Ida y Vuelta - INFO
Go to LISTEN, BUY IDA Y VUELTA
Go to Las Guitarras de Espana's first album Donde Esta Paco?
Go to LAS GUITARRAS DE ESPANA artist page

have you heard songs from Ida y Vuelta on WNUR's Continental Drift?

You'd be selling short the new release from Chicago-based Las Guitarras de Espana if you regard it as simply Latin-flavored music. A better way to think of the ensemble's latest CD, Ida y Vuelta: The Gipsy Kings meet The Buena Vista Social Club and birth a fresh sound that takes musical cues from Cuba, Spain, the Caribbean, Latin America and America's jazz and blues clubs and gospel revivals.

"The music on this CD occurred because of our exploration and fascination with other cultures," says Carlo Basile, guitarist and founder of Las Guitarras de Espana. "The ensemble is most influenced by traditional flamenco and Spanish classical forms. However, the listener will also note a Middle Eastern and Latin American influence on our music."

Even the CD's title, Ida y Vuelta, reflects Basile's and other group members' passion for mastering and melding diverse musical styles. Spanish flamencos use the term, which means "round trip," to describe music forms that emigrate from Spain and return.

The 13-track CD, released by Chicago label Sweet Pickle Music, features many original compositions based on traditional flamenco and Cuban musical forms-all enhanced with the musical skills and styles each member of Las Guitarras de Espana brings to the ensemble.

Guitarist Basile has studied classical Spanish guitar performance and composition and is regarded as master of both. Percussionist Doug Brush plays Hindustani, Middle-Eastern, African, Afro-Carribean, Brazilian and flamenco rhythms for a variety of dance, theater and musical groups. Singer David Gonzalez, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, performs regularly with pop flamenco ensembles; and Singer Patricia Ortega plies her Cuban/Mexican roots in compositions and vocal stylings for Las Guitarras de Espana and other musical groups.

Ida y Vuelta is the ensemble's 2nd full length CD released by Sweet Pickle Music (www.sweetpicklemusic.com). The group's first CD, "Donde esta Paco?" is available at in stores and online at Amazon.com.