小简介
Gipsy Kings 最大的贡献是把一种革新的流行化的Flamenco音乐(在西班牙称为Sevillana)带向了世界。乐队在70年代成立于法国南部的村庄Arles，由着名Flamenco艺人Jose Reyes的儿子，Nicolas 和 Andre兄弟联合他们的表兄弟Jacques, Maurice和Tonino Baliardo组成。他们一开始称自己为Los Reyes 并且作为一支吉普赛乐队游走在婚礼、节日和街头演出。由于他们的生活和吉普赛人如此相似，乐队最终采用Gipsy Kings作为团名。Los Reyes并没有怎么走红而且头两张专辑也没有引起人们的关注。当时他们主要表演传统的Flamenco，尽管拥有忠心的歌迷，他们仍然难以获得更大的认知，直到1986年遇到了制作人Claude Martinez，而他认为Kings可以成为世界级的乐团。
感谢Martinez使 Kings轻松了许多，并接纳更多的当代元素，把中东、拉美、北非、摇滚和他们特有的激情都融合到他们的传统歌曲中。在乐界，Flamenco纯化论者反对这些变革，认为Gipsy Kings注定会失败。但是这些老唱反调的人错了。1987年，Gipsy Kings使用独立厂牌发表了”Djobi Djobi”和”Bamboleo”，在法国获得了巨大成功。这个成功也使得他们和Sony签约并在当年晚些时候发行了同名处女作。这张同名专辑再次在法国热卖，而且12个欧洲国家都位居排行榜前10位，其中包括传统上很难接受国际音乐的英国。
by Sandra Brennan
The Gipsy Kings are largely responsible for bringing the joyful sounds of progressive pop-oriented flamenco, called Sevillana in Spain, to the world. The band started out in Arles, a village in southern France during the 70s when brothers Nicolas and Andre Reyes, the sons of renowned flamenco artist Jose Reyes, teamed up with their cousins Jacques, Maurice and Tonino Baliardo, whose father is Manitas de Plata. They originally called themselves Los Reyes and started out as a gypsy band traveling about playing weddings, festivals, and in the streets. Because they lived so much like gypsies, the band adopted the name the Gipsy Kings. Later, they were hired to add color to posh parties in St. Tropez. Popularity did not come to Los Reyes right away and their first two albums attracted little notice. At this point the Gipsies played traditional, albeit passionate flamenco music punctuated by Toninos precise guitar playing and Nicolas exceptional voice. Though they had devoted fans, they still had yet to gain wider recognition until 1986 when they hooked up with visionary producer Claude Martinez who could see that the Kings had the makings of a world-class band.
Thanks to Martinez, the Kings began to relax a bit and take on a more contemporary edge, combining their traditional songs with sounds from the Middle East, Latin America, North Africa, a hint of rock, and their inimitable joy. It was, in a music industry filled with flamenco purists who resisted any kind of change, a very daring move, and many felt the Gipsy Kings would fall flat and disappear. But the nay-sayers were wrong. In 1987, they released Djobi Djoba and Bamboleo, on an independent label and scored two smash hits in France. Their success led them to sign with Sony Music and release their eponymous debut album later that year. Again, they had tremendous sales in France and then found their album was appearing on the Top Ten album charts in 12 European countries including England, which is traditionally unreceptive to international music. In the late 80s, the Gipsy Kings, debuted in the U.S. at a New York New Music Seminar. This led them to sign to Sony in America. In 1989, they were invited to perform at the inaugural ball for George Bush, but they chose to return home to rest and be with their families. Later that year, they held an SRO concert at the Royal Albert Hall, where the Gipsy Kings hobnobbed with some of the worlds biggest pop stars including Elton John and Eric Clapton. To top off their great year, the Kings debut album spent 40 weeks on the U.S. charts and went gold, becoming one of the few Spanish albums to do so. The Kings have had an active release schedule ever since, including the albums Mosaique (1989), Live! (1992), Love & Liberte (1994), Tierra Gitana (1996), Cantos de Amor (1998), Somos Gitanos (2001), Roots (2004) and Pasajero (2007).
