When one tries to come up with a list of non-traditional music one can dance Brazilian Zouk to, music by the Gipsy Kings immediately come to mind. And for that reason they have earned themselves a place on the Zouk Artist Directory as an honorary Zouk artist.
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 town in the south of 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.
They originally called themselves Los Reyes and started out as a gypsy band traveling about playing weddings, festivals, and in the streets. All the members in the band are, in fact, 100% gitano (gypsy) and to this day they still maintain all the traditions and values of that group of people. It was an American fan who suggested a more fitting name for the band would be the Gipsy Kings. The band liked the idea enough that they changed the name, so the band once known as Los Reyes became, as they are known around the world today, the Gipsy Kings.
Popularity did not come right away and their first two albums attracted little notice. At this point the Gipsies played traditional, albeit passionate flamenco music punctuated by Tonino’s 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, and a hint of rock. 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 instead 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 world’s 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 (2006).
