Voice of Flamenco Chill On Tour

One of the creators of Flamenco Chill, a very different style of music, Malaga born La Mari de Chambao will be performing in La Linea de la Frontera in October.

María del Mar Rodríguez Carnero started singing for fun in the late 1990s with a boyfriend and his cousin, but this soon morphed into Chambao which released their first album Flamenco Chill in 2001.

Technically this was a ‘various artists’ album but as Chambao contributed eight tracks, it is fair to credit them with the release as they combined a passion and vocal style of traditional Andalucian flamenco with elements of electronica, especially chillout.

The group came to prominence at about the same time as Nuevo Flamenco bands such as Ojos de Brujo from Barcelona who had a harder cutting edge to their music.

The 2000s saw a huge wave of popularity for this style of flamenco fusion and Chambao released a further seven albums before temporarily disbanding in 2016 having toured much of the world and playing across Spain, including a memorable show at Castle Sohail in Fuengirola.

The band and La Mari, as she is known by her fans, were nominated, or won a ream of different awards and were an important creative force even though the singer had to cope with cancer and all of the problems associated with conquering it.

In 2018 she performed a huge concert in Madrid which showcased 30 different songs and she welcomed numerous guests from the Spanish music scene although earlier In her career she was touched and delighted to be invited to duet with Ricky Martin on the song Tu Recuerdo.

Now she is back with a new Chambao and a new album due to be released later this year and she is undertaking a short tour of Spain.

The band will be appearing at the Congress Palace in La Linea from 9pm on October 20 with tickets costing from €30 to €38 available via https://chambao.es/.

Even if you don’t speak Spanish this promises to be a fantastic evening featuring a great singer who combines the spirit of flamenco with latest musical styles.

For those who have ever wondered, the word Chambao refers to an improvised beach tent or an open space under a roof.