Gipsy Kings aren’t Spanish, but they’re surely the kings Catalan Rumba.
Catalonia is the Catalan-speaking region of Spain located in the far northeast and encompassing with dynamic city of Barcelona. The “Catalan rumba” is a relatively recent musical genre that developed in the 1950s in Barcelona’s Romani communities. The genre is an old world/new world fusion of Spanish flamenco, Afro-Cuban claves and rock ‘n’ roll. Catalan rumba is buoyant, energetic and features instruments popular in Cuban music such as guitar, bongos, guiro, timbales and conga drums. In this video watch Gipsy Kings, who are French, but who are descendants of Spanish Romani and often play in the style of Catalan rumba, perform “Djobi Djoba.”
