SAX-O-RAMA AN EXPLOSION OF RHYTHM & BLUES

Before talking about music, let me suggest a little history. The Greek word “horama” means “view” and began to be used in the 18^th century as a suffix in the word panorama to refer to views of very broad landscapes. In the 19^th century it was applied to the huge 360º paintings known as cycloramas. This fashion continued in the 1950s with the phenomenon of Cinerama: films shot with three synchronised cameras and projected with three projectors to achieve a spectacular panoramic image. The world of music did not take long to appropriate this suffix with pop flavours and applied its own spelling to refer to festivals such as Surf-O-Rama and Beach-O-Rama, or in titles for compilations as colourful as Punk-O-Rama and Monster-O-Rama. This etymological dissertation serves merely as an introduction to an event taking place closer at hand, the Sax-O-Rama – Rhythm & Blues Sax Meeting, which will take place at the end of January at various venues in Catalonia and comes to Jamboree with a special programme that will shake the foundations of this legendary basement club in Plaça Reial. What exactly does it consist of? More than just a festival, it is an itinerant meeting of local and international musicians whose aim is to champion the wildest saxophonists in history (also known as “honkers”) and to give new generations a unique way of understanding the most popular rhythm & blues of decades ago. “The proximity of the audience at a venue forces you to perform “close-up magic”. Every note you play is reflected in the face of the people in front of you,” says Dani Nel·lo, ideologist of the event. “That also allows a greater margin for improvisation. The proximity between the musicians makes it easier to communicate without words. Having spaces for improvisation promotes surprise and freshness, which means the concerts are not always the same“. The starting gun will be fired on Friday 27/01 at the Jamboree, with a double session of Los Saxos del Averno at 7 and 8.30pm. As they say on their social media, from the bowels of the underworld you can hear the echoes of this diabolical saxophone combo that creates a cavernous R&B sound, flambeed with Latin touches and heavy doses of rock & roll. Their story is a fascinating puzzle because they started as a saxophone quartet accompanying the rock group Ginferno. Then they were encouraged to work with other groups and artists, such as The Limboos, Andrés Herrera “Pájaro”, Julián Maeso and Vinila Von Bismark. All this accumulated experience in recording studios and festivals and travelling secondary roads led them to form an independent band that takes the R&B of the 1960s as a reference and cooks up its own songs. The result? A fabulous album entitled “Roasted Sinner” released in 2017 and several singles that transport us to the very epicentre of the jungle of rhythm. Two of their songs appear on the soundtrack of the successful series “Valeria”, produced by Netflix. The temperature of the Jamboree will continue to rise on Saturday 28/01 at 7 and 8.30pm, with a double session from the Barcelona Big Blues Band accompanied by the charismatic Canadian saxophonist Spencer Evoy. The multitudinous group led by double bassist Ivan Kovacevic has shown over the years that it is one of the most explosive musical line-ups with African-American roots on the Spanish scene – a classic band who have made themselves an essential feature of the small Plaça Reial cellar. Now we will have the chance to see them in action in the company of Spencer Evoy (leader of the London garage band MFC Chicken), who has become one of the leading modern figures maintaining the incomparable legacy of the saxophone in R&B and the wildest rock & roll. The repertoire promises to be a journey back in time to a place where the destiny of music fans was marked by the party spirit and the urge to dance. The curtain on this year’s Sax-O-Rama will be brought down on Sunday 29/01 by another double session of the Barcelona Big Blues Band at 7 and 8.30pm, accompanied by three exceptional saxophonists: Dani Nel·lo, Pere Miró and Spencer Evoy. The multitudinous Barcelona line-up will offer a repertoire full of surprises allowing us to enjoy these three aces up close. Dani Nel·lo barely needs an introduction because he has spent four decades travelling the exciting paths of Afro-American rooted music in each of his projects. He was a member of Los Rebeldes in its golden age, founder of Los Mambo Jambo, sound archaeologist as leader of Los Saxofonistas Salvajes, jazz lover and he is now recovering a legendary format as leader of an “organ trio”. Despite his youth, Pere Miró has already brandished his sax in the service of charismatic bands and artists like The Big Jamboree, Enma Fernández, Zebrass Marching Band, The Gramophone All Stars Big Band, the band of Los Saxofonistas Salvajes, Skatalà. More recently, he put together the group Scaramanga. Meanwhile, the incombustible Spencer Evoy will contribute his musical experience on both sides of the Atlantic to make this last night of the festival memorable and, who knows, maybe unrepeatable.