The Grenadians say that Federico García Lorca found his voice in other arts such as music rather than finding himself in literature. In Granada, the poet matured his way of communicating with the world, intoxicated by flamenco and his rhythms, by the gypsy dances, by the lyric and the sefardí art and because of the influence that the Arabs left and that, centuries later, continues to be found in a endless corners of the city of the Alhambra. All this, following local testimonies, converges in the Sacromonte, that strategic point to understand Nazarís heritage and idiosyncrasy.
There, on June 21, the poet reappeared under the Sun of the Summer Granada to tell of a living voice what that magical enclave means, which still oozes his lyrical footprint. “This mountain is sacred and also bleeding from pain, for the suffering that the bronze race has suffered here for many years,” recited the actor who embodied him, dressed in American and white shirt, red bow tie, cadrement and shoes tweezers and shoes derby Brown before inviting a walk to the attendance: “This neighborhood is delighted and I am going to guide you so that you do not miss in the enchantment.”
Converted into Cicerone and exception guide, this reincarnated Lorca was the first surprise of the Soundhood Estante Galicia event, which made Granada capital of music for one day. This is the second edition of an exclusive festival that has already been held previous years in cities such as A Coruña, Madrid, Barcelona, London and very soon Berlin and with a clear idea: return the music to the rooms and the neighborhoods and bet on a combination of consecrated and emerging musical talent. But the experience was not reduced to music, the Soundhood Son Estrella Galicia proposes a way of living it by designing a complete experience in which culture, gastronomy and beer fuse.
The initiative began with this route through the Sacromonte to know brushstrokes of history and cultural heritage of both the neighborhood and the Nasrid city. The day crowned at a music festival in Lemon Rock, the Montalbán street room, 6, in the center of Granada.
The room where Granada vibrated
After the magical visit for the Sacromonte, the Soundhood Son Estrella Galicia expedition marched to the Lemon Rock room, a four -storey garito built in the center of Granada on an old state -of -the -wing house of the seventeenth century. This year, Lemon Rock has fulfilled his tenth anniversary, which is why he was chosen by Galicia Straight to Alalbergar his festival. “We are a family business and the relationship with Estrella Galicia has been the same,” says Vicente de Luna, owner. “We have not been able to have more luck that they choose us, since they take great care of the quality of the musicians who are coming. I am a bit mystical and, for the good vibrations I feel today, I am very happy.”
As guests at the festival, national artists such as Tulsaymujeres arrived, but also international: from Ireland, Ash rockers; from Thailand, Khanabierbood; From Argentina, kisses; and, from the United Kingdom, cousin Queen and Tim Burgess. Granada music was not missing in the poster, with artists such as Antonio Arias, Juan Mutante, Dark Libra or Paulina del Carmen. The very young singer, who mixes R&B and pop rhythms with influences from her land, ended her excited performance: “Granada, in addition to my home, means illusion, is a city where many cultures converge and it shows in music.”
Chosen Granada emerging talent by the organizers of the festival, something that the artist made “a lot of enthusiasm, with the amount of talent in the city”, had a memory for its origins and its connection with the room. “My father was an amateur musician and also played here. For me it is a dream whenever I come,” he says, before apostillating: “Here, in Granada, everything is possible.”
Like her, the commitment to emerging musicians at the festival responds to a demand from the organizers, as attesting Víctor Mantiñán, director of Iberia activation of children of Rivera, the business group to which Estrella Galicia belongs. “The objective is for people to return to the rooms to discover music. There is a proliferation of major festivals and gives the feeling that the music rooms have been a little remote, but all the groups that have reached something began in rooms,” says. A thesis that reinforces some of the groups that participated in the Soundhood Son Galicia as women. “We are one of those who have always gone to see concerts to small rooms, as much as a band and public. They are the place where the projects grow.”
At the intervals between the concerts, which followed from 2:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., the music was paired with a gastronomic menu with products from Earth and a workshop called What does your beer sound?in which a brewer and a guitarist deepened the analogies between the different styles of making beer and making music while the attendees enjoyed the tasting, in an experience designed to combine different forms of cultural heritage and that converge in the same space. “The rooms are part of the fabric of a neighborhood that generates identity,” explains Mantiñán. “A neighborhood without music rooms becomes an urbanization, so our idea was to return to them a importance with this event.”
For the owner of Lemon Rock, having participated in the Soundhood Son Estrella Galicia is the culmination of the “many years,” acknowledges this training architect and amateur musician. In the moments not so good, Luna thought of Claudicar, but his passion for emerging artists called for another chance. “Today I am very excited, above all, because one of my favorite groups comes: Ash. For me it is a dream, but you know what they say: here, in Granada, everything is possible.”
The living memory of the Sacromonte
As part of the exclusive proposal to combine culture, art and music, the route of the Soundhood Son Galicia had space to learn about a magical enclave of the Sacromonte: a cave turned into the house – it is usual in the neighborhood since the beginning of the twentieth century – of Curro Albaicín, dancer, poet and living memory of the Sacromonte. “I was a very rebellious child who fought for democracy,” he says since the end of the stay, whose walls are full of photos of some of the 12,000 gypsy families who lived in the neighborhood before the expropriation they suffered during Franco.
The artist was accompanied by the renowned singer Irene Molina, guitarist Marcos Palometas, and the artist Eloy Heredia with his crossbour. The three make up the Clavel Flamenco Formation, which interpreted as a colophon of the route a flamenco version of the renowned Hallelujah of Canadian Leonard Cohen. Clavel Flamenco, on the other hand, rounded his performance by musicalizing another of his writings, death of Antoñito Camborio, which recited Curro Albaicín:
“And when the four cousins
They arrive in Benamejí,
Death voices ceased
near the Guadalquivir ”
Next stop: Barcelona, October 25
Barcelona will be the next Soundhood stop are Estrella Galicia. A city with a vibrant music scene, but also marked by the progressive loss of rooms. There, the Galician star initiative makes even more sense: rescue those spaces where culture is born. Do not miss the opportunity and get your entry into (waiting for a link).