JAVIER RUIBAL
José Manuel Caballero Bonald - about Javier Ruibal:
In the already copious catalog of the work of Javier Ruibal, appears a quality that
undoubtedly unifies the whole. I refer to his identification with a very specific popular
tradition and, from there, to his manners as the architect of a new-updated-artistic
conception of that tradition. The welding was perfect at all times: the popular allied
with the cultured without any fissure, with an impeccable efficiency.
Javier Ruibal has an exquisite and rigorous will to integrate into the social history with
which he coexists. His songs are both: beautiful and supportive, intimate and
participatory, personal and universal. I think that his persistent powers of conviction
depend, above all, on that double human and artistic sensitivity of Ruibal, which is an
unforgettable lesson.
It is a seeker of aromas, a persecutor of the fable and fantasy, an explorer of beauty,
an acolyte of the mystic of the profane. A healer through ecstasy. It is told the
rapturous love, the irrevocable, the indefeasible hour of the kisses, the urgency of the
bodies without delay, the sweetest tear, the most beautiful laughter. Portraitist of
profiles, landscaper at the same time, what matters is the personage and the exotic
place that surrounds to him, the unreal almost touches because it is transparent in the
real. And all this is seen because you hear it.
To sing with the remote voice that resonates in the memory, Sephardic echoes next to
the "toná" and the zambra, east and west, yesterday and today, harmony of the
future, alchemy of the present. His sources: the familiar in his childhood; from
Flamenco, its “cantes de ida y vuelta”, tanguillos and bulerías; from rock, the Old
School; from jazz, its example, the attitude, and loyalty to music. From the Spanish
lyrics, the poets of the "Generation of '27, exuberant words, poetry with wings. From
American lyrics, Caribbean Singers and “Magic Realism”. From the popular, humor and
from his native land, joy!
His purpose ... perhaps rewrite a proverb, reconcile with his soul, emulate Federico
García Lorca, entertain..., perhaps move the audience.
Thirty years of experience endorse this creative musician, different to all of his culture
and generation. Composer, arranger, guitarist, singer, self-taught and heterodox;
Ruibal is a frontier musician.
These and an endless number of definitions have been used to define this
unclassifiable creator for the very personal nature of his artistic proposal.
Bordering Flamenco, he always let himself be wrapped and fascinated by it but taking
the precaution of not impersonating with what he always wanted to make clear that
he was not: A Flamenco singer; but not for a lack of hobby but for an absolute respect
to the style. However, a good part of the new flamenco is directly influenced by this
artist who discovers himself as a true innovator of musical and poetic language.
The music and lyrics are taken care of with the strictness and care that characterize
him. Well-billed arrangements and a guitar execution with personality and strength,
but when he decides that his proposal must have more body and strength, he
surrounds himself with the most creative and generous musicians.
The qualities of his voice allow him to travel with freedom and relief through the
sounds of flamenco, the music of the Maghreb, India and the Caribbean in a constant
and harmonious back and forth that invites us to firmly believe that the fusion of music
and blood will bring us a new meeting place for happiness, a new planet that still is in
formation.
PARAÍSOS MEJORES
The new musical and poetic jewel composed by Javier Ruibal. A new album mature
with the wisdom treasured along the years of professional career and recently
rewarded with the 2017 National Music Awards.
"Better Paradises" reflects song by song, the eternal aspiration of the human being to
overcome old and obsolete paradises to give way to new hopes and desires
So we see how "The Gypsy Geisha" dreams of being accepted among the “flamencos”,
"La mujer manjar" wants to be recognized for her daily commitment to sustain a love
that lasts, "Black Star Line" harbors Africans' dream of having a life of dignity in his
plundered and subdued continent, "El fin del mundo fue ayer” (“The end of the world
was yesterday") is a song to Humanity’s Hope crushed by its warlike, selfish and
materialistic foolishness.
A better paradise is in that place of his son's childhood where his "timbalero heart"
began to beat. There will be no new paradise without the disappearance of the sinister
and corrupt politicians of "Cuenta conmigo compadre". What better paradise than the
sea next to "Mi Bella navengante” (My beautiful navigator) and those street artists of
"Tu Divo favorito" that give life to a love between opera and rap and thus an etcetera
of yearnings beyond the known, the reached, the already lived.
With a luxurious but artisan, universal but intimate production by his son Javi Ruibal,
this work features some of the best soloists in our country: Jóse Recacha, Manuel
Machado, Federico Lechner, Victor Merlo, Diego Villegas, Faiçal Kourrich and a long list
that complete this cast that accompanies Ruibal in this new adventure.
Sections of winds and strings put the gala touch to this album.
During his time in Brazil he had the chance to meet with the magnificent singer &
songwriter Chico César and from that encounter came this "Black Star Line" that they
sang together. Also Juan Luis Guerra gives his very personal voice to "Mi bella
Navegante".
In "Corazón timbalero" is the band Glazz - led by his son Javi -, who puts the color and
rock sound.
The fourth noteworthy collaboration of this record is with Fetén Fetén, a duo for which
Javier feels special affection and that helped him to recreate a loving journey through
time (“Un Sinmorir día a día”), in which two eternal lovers meet constantly in different
rencarnations and landscapes from this and other planets.
This exquisite collection of songs transports us once again but in a different way, from
Egypt to Saturn or from New York to Orion, from north to south and from east to west
to turn the listening into real pleasure for our senses. Well-understood nostalgia goes
hand in hand with modernity and even with future music, in creations that sound more
Ruibal than ever and will endure over time to become key pieces of Spanish music