Flamenco guitarist Ricardo Garcia

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Every Flamenco enthusiast has been disappointed by shows which are repetitive caricatures intended for tourists which would be laughable to a genuine Flamenco audience. Here we present an authentic Flamenco from traditional to modern, moving towards a fusion of elements from its own background (Indian, Arabic, African, South American, Caribbean ) with modern influences such as Jazz, Latin Jazz Bossa Nova, Salsa and others.

Like every other ethnic music, Flamenco is constantly developing: integrating new and unusual harmonies and structures, experimenting with different rhythm patterns, flirting with different styles.We guarantee therefore some surprises, some unexpected collaborations and some astounding fusion! It is our aim to show you something you have never seen or imagined before but never to lose the essential core: the spirit that is -
F L A M E N C O !

Ricardo Garcia
Of Andalucian origin, Ricardo's family left for France during the Franco years. Flamenco was a way of holding on to roots and the whole family was brought up within the tradition: Ricardo learning guitar from his uncle Antonio from a very young age and later performing with his aunt, Ana Maria, brothers and cousins. His mother, Maria del Carmen is an excellent singer and he accompanied her from an early age. His father, Dionisio, encouraged him and bullied him alternately as a child, making sure he practised regularly and taking the whole family back to his village near Sevilla every summer in order to experience first hand the music and soul of the region.

Ricardos first public performance was at the age of nine and he has played regularly in public ever since. He continued to perform both solo and with his aunt and uncle in numerous concerts throughout France and in 1988 he was chosen to represent France culturally on a tour around Uruguay and Argentina, sponsored by the Casa de America Latina. Whilst still a student he performed in the Zenith in Paris fronting a Pat Metheny concert, which inspired him to incorporate jazz into his repertoire. The Zenith is one of the biggest and most prestigious venues in Paris.

Between the ages of 15 and 18 he attended flamenco masterclasses with Merengue de Cordoba, Paco Serrano and Jose Antonio Rodrigues Munoz. His studies with his uncle and on various intensive residential guitar courses focussed heavily on classical guitar at this stage and the three cornerstones to his personal style are flamenco, classical and jazz.

Ricardo acknowledges his debt to masters such as Paco de Lucia and Tomatito, the great masters of guitar in flamenco today.

Ricardo worked in Malawi, Africa for eight years before returning to Europe and settling in Spain, in Barcelona in 1999. The years in Malawi brought him into contact with many other musicians and again widened his repertoire to incorporate African rhythms as well as Asian. He worked especially with Aaron Sangala and the late, great Tione Mwera. A creative collaboration with a sitar player, Bimal Lohd resulted in several excellent concerts. With Aaron Sangala and Bashir Sacranie Ricardo was a founder member of the group Kalulu, mentioned in The Rough Guide to Music in Africa. Both solo and in cooperation with others, Ricardo frequently performed at the French Cultural centre, The British Council and the University of Malawi.

Returning to Europe in 1999, Ricardo settled in Barcelona and continues to travel mainly between Spain, France and Scotland to perform, although he has also performed in Singapore, England and Ireland in recent years.

2008 will be the eighth Fringe in Edinburgh for Ricardo and he has brought some excellent musicians within his "Familia Flamenca" in past years: the idea is to continue to develop the music and bring the Edinburgh audience some surprising and impressive fusions: an original and innovative slant on the genre - reflecting the rich background of the performers and the intelligent discernment of the audience.

The "calçotada" has its origins in the l'Alt Camp, in the town of Valls.

Calcots are like small leeks or large spring onions! The tradition in Northern Spain is to make a fire, barbeque the calcots until they are blackened and messy!

You eat outside standing round a table, and drinking from porron - the jar like bottle which is passed round the group but never touches anyone's lips.
You can imagine the whole thing is very messy! We often waer a bib! The Calçot ritual requires that the host to be the boss and to help the guest learn how to extract the delicious centre of the onion which is then dipped in a very special hand-pounded sauce - recipe below!
No cutlery is necessary, and everyone uses their fingers! Often some meat and sausages are barbequed after on the fire to make up a whole meal.
Sometimes peppers or artichokes can be placed on the grill too.

Every year the Fiesta de la Calçotada is celebrated in Valls and in the whole Catalan area. In Valls during the Fiesta a calçots eating championship is organised. Here's a quote from the area explaining the growing of the calcots:

"The cultivating calçots process begins when the white oignon seed is sowed. Then it is transplanted and planted on the ground, in the arounds of August. This process takes more than one year. The calçots are eaten roasted and dunked with a sauce that everybody seasons to their taste. This sauce contains basically the following ingredients (per head): 30 grams of toasted and peeled almonds, a cooked and peeled tomatoes, one or two cooked and peeled garlic's, a vinegar jet and a little bit of parsley. The cultivating calçots process begins when the white oignon seed is sowed. Then it is transplanted and planted on the ground, in the arounds of August. This process takes more than one year. When everything is well chopped, oil and salt are added trying the sauce keeps bind."

I think you can understand that! Some people use hazlenuts instead of almonds, and everything is pounded together - it's a large part of the calcotada tradition!

On our guitar/walking holidays in Febrary and March this is a central moment - and it's great fun for everyone!
And so is the merry jam later in the day!