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  Ojos de Brujo
Bari (Europe: La Fábrica de Colores/USA: World Village 468024, 2004)
Flamenco ain't what it used to be, and if the purists want to grumble while
the rest of us stamp our feet and swivel our hips, so be it. The embellished
style that has come to be known as rumba flamenco is marked by the addition of
Latin percussion, Gypsy flair, Arabic shadings, more experimental arrangements
and less rigidity than the traditional stuff. The commercial popularity of the
Gipsy Kings in the late '80s brought rumba flamenca front and center, with
others like Los Activos and Javier Ruibal effectively exploring possibilities
more recently. But it's Spain's
Ojos de Brujo (Eyes of the Wizard) who've
emerged as the prime envelope-pushers of the movement.
They started as an informal pickup band in the '90s, growing tighter and more
assured as they've evolved into a solid recording and performing unit. Their
take on flamenco involves driving it through a labyrinth of funk, rock, hip-hop
and electronic turns without ditching the basics or the recent additional
developments mentioned above. Sounds tricky in concept, but one spin of this
disc will show how explosive it sounds in reality. Acoustic guitars and hand
percussion (primarily cajon and conga) lead the charge, urged on by bursts of
turntable scratches, palmas (handclaps), bass and sparse strains of techno. The
vocals, handled mainly by by a Gypsy/punk-attired gal named Marina "la Canillas"
as well as being passed around some, take the same unpredictable path as the
supporting instrumentation.
When the band seems to tire of burning their way through an expertly played
passage of straightforward rumba flamenco, they'll throw in a dose of, say, rap
or reggae attitude without fully (i.e. shamelessly) appropriating them. In
short, they know what works and how much of it to use. And they go further--an
Indian tabla here, a guest vocal by Senegal's Cheikh Lo there--to show they're a
band not just working in the service of one genre and its offshoots, but the
world beyond as well. Bari is a great release on all counts, and Ojos de Brujo
are likely headed for even greater things.
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