[FA Worldmusic] "world music", Rodrigo y Gabriela......

[Timothy Bisig]

Good column steve....

and to (again) stroke the fire of "world music" talk, as well as put in a
little word for one of the artists i work with, the aforementioned Ceu from
BRASIL!

Pleaes read below, there is a review of her show opening for Rodrigo y
Gabriela at the Ford Theater in L.A..... RyG will repeatedly and vehemently
proclaim NOT to be "World Music", while their label, agent, fans and whoever
else, sometimes think that they are.  But here is an example of what happens
when you put a (let's admit it) not "world music" band in a "world music"
show, and have a "world music" critic review it.  While perhaps agreeing
with some of his critiques, i don't really agree with him writing this
review--they should have sent a rock critic out!  but I do have to thank him
for giving Ceu all the props, sounds like he's looking to go out with her!

Anybody else have any thoughts on RyG, a huge-selling "world music"
crossover band that isn't really "world music" but that can pack theaters
and festivals around the globe?


LA TIMES 6/28/07

WORLD MUSIC REVIEW
*Rodrigo y Gabriela pleases the crowd with fast picks and gimmicks*

Flashiness hides the Mexican guitar act's shortcomings at the Ford
Amphitheatre.



By Agustin Gurza, Times Staff Writer



RODRIGO Sanchez, half of the Mexican guitar act of Rodrigo y Gabriela,
occasionally sipped from a bottle of beer during a crowd-pleasing,
clichi-riddled performance Tuesday at the Ford Amphitheatre. Just when you
thought the act had run out of gimmicks, Rodrigo used the bottle to play a
sort of woozy slide guitar on their instrumental version of Pink Floyd's
"Wish You Were Here."

Amazingly, the guitar did sound drunk. The capacity crowd cheered the cheap
stunt, as Rodrigo knew it would.

If this Dublin-based duo were not the latest anointed darlings of the world
music circuit, more sober minds might think they were watching a reality
show rip-off called "Mexico Has Talent."

Rodrigo y Gabriela has taken the boomerang road to popularity. The two
started out playing in a heavy-metal band in Mexico City but got nowhere as
*roqueros* and headed to Europe as vagabonds. Somewhere along the line, they
developed a hybrid style on acoustic guitars that's part Gipsy Kings,
Metallica and Los Indios Tabajaras. The novelty caught on, and their album
is now No. 47 on Amazon.com <http://amazon.com/>'s list of bestsellers, the
only Latino-related work to make the Web retailer's Top 100.

Rodrigo and Gabriela insist that they don't play flamenco, a disclaimer most
appreciated by flamenco fans. But they borrow enough of the genre's touches
to confuse the uninformed.

Their bread-and-butter technique is taken from the rumba catalana and known
descriptively as *el ventilador*, or the fan, which uses the guitar as a
percussion instrument by simultaneously strumming the strings in a fan-like
flurry and tapping the soundboard with fingernails, palms and knuckles. It
was once described by the late Gato Perez, an exponent of rumba catalana, as
an "ingenious trick that's so easy to do."

Rodrigo y Gabriela's flashiness masks the shortcomings; generally, they play
at three speeds  fast, very fast and super fast. They proved how well that
works at the Ford on Tuesday; the louder and faster the strumming, the
bigger the cheers.

The evening's better moments came when the duo slowed down for a segment
near the end of its 90-minute set. Rodrigo displayed more than his usual
pedestrian picking on a sweeping number that included melodic snippets from
Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (though not
the guitar concerto's challenging passages). For her part, Gabriela coaxed
impressive percussive sounds from her guitar, at one point doing what
substituted for a rock drum solo, complete with head-banging.

But was all that foul language really necessary? In talking to the audience
throughout the evening, they both tossed off the F-word so casually you
would think nobody had told them what it means. !*Que majaderos*!*

The evening's only display of satisfying talent came in the opening act,
featuring Brazil's CiU. You might recognize the Sao Paulo artist from your
local Starbucks, which is selling her self-titled debut CD. Her rich, smoky
and sultry voice goes perfectly with your best espresso.

She performed Tuesday with a pared-down band, just a fluid guitarist and a
percussionist who amounted to a one-man rhythm section, even using his mouth
to sound out beats. Dressed in a loose blue mini-skirt and gently swaying
her hips, CiU enchanted with her voice that ranged from husky growls to pure
highs, with bluesy edges and catty scatting.

She promised she'd be back later this year with her full, six-piece band.
Make it a date.*


--
Timothy Bisig
La Raiz Producciones
Miguel Claro 1753
Providencia, Santiago, CHILE
surshows at gmail.com
(56) (99) 732 1756
US PHONE 312.804.6695