Las Migas, Spain from to Jamaica
IT WAS finger snapping, hand clapping and feet stomping of a different sort that had some members of the audience mesmerised and others moving in sync to the tune of the all-female Spanish musical group, Las Migas.
En route from Canada to Cuba, the group made two stops in Jamaica, in Kingston and Montego Bay. A wide cross section of Jamaicans and Spanish speakers were in attendance at the Kingston leg held on Friday in the Valencia Suit at the New Kingston-based Spanish Court Hotel. Among those in attendance were two of Jamaica’s musical icons, Carlene Davis and Tommy Cowan.
Both expressed thorough enjoyment for the show, dubbed ‘Flamenco Concert’. Davis, who never heard of the group before, but knew it was going to be a good evening, said she loved the sounds of the guitars and the violin, instruments that she grew up hearing. While Cowan, who speaks a little Spanish, said the performance was wonderful.
And so it was as the group of four – a violinist, two guitarists along with a vocalist – got the concert going. Seated, they began with an uptempo song, followed by one with a slower beat. The audience was invited to sing, clap their hands, dance or just show their emotions.
The very entertaining set included the beautiful song Sentara Cancion, composed by a Venezuelan; Con Lo Bien Gire Yo Estaba Sola, based on a friend’s love story, Carmela, a two-part song about a grandmother; and rumba with a distinct mento beat.
MESMERISE THE AUDIENCE
However, there is no denying that it was the group’s performance of Peregrinitos that was the most moving. After a costume change, the lead singer returned to the stage to mesmerise the audience with a Flamenco dance, while the others supplied the respective sounds and music. The performance brought the audience to their feet. A few songs later, the free concert came to an end.
Later, in a brief conversation with The Gleaner, the spokesperson for Las Migas described Jamaica as a nice place because of the people, the weather, the culture and the beer. She also explained that their music is a mixture of different styles – flamenco mixed with other genres such as Latin, Brazilian and Arabic music. This resulted in them doing their own composition and original arrangements, and subsequently creating a Las Migas personal style directed at the audience’s emotions. “This is what we always want to do, to provoke emotion,” she said
And what about reggae? “Reggae is very nice.” they all agreed.
The musical group will return to Spain for their album launch on November 11, 2016.
Las Migas’ visit and concert was organised by the Embassy of Spain, in collaboration with The Spanish-Jamaica Foundation, as one of the activities to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and Jamaica.