WOMAD

Xavier Ruibal

From Spain

Biography by Andy Morgan, July 2002:Born and raised in Cadiz, southern Spain… that means you must play flamenco, right? Well not exactly. Xavier Ruibal seems to baffle most people’s expectations with a spark in his eye and a good-humoured smile. Flamenco is Ruibal’s foundation, but nothing more than that. On its stalwart rhythms and ageless harmonies, Ruibal builds highly original narratives using sounds from all over the Mediterranean; Istanbul, Alexandria, Tangiers and Granada, even reaching beyond to the Caribbean. The subjects of his songs are bittersweet, sublime and ridiculous, elegant and ugly. He takes you from the cool opulence of an Arabic garden to the cutthroat squalor of a city pavement, from Paris to Manhattan to Morocco, by boat and by train in the company of belly dancers, femmes fatale, rampaging sailors and African queens. Ruibal’s hometown hangs on the edge of Europe and he delights in crossing over into the unknown, mixing influences that no one else has bothered to explore, with all the verve, vitality and originality you could hope for. No wonder the Spanish press have called him “The best singer that Andalusia has produced in recent years.”