Nuevos Medios celebrates its 20th anniversary by releasing twenty compilations and doing a tour

Diego Carrasco, Tomatito, Pata Negra and Jorge Pardo are the first four records to be released

Flamenco-world.com

It is twenty years now since a Spanish record company tried to bring together the most recent generation of flamenco artists under the same label. To mark the anniversary Nuevos Medios will be releasing over the course of the year a collection of twenty compilations, beginning with four records by Diego Carrasco, Tomatito, Pata Negra and Jorge Pardo. At the same time the company, which is run by Mario Pacheco, will undertake a concert tour involving Diego Carrasco, Diego Amador and the trio made up of Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent and Tino di Geraldo. In July the label is hoping to release a box set of four thematic records covering popular songs, instrumentals, flamenco pop and flamenco. And that is not all, because in October re-masters of de Enrique Morente's 'Negra si tú supieras', Pata Negra's 'Blues de la Frontera' and Ray Heredia's 'Quien no corre vuela' will be released.

Jorge Pardo (Photo: Mario Pacheco)

'Nuevos Medios Colección' is the title of the collection of twenty records with which the label that was the driving force behind Nuevo Flamenco will celebrate its first two decades of existence. The first batch, which hits the shelves before the end of April, is dedicated to four artists: Diego Carrasco, the singer and composer from Jerez, Tomatito, the sax and flute player from Almería, the flamenco-blues-rock group Pata Negra, and Jorge Pardo, the sax and flute player who has become the talisman of flamenco jazz.

The full schedule for the release of the collection is already beginning to take shape. Planned for release in May are records by guitarist Rafael Riqueni, singer José Soto Sorderita, keyboard player Tomás San Miguel and the duo formed by Carles Benavent and Amargós. Martirio, Ketama and Tino di Geraldo make up the trio of records set for release in June. The following month´s releases include records by the singers Aurora and José el Francés, the guitarist Pepe Habichuela and the flamenco pop group La Barbería del Sur. Finally in September the compilations by the singer Potito, the percussionist Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo's group and Tabletom.

Another of the events with which Nuevos Medios will commemorate their 20th anniversary is with a concert tour involving Diego Carrasco, Diego Amador and the trio made up of Carles Benavent, Tino di Geraldo and Jorge Pardo. For the moment performances at the Galapagar Jazz Festival near Madrid on Monday July 1, the Grec Festival (Barcelona), on Friday July 19, and the San Sebastián Jazz festival on Thursday July 25 have been confirmed. The concerts will consists of a first part in which each artist, together with their respective groups, will perform on their own and a second part in which "the twelve musicians will give a demonstration of what is known as Nuevo Flamenco, by performing each other's work". In this way the formula attempts to commemorate the musical encounters fostered by the company throughout its history, such as those between Pata Negra and Ketama, or that between Ketama and the Malian musician Toumani Diabate, "which foreshadowed what would become known as world music".

The company dubbed as "flamenco's equivalent of Blue Note" by the French daily Liberation 'also has plans to release a box-set of four thematic records in July consisting of popular songs, instrumentals, flamenco pop and flamenco (music and cante). And after all this October will see the re-release of re-mastered flamenco titles such as Ray Heredia's 'Quien no corre vuela', Pata Negra's 'Blues de la Frontera' and 'Negra si tú supieras' by the Granada-born singer Enrique Morente. The twentieth anniversary will also see no disruption to the normal schedule of releases. In fact coming soon is the launch of the '7000 kilos', the latest record from Tabletom, a group with 30 years experience behind them and which has influenced artists like Pata Negra, Kiko Veneno and Mártires del Compás.

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