The Spanish band Radio Tarifa gave their second Egyptian concert in the new open-air theatre at the Citadel last Thursday, writes Lina Mahmoud, having started a tour organised by the Spanish Embassy in Alexandria, closer to home. The popularity of the band found expression in scurried attempts at locating and taking up the good seats prior to the start of the concert, yet by the end such provisions had proved hardly necessary, for the entire auditorium was turning into a dance floor where the audience was as energetic as the band. This new theatre, it is worth noting, is both cosier and higher than Mahka Al-Qal'a, the usual Citadel performance venue, and it afforded an enchanting view of Cairo as well as a sense of warmth. Radio Tarifa was created towards the end of the 1980s by three innovative musicians: Fain S Dueñas, who arranges the music as well as playing percussions and stringed instruments, Benjamin Escoriza, who writes and sings the lyrics; and Vincent Molino, who plays wind instruments. Of the three both Dueñas and Escoriza hail from Granada, something that accounts, in part, for the distinctly Arab flavours the band has managed to incorporate into its intoxicating brand of traditional Spanish music. The name too is a reference to Cape Tarifa, the southernmost town in the Spanish peninsula and hence, in the words of the band itself, "that point in Spain which is closest to Africa". The place, they say, "is a frontier town, a no man's land and a balcony on the Mediterranean". Such references notwithstanding, the music has Jewish and Christian as well as Andalusian sources, yet, with the help of new arrangements and lyrics to match, these largely traditional folk tunes are transformed. The result is a young and contemporary musical idiom, utterly new, that works at least as much for Egyptians as for Spaniards, judging by the response of the Citadel crowd on Thursday night. This is Tarifa's first visit to Egypt since the release of Rumba Argentina, the album that made their name. They have performed live almost everywhere, from North America to Palestine, as well as throughout Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean. Their acclaimed album, Fiebre, recorded live in Canada and nominated to a BBC award for world music, celebrated their 10th anniversary. But the band's success is rooted in the power of their live performance, with the flow of Escoriza's charismatic, husky voice punctuated by sudden bouts of infectious dancing. The musicians are constantly exchanging instruments, occasionally leaving them behind altogether and clapping, humming or joining in the singing instead. This relaxed, jazzy atmosphere, combined with Mediterranean energy, makes for an irresistible combination. More to the point, in the present case, is their radical use of traditional Arab instruments like the nay (flute) and the oud (lute) in combination with Greek instruments and electric as well as classic guitar. The familiar, friendly sound has enough originality and variety to render the music exciting at more than the basic level, however. It is also profoundly multicultural: the band's oud player, for example, is half- Palestinian, half-Columbian; he grew up in Germany and now lives in Spain. His inclusion complements and enhances George Gomez's Flamenco guitar playing, rendered unfamiliar yet again by Escoriza's Menco-Rumba style of singing -- a medley of tastes.
