The irresistible aroma of flamenco, pop, jazz and chillout
Josete Ordoñez awakens the dreamer in us. With Por El Mar“, the Spaniard breathes longing into us, bringing fantasies to life, painting imaginary pictures, and creating moods that we otherwise only know from a perfect summer day at the sea. His music tells of paper boats on the lake, the blue of the ocean, the timelessness of feelings, and the sound of the wind.
„Por El Mar“ is the soundtrack of an intimate wish to get to a place where the soul can find peace. It sounds like Pat Metheny fusing with flamenco-chill band Chambao, opening new dimensions of Mediterranean serenity.
Artfully, Josete Ordoñez embellishes his gentle songs with the virtuoso techniques of the Spanish guitar, his actual musical origin, without ever sounding as hard as a typical flamenco guitarist. He demonstrates a sense for fine, soft melodies and placating harmonies.. Lounge grooves accompany his songs in such a laid-back way that „Por El Mar“ sounds like it could have been poured out of a cocktail shaker from paradise.
Josete Ordoñez studied the guitar (jazz and flamenco) under such diverse guitarists as Juan Maya Marote, Serranito, Tomatito, Steve Brown, Eddy Goltz, and Sean Leavytt. His touring around the globe with his own band Elementales, with ensembles like Compañía Flamenca Joaquín Ruiz, Compañía Ibérica de Danza, and Eliseo Parra Band etc. helped Josete to develop his own style. He played first guitar at the world famous La Maestranza in Madrid.
Sensuous and perfectly dreamy, the songs are by no means solely dominated by Josete Ordoñez's guitar. On his many travels from the Meditarreanean coast to the South China Sea, he discovered plucked string instruments like the Vietnamese Dantú and the Mexican Vihuela, and played them on this album. The impression of summery serenity is underlined by Vietnamese singer Nsut Song Tao, who lends the track “Hanoi” a sweet, exotic color. This flair is contrasted by flamenco singers Ana Salazar and Monica Molina, who add slightly wild and archaic elements with their raw and haunting Gitano voices and sweetly beseeching melismas in songs like„Titirimundi“ or „Date a Volar“. And again and again, Josete Ordoñez’s guitar brings everything together and leads us to a secret place, where we find all the things we have ever lost.
bass Peter Oteo, Yrvis Mendez, Marco Herreros, Carlos Ibañez
drums Enzo Filippone, Manuel de Lucena, Hugo Ordanini, Manu Rey
percussion Aleix Tobias, Hugo Ordanini, Tino de Geraldo
vocals Ana Salazar, Monica Molina, Yoanna, Paula Mir, Nsut Song Tao, Yrvis Mendez
keys, piano, rhodes, programming Luca Germini
piano Iñaki Quijano
ding takta Y Nuech e Ban
moxeño, bansuri, musical saw Xavi Lozano
electric guitar David Escudero
nylon & acustic guitars, mandola, dantu, vihuela and vocals Josete Ordoñez
Read more...