Los Niños de Sara (in Spanish, "Sara's children") is a Spanish-speaking Gitano musical group from

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, France. They perform on their own, but they are best known for the involvement in the musical group

Alabina Alabina is a French-based band that performs a mix of world music: Middle Eastern, Arabic, French, Hebrew, and Spanish Gypsy music. Alabina consists of lead singer Ishtar, who does the female vocals, and the band Los Niños de Sara, who provide ...

Background

They are cousins from

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

, France, who have been playing together since they were 14 years old. Described as a cross between the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

and

Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit (record label), World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and dire ...

, the group blends

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 ...

rumba catalana The Catalan rumba (, ) is a genre of music that developed in Barcelona's Romani community beginning in the 1950s and 1960s. Its rhythms are derived from the Andalusian flamenco rumba, with influences from Cuban music and rock and roll. The Cata ...

and

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

(primarily

rumba flamenca Rumba flamenca, also known as flamenco rumba or simply rumba (), is a ''Palo (flamenco), 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 i ...

) and features a touch of North African influence.LoveCatMusic.com – Artist Release
After backing flamenco artists including Manitas de Plata and

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (; 21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flamen ...

, they formed the group

with vocalist

Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...

. Alabina, which combined flamenco music and Arabic vocals, topped the World Music and Latin charts in

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

. The four cousins are named Antonio ("Tonio") (also written Antoine) Contreras, Ramón Compas, Santiago ("Santi") Lorente, and Coco. Though they speak both Spanish and French, they only sing in their native Spanish. Tonio, the lead male singer, plays guitar. In addition to all providing back-up vocals, Ramón and Santi play guitar and Coco plays percussion. On their own, Los Niños have produced two CDs: ''La Cubanita'' (2001) and ''Gipsyolé'' (2003). Their songs often speak of family, love, and God.

Discography

Albums

* ''España Tiene Sabor'' (2006) * ''La Cubanita

onus Tracks Onus, from Latin, indicates accountability/responsibility Onus may also refer to: * Blame * Burden (disambiguation) * Legal burden of proof (''onus probandi'') As a surname * Bill Onus William Townsend Onus Jnr (15 November 1906 – ...

' (2005) * ''Gipsyolé'' (2003) * ''Cubanita'' (2001)

Compilations

* ''Oriental Night Club'' (2004) * ''Club Prive: Excellent Night Life for Trendy People'' (2002) * ''Jan des Bouvrie Limited'' (2002) * ''Voile Rouge at St Tropez, Vol. 2'' (2001) * ''Latin Moderns, Vol. 2'' (2007) * ''L' Essentiel'' (1999) * ''The Album'' (1996)

External links

Los Niños De Sara
on LoveCat Music

References