Gabriele Deiana: Georgina’s Rumba

There is something about the sound of the guitar played by Gabriele Deiana. It feels as if the sound that comes from his instrument comes from the inside of Mr Deiana, and has the power to penetrate the stomach. Music by those who speak in the dialect of Flamenco [which Mr Deiana does] – has the kind of magic that touches places in the body that other guitars [and guitarists] cannot reach. Mind you, Mr Deiana’s music on this album Georgina’s Rumba is not strictly speaking “Flamenco”. That is, it is not the kind you may have heard from the traditional [and legendary] guitarists of Andalusia. But there is a force that underlines his technique – the percussive manner in which he plucks his strings suggests that he aims for each note and phrase to fly out of the instrument and pierce the heart the way a gitano does.  

Mr Deiana gets plenty of help from the musicians who are masters of the kind of duende blood-letting that echoes the kind of [duende] that Federico García Lorca described in his iconic essay. Here are some of those who make your blood bubble and boil and pulsate to the extent that they not only provoke insolent virtuosity from the guitarist, but also put a twist in the strings of the heart: El Piraña on cajón and palmas, and Los Cherokee too – both on Georgina’s Rumba.

But the apogee of this recording – for me at any rate – is the song El Miramar, which features not one, but three Flamenco guitarists who are driven to sense of glorying in the physicality of this music as well as in its cerebral demands. The other two guitarists are Joni and Kilino Jiménez, and the fuse is lit under the rhythm of the song by Bandolero [cajón and palmas] Amara Carmona [palmas], and the Flamenco chorale by Las Negris. The combination of musicians is maddeningly brilliant, and, as a result the music is shot through with brilliance.

The presence of musicians such as the incomparable pianist Caramelo De Cuba ignites Loquillo in a manner in which only the Cuban master pianist can, and this is what sets the harmonics and the music’s rhythm on fire. The same can – and must be – said of Guajiro Italiano, and also Georgina’s Rumba, which features two of inimitable musicians from the great ensemble of Paco de Lucía and they are flutist Jorge Pardo and bassist Carles Benavent. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Acacias, which features bassist Alain Pérez and the rest of the cast of fabulous Spanish musicians – including two cajón players, El Piraña and Sabu Porrina, with Bandolero on djembe and palmas and, of course Amara Carmona [palmas].

It must be said that if you are expecting an album replete with Flamenco songs, you may not get your wish. But because Mr Deiana is so inventive in his music you are likely to love everything on the album, including the music that is a collision of Flamenco [if that music is what you lust after, then the four instrumentals charts at the end of the album will set your sensibilities ablaze] and other Spanish dance forms – boleros, habaneras and other forms that have become the staple wherever the cultural topography of Spain left its imprint – from Spain to Cuba. And that doesn’t simply make this album different, it makes it irresistible.

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Music – 1: David; 2: Loquillo; 3: Guajiro Italiano; 4: Georgina’s Rumba; 5: Las Olas Del Mar; 6: El Miramar; 7: Bagatella Per Lea; 8: Twanguero Gitano; 10: Acacias; 11: Tema de Vero, Cami y Coni; 12: La Media Naranja; 13: Twanguero Gitano [instrumental]; 14: Georgina’s Rumba [radio edit]; 15: Guajiro Italiano; 16: Tema de Vero, Cami y Coni.

Musicians – Gabriele Deiana: guitar [centre channel on 6] and bass [12]; Joni Jiménez: guitar [left channel on 6]; Kilino Jiménez: guitar [right channel on 6]; Caramelo de Cuba: piano [2, 3, 14]; Luis Guerra: piano [8, 10, 15] and keyboards [8]; Ivan Melón Lewis: piano [11]; Dany Noel: contrabass [2, 3, 10, 14, 15] and vocals [3]; Carles Benevant: fretless bass [4, 14]; Javier Colina: contrabass [5]; Bachi: electric bass [6]; Alain Pérez: bass [8]; Kiki Ferrer: drums [2, 3, 14]; Dani Morales: drums [8, 12]; Michael Olivera: drums [10, 15]; Georvis Picu: drums [11]; José Montaña: congas [2, 3, 14]; El Piraña: cajón and shaker [4, 9, 14]; Ramón El León: percussion [5, 10, 15]; Yuri Nogueria: congas and percussion; Bandolero: cajón, djembe [9] and handclaps [6, 9]; Sabu Porrina: cajón [9]; Manuel Rangel: maracas [10, 15]; Amara Carmona: handclaps [6, 9]; Jorge Pardo: flute [4, 14]; Alex Escalara: flute [7, 9]; Aroa Fernández: vocals [5]; Rafita de Madrid: vocals [8]; Frederlyn Mayora: vocals [11]; Ismael Maitin: vocals [11]; Elisabeth: chorus [11]; Chicas de la Habana: chorus [10]; El Cherokee: chorus [4]; Las Negris: chorus [6, 8].

Released – 2022
Label – GDM [CD 22001]
Runtime – 1:11:28