Ojos de Brujo

Ojos de Brujo (Eyes of the Sorcerer) is a jip-jop famenkillo’ (hip-hop with a little flamenco) band from Barcelona, Spain, who have seven albums under their belt, several awards, among them the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for Europe and a Latin Grammy.

I had the good fortune of attending their concert at the Hamer Hall in Melbourne, where I was ‘carried off’ by their music to a soulful and fantastic journey. Their music is sung in Spanish (and what seemed like a Gypsy sort of dialect), but it did not have to be understood by English speakers... it was ‘felt’; it permeated the hall and the audience like an exotic perfume, which drew one in slowly until they found themselves consumed by the music.

Opening the show was an attractive blond Flamenco dancer, passionately stomping her feet, delicately sweeping her arms, and sternly looking into an imaginary ‘horizon’ behind the audience. Her performance was beautiful and full of emotion. Following her, the lead singer Marina Abad strolled onto the stage... a vision of technicolour: fluorescent feather boas, fishnet-like blouse, black vest, long flowing skirt, sneakers, partial dread locks and a bright scarf in her jet black hair. Wow! She made an impactful entrance, and most definitely stood out from the rest of the band, who were all dressed in dark colours.

Ojos de Brujo’s music is raw emotion, with an addictive rhythm of tambores and cajones. In their live act, they showed the full extent of their range, combining all their styles of music incorporating video art projected on a huge screen behind them and a DJ mixing his sound throughout the show, like a boa slithering through the tall jungle grass.

Abad’s coquettish and down-to-earth personality came through during her time on stage, even though she did not once utter a word of English. Her eyes and body language spoke volumes.

At one point, via her interpreters (two band members) she communicated to the audience that the band’s bass player had been hospitalised in Adelaide and she thanked the substitute bass player Gavin for helping them, who had to learn their repertoire in four hours. Then, during one of her songs she started to laugh (not intentionally), she apologised and explained that she found it funny/ironic that not only did the bass player fall ill, but their dancer had lost her luggage upon arriving in Australia and she had to borrow clothes and shoes from the local Flamenco School – what else could happen? - she complimented her for being able to dance so well in someone else’s shoes... a difficult task. These impromptu comments, were nice and heartfelt. They made it so that the audience felt as though they were four cats, sitting in a Catalan cantina watching a private performance by a local group and a dancer. It was intimate and warm.

The band encouraged the audience to get up and dance, as they were used to seeing people bouncing and jumping to their songs; someone yelled out, “es que no nos dejan” (they’re not letting us), referring to the ushers who were very vigilant of people dancing in the aisles. Some brave souls were eventually allowed to wiggle and shake on the sides of the hall, and by the end of the event everyone was invited to dance on the stage with the musicians, making it a full on fiesta... all that was missing was some good wine to be shared.

This was a fantastic show, and I look forward to their return to the Australian shores, when I’ll bring along a couple dozen friends, for the unique experience.

Ojos de Brujo
Discography
Vengue, 1999
Barí, 2002
Barí: Remezclas de la Casa, 2003
Techarí, 2006
Techarí Live, 2007 (CD/DVD)
Techarí Remixes, 2007
Aocaná, 2009

Ojos de Brujo 2010 Tour Dates
3/9/10 - Melbourne, Australia
Hamer Hall
The Arts Centre

3/11/10 - Sydney, Australia
Sydney Opera House

3/13/10 - WOMAD New Zealand

3/14/10 - Taranaki, New Zealand
WOMAD New Zealand

3/16/10 - Wanchai, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Arts Festival
Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

3/27/10 - Pamplona, Spain
Sala Totem