Gipsy Kings to Sing at Dubai Shopping Fest

Published March 17th, 2002 - 03:00 GMT

Gipsy Kings, the renowned band from France will perform a concert in Dubai on March 28, organized by the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).

The concert will take place at the Tennis Stadium at the Aviation Club, according to a DSF press release.

Khaleej Times said that the special use of multiple acoustic guitars and passionate vocals of the Gipsy Kings have popularized the style of Flamenco music all over the world.

Ever since the 1987 release of the blockbuster single Bamboleo, the band has dominated world music charts, and up till now, they have sold some 13 million albums worldwide. Their beautiful music, dominated mainly by Flamenco also has certain Arabic influences to it.

Over the years the Gipsy Kings - which hail from the gypsy community in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France - has included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicolas, Pablo and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco and Tonino). Lead singer Nicolas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer José Reyes, who, with Manitas de Plata, sold millions of records in the 60's and 70's. The vigorous strumming of multiple acoustic guitars and the passionate vocals of the Gipsy Kings have best been defined by critics and fans as an exotic musical hybrid, "rumba flamenca".

Albums including the gold-certified Mosaique, Allegria, Este Mundo, Gipsy Kings Live, Love & Liberté, and Tierra Gitana, have provided a steady fuel of hits to Billboard's World Music, Latin, and Billboard Top 200 charts. For several years running, the Gipsy Kings have been consistently voted Billboard's 1 World Music Artist and 1 Latin Pop Artist in the magazine's year-end awards. In addition, their song Sin Ella from 1991's Este Mundo was chosen by Peter Weir for the soundtrack to his 1993 film, Fearless -- Albawaba.com