It had been flying over the magines for a long time. David and Jose Muñoz the idea of record your own song in Catalan for one of his albums, and the day has already arrived: ‘Pescaílla’s rumba‘ is the heartfelt tribute, at full speed and every fan, to this pioneer of Catalan rumba. “One of the four patriarchs”, David comments to this newspaper in his usual philosophical-jocular tone. “Abraham, Jacob, Peret and El Pescaílla.”
We are talking, of course, about a rumba, fast-paced and played by the choirs unleashed by Chonchi Herediaone of those that will integrate the new CD, ‘estopy‘, which will be released in March and with which they will celebrate their 25 years of experience. David and Jose decided premiere it this Sunday night at ‘The Marathon‘, in a live session with his trusted musicians, Juan Maya, Nacho Lesko and Anye Bao. “A very improvised decision,” confesses David. The piece will be the second preview of the albumafter ‘The day you leave‘, and will be on the platforms starting next Friday, December 22. Tow has sent ‘La rumba del Pescaílla’ to Lolita and Rosariodaughters of this musician who died in 1999, who, David points out, have given him their excited blessing.
“On a street in Gràcia…”
The lyrics are a clear tribute to this Catalan gypsy who was so influential in the development of the rumbero genre. “Li deien El Pescaílla, he was a very good person / but the one who liked the most, the city of Barcelona. I 1925 goes neixer l’Antonio Gonzalez / tocant el ventilador, les palmes i ‘los timbales’”, the song begins in David’s voice, and then continues: “In a Gràcia street “On no hi havia cap streetlight, he will donate light the rumba in the cos d’una persona”, mixing Catalan with some phrases in Spanish, and accelerating the rhythm in the final section according to the ‘estopera’ tradition: “The rumba more than “Truth is what comes out of the body, that the more times I sing, the more times I get happy.” Short and incisive song, two minutes and 40 seconds, celebrating the power of this genre that marked them from their beginnings as a duo and that is now running for universal recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage by Unesco.
Related news
It is the first time that Estopa records her own song in Catalan in one of their albums, although in the past the Muñoz had made some forays into that language. In their early days, before becoming professional, they created a couple of songs that they never published, titled ‘More I saw (“més vi, vull més vi, fins emborratxar-me…”) and another with a similar ethyl-gastronomic theme, ‘Formatge i pernil’ (“una bota de vi per anar fent camí, una llesca de pa amb formatge i pernil…”). Later, in 2008, they recorded, precisely for the ‘La Marató’ album, the song ‘The junk room’, by Albert Plaand a year later, ‘The caganer‘, a piece by Judit Farrés shared with Pla, Gerard Quintana, Manel, Quimi Portet, Adrià Puntí and Joan Miquel Oliver, included in the album ‘Cançons pre-Nadal’. Also They have adapted live the classic ‘Me’n vaig a peu’, by Serrat.
‘La rumba del Pescaílla’ thus adds to the warm-up of Estopa’s engines in the face of a 25th anniversary with which they will attract a larger audience than ever, with well-known events such as the one on July 10 at the Estadi Olímpic.