CHICO fondly remembers the woman’s letter. The woman has pushed the sofa into the middle of the room. The air outside in the center of the foreign country is gently fanning, the moon casts gentle shadows through the high windows of the Hotel Raphael. A wonderful night to indulge in your thoughts. Hours before, she had danced at a concert to sounds she was unfamiliar with. She is upset. The music is still running through her head, filling her heart, not wanting to let go. A cassette of these incredible sounds is playing in her recorder, the autoreverse button glows soundlessly. Until half past six, the moon slowly sinks into Paris, she listens to the voices, the stories, the guitars, the incredible rhythm… Later she writes to the musicians: Dear Gipsy Kings,… Youpie! Source rhythm! Source voix! J’etais an addict instantly. Thank you for your music… a great fan… Joan Baez
CHICO COUCHICKHI, (42), separated from the Gipsy Kings five years ago. What sounds so obvious on paper means much more to him. After all, the band was his family…still is today. CHICO is the brother-in-law of the Reyes family, the “Kings”. With them he founded LOS REYES years ago, which later renamed itself Gipsy Kings. He still gets along with you, despite the separation they continue to share an undying love for life, for joy, for melancholy – for “musique gitane”. A love that unites her with millions of people around the world; Records like “Bamboleo” or “Mosaïque” were sold more than two million times in Germany alone and over 15 million times worldwide. Fans of this music will be happy: CHICO & THE GYPSIES is the name of CHICO’s new band, and “Vagabondo” is their new album.
Right in the heart of the Camargue, in Arles, you can find CHICO sitting with his friends. Even if it sounds cliché: music is in the air, and that certain “savoir vivre” that incomparable attitude to life of the gypsies. The sounds of guitar fill the veranda, float weightlessly through the high arches, and break off the white walls of the magnificent inner courtyard. Some friends beat nimble, inimitable rhythms on their strings that sound so wonderfully light – but they first have to be played. One of the musicians constantly improvises, falling into the ecstatic rhythm, according to desire and esprit.
Hardly any of them can read music – for what reason! you involuntarily ask yourself in this special place – the feeling for the unique interplay of rhythm, guitar and singing seems to be innate to them, how so many things are born into them that remain hidden to non-Gypsies – their vocation, for example.
According to ancient custom, the place where the parents kill the child’s first louse foretells the child’s future passion. If the first louse comes to an abrupt end under the heel of a shoe, this predicts that the child will have a career as a dancer. With MANOLO GIMENEZ (after the famous flamenco singer Manolo Caracol), the first louse was found in the water jug, Spanish “cantaro” … and so he actually became – in a roundabout way – “cantante”, singer. Before the hopeless romantic met CHICO five years ago, he only sang for his family and was otherwise an antique dealer. He had no problems with large audiences. It was more difficult to overcome his fear of leaving the solid ground under his feet – Manolo still prefers to climb stairs to the elevator, and CHICO only cured his fear of flying with a nineteen-hour flight to Chile. Fantastic stories of faith and superstition, of life and life paths, they all know what to say: TONINO MAILLE – called Patrick for short -, a virtuoso on the strings, with a penchant for salsa, bossa nova and reggae, who played with Ziggy Marley & The Wailers at the Zenith in Paris at the age of 13 practiced playing guitar in the caravan with his cousin MANERO MAILLE; or TANÉ, salsa fan with a velvety voice on “Canta Me”, who plays the piano excellently and is the only one in the group who reads music.
MANOLO, PATRICK, MANERO and TANÉ don’t want to miss the feeling of being unattached, but CHICO prefers a stone home to life in caravan settlements. Here, at EL PATIO, CHICO’s hacienda, “Vagabondo” was created and perhaps only here, in this enchanted oasis of Provence, can one get an idea of what the music of CHICO & THE GYPSIES means to people all over the world. The colors of the Camargue seem to be reflected in the songs “Vagabondos”: the ocher of the fields, the white of the walls, the red of the rooms on El Patio. The music contains the soft light of the southern French sun, the herbal scent of Provence, here on the banks of the Rhone. “Vagabondo” breathes the spirit of the South, the spirit of music, dance, the happiness and cheerful exuberance of a carefree fiesta.
“Musique gitane” is multicultural, like CHICO himself. His father comes from Morocco, his mother from Algeria, and his wife is a French gypsy. On Vagabondos, CHICO & THE GYPSIES fuse traditional flamenco with pop, salsa and all sorts of musical movements. The hot, bubbling ingredients ignite a truly furious fireworks display of guitars, vocals and irresistibly animating rhythms. Anyone who has already experienced CHICO and his friends live knows how quickly the spark spreads to the exuberantly dancing and singing along audience. Enthusiasm is also multicultural and cannot be limited to countries and languages.
CHICO BOUCHIKHI, the founder, ex-bandleader and co-composer of the world-famous band GIPSY KINGS, is back. CHICO & THE GYPSIES toured Germany for the first time in November and December 1993 to present their new album and stage show. Due to popular demand, a continuation of the tour was scheduled for early 1994.
The music of CHICO & THE GYPSIES is based on the tradition of southern French and Spanish gypsy music and the musicians celebrate a spirited fiesta of guitar sounds and wistful voices on the concert stage. On their album “Tengo, Tengo” the instrumentation and timbre are wide-ranging, tender love songs and fiery gypsy music determine the fascinating basic mood of this work – guitar music at its finest.
The stage show of CHICO & THE GYPSIES can truly be described as fantastic and there are many reasons why the success of this folklore troupe can be described as a perennial favorite. You can just tell that the musicians have a lot of fun working on stage and that it is conveyed directly to the audience.
The musical repertoire of CHICO & THE GYPSIES, which of course also includes the typical “Gipsy songs”, alternates with many different musical styles, such as: B. CHICO BOUCHIKHI and his musicians present gypsy ballads, furious rumbas, slow love songs and internationally oriented gospel-like titles.
CHICO BOUCHIKHI: “We present music that alternately characterizes the melancholic and cheerful gypsy soul.”
