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Formentera invites Cris Juanico and the Ai Ai Ai for Christmas concert

Foto cris juanicoThe Formentera Council's Office of Culture and Festivities wishes to announce an evening of Minorcan music and Catalan rumba, this Saturday, December 16, at the hands of Cris Juanico and the Ai Ai Ai. The free concerts will take place in the Sant Ferran festival tent from 11.00pm.

Cris Juanico presents 13, his latest effort and first ever compilation
Tretze cançons desordenades + Tretze peces retrobades is the Cris Juanico's first and only compilation to date. The name (tretze means “thirteen” in Catalan) is at once a nod to the artist's ledger of solo work and the occasion to assemble the crowd-pleasers, deep cuts and rarities. Transcending the standard limitations of a collection, the album is a monument of the artist's research and toil as he worked to breathe new life into his own solo work, collaborations and life experiences.

 

Thirteen years have passed since 2004's Memòria,  Juanico's first release as a solo artist. It's a number that allowed him to arrive at a personal, altogether unique selection of career milestones, all part of a two-disc set that also features thirteen assorted rarities and collaborations.

With its faithful account of Juanico's career in music, likely the only thing unfamiliar in this collage of songs —anecdotes and experiences, lyrics and melodies— is the track listing. In undertaking the project, the singer cast his gaze to the past in order to move forward and create something new.

The first of two CDs rests on thirteen tracks that span Cris Juanico's musical catalogue, and contains jewels from Ja T'Ho Diré, Menaix a Truà, Tabaluga, Original Jazz Orquestra and the artist's own handiwork.

The second disc, thirteen uncovered tracks plus a handful of special collaborations with premier musicians and close friends —Toni Xuclà, Joan Valent, Gossos, Projecte Mut, the Simfònica de Cobla i Corda de Catalunya, Àngel Gómez, Van de Kul, Nina da Lúa and Sa Fàbrica de Músics gospel choir among them—handling vocals, songwriting and production. There are also three never-before released tracks: one features Benejam, another was written for the Balearic ornithological society's SOS Menorca and a third represents Juanico's contribution to «La mar i en Pop,» an exhibition.

Celebrating 25 years of Catalan rumba, Ai Ai Ai prepares to share new material with Formentera
Following the passing of one of Catalan rumba's leading lights, Gato Pérez, in 1990, two of Pérez's musicians, “Rafalitu” Salazar and Pep Lladó formed Ai Ai Ai. Their mission, to keep the genre alive and use Catalan in more than a passing fashion, may appear today natural, but it was once profoundly transgressive. Henceforth, the Ai Ai Ai have stubbornly cultivated and brought to the genre their own special touch. Today, with rumba's position in the Catalan catalogue of cultural heritage widely accepted, the group's mission has become to see the form gain recognition from Unesco as a feature of intangible world heritage.

The musical winds have shifted over the years. There was the Olympic explosion of Los Manolos and el Peret. The rise of Catalan rock. The arrival on the scene of the fusion styles of Dusminguet and Manu Chao. The success of Manel and their brethren in new pop. Through it all, the Ai Ai Ai have remained true to their particular take on music. Now, with twenty-five years, five commercial releases and hundreds of concert performances under their belts, the group is ready and raring as ever. With a forthcoming commemorative effort to include not only new material and reboots of old songs, but also “Que no, que no” a previously unreleased composition by el Gato revisited with help from Joan Garriga and Marià Roch of Troba Kung-Fú. They'll have a seven-man band in tow when the group arrives on the island December 16, including cherished Catalan gypsy “Rafalitu” Salazar and Jordi Gas of Jarabe de Palo and Salseta del Poble Sec i Sau fame. Backed by new hits or old classics, the group's mission is still to get crowds dancing the Catalan rumba, whether with fan favourites like Sota la palmera, Bar la rumba, Carrer cavallers or the legendary Maquinolandera, with its verse for Formentera: "Cap a Formentera / Que tu no tens espera / Agafen de la meva / Vigila la cartera / Ohoh, ohoh Ohoh, ohoh".