Las Ondas Marteles / Las Rubias del Norte

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In order to understand Las Ondas Marteles, one has to draw a triangle: La Havana, Mexico, Paris. Sébastien Martel, who played as a guitarist and arranger for Alain Chamfort or Camille (among others) goes in 1998 to Cuba. Almost at the same time, his brother Nicolas, a dancer and actor, discovers Mexico. When they meet again in Paris the two brothers share their experiences and discover that they fell in love with the same music: bolero, a sentimental music spread all over the Spanish speaking world. For the next 4-5 months in Paris the two brothers rehearse some boleros and with bassist friend Sarah Murcia (Magic Malik, Fred Poulet) they became Las Ondas Marteles. Their debut album "Y despues de todo" translation "When All is Over, What Remains?" is an album composed entirely of songs written by the Cuban poet Miguel Angel, and not only completes the triangle but celebrates the beautiful music and memories made along the way.

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Las Rubias del Norte (the Blondes of the North,) are a group of musicians from the U.S, France and Colombia, who perform the music of, among many others, Guillermo Portabales of Cuba, Simon Diaz of Venezuela, Oscar Aviles of Peru and W.A. Mozart of Austria. The Rubias play mostly popular Latin music such as boleros, cha cha cha's and cumbias as well as lieder and cowboy songs - and manage to make it all sound like it belongs on Cuban radio. Their CD, Rumba Internationale ,available on Barbès Records, features songs written by Margarita Lecuona (of Tabu and Babalu fame,) W.A. Mozart and Sons of the Pioneers. Some of them were made famous by the likes of Nat King Cole and Los Panchos and others were famously vampirized by legendary non-Latin Artists such as Edith Piaf and Abba. The Rubias make it all sound distinctly different thanks to the fabulous vocals of Allyssa Lamb and Emily Hurst and the various Rubios and Morenos who back them up. The result has been called "surpassingly pretty" by Robert Christgau of the Village Voice. In addition to Allyssa and Emily, the band features Greg Burrows on percussion (Medeski, Martin & Wood, Blue Man Group), Taylor B. Chrisman (Golem) on upright Bass, Olivier Conan on Venezuelan Cuatro and vocals (Bebe Eiffel), Greg Stare on percussion (One Ring Zero) and Giancarlo Vulcano on Guitar "A pair of angelic voices pushes this elegant, Latin-flavored band's swoon rating into the stratosphere." – Time Out NY

www.lasrubiasdelnorte.com