Radio Tarifa
Biography
Tarifa is the southernmost tip of Spain overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar and it’s one of the places where illegal immigrants from North Africa attempt to land. Radio Tarifa thus named themselves for an imaginary radio station that would pick up and disseminate sounds and rhythms from all around the Mediterranean. “Radio Tarifa is a symbolic name,” explained Faín Sánchez Dueñas, one of the three founder members. “If you turn the dial of a radio there you can pick up sounds from North Africa, you hear the Arabic early morning call-to-prayer, from there you reach out into the whole of Mediterranean Europe, to the Middle East and beyond to the Americas. And that’s us and our music – a meeting point between all the cultures that have passed through and continue to come through that part of Spain.”
Along with Faín, the other two Radio Tarifa members Benjamín Escoriza and Vincent Molino recorded their debut Rumba Argelina (1993) in a bedroom, with contributions from other ‘guest’ musicians, plus some radio tuning FX. Released on Musica Sin Fin, a small Spanish label, the album was taken up by BMG and licensed to World Circuit. It was a surprising success and groundbreaking in two ways: it was one of the first internationally successful albums recorded ‘at home’ with digital technology and, more importantly, it heralded a global audience for Spanish music on the “world music” scene.
The gravelly voice of Granada-born Benjamín Escoriza brings a distinct flamenco flavour. The other two musicians met in a scholarly ‘early music’ group but also played rock and flamenco. Multi-instrumentalist Faín Sánchez Dueñas composed most of the songs, Benjamín Escoriza wrote most of the lyrics and sung the vocals, while French-born Vincent Molino played winds. They had a knack for coming up with catchy melodies, interlaced with pipes, guitars, lutes and driven by a pattering of percussion and drums.
Rumba Argelina (Algerian Rumba) is now considered a classic album. The catchy title track is a rumba flamenco combined with a chorus in the style of Algerian chaabi music. Now that Tarifa-like fusions are common, not only in Spain, but across Europe, it’s easy to forget how pioneering they were. World Circuit released a digitally re-mastered version of Rumba Argelina in 2019.
The group toured extensively and went on to record two further studio albums: Temporal (Temporary),1996, which included mostly traditional songs given a Tarifa makeover and Cruzando el Río (Crossing the River), 2000, which added electric guitar and medieval oboe. They finished up with a blistering live album Fiebre (Fever) in 2003 featuring live takes of songs from all three of the studio albums. Recorded in Toronto, “the mood is almost riotous,” cheered one review, “there are claps, fuzz, asides, long solos and a rough, raw-edged sound – and there’s a tangible vibe between band and audience.” The thrill of this live album, honed by years of extensive touring, makes it a great place to start if you don’t already know the band.
After 13 years of intense creativity and touring, Radio Tarifa decided to call it a day and pursue other projects. In August 2006 they appeared at the BBC Proms and gave their final concert in Aranda de Duero, between Burgos and Segovia, in September that year.
After leaving Radio Tarifa, Benjamín Escoriza released two solo albums, Alevanta! and Mirando p’l Este before his death in 2012.
BIOGRAPHY
Tarifa is the southernmost tip of Spain overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar and it’s one of the places where illegal immigrants from North Africa attempt to land. Radio Tarifa thus named themselves for an imaginary radio station that would pick up and disseminate sounds and rhythms from all around the Mediterranean. “Radio Tarifa is a symbolic name,” explained Faín Sánchez Dueñas, one of the three founder members. “If you turn the dial of a radio there you can pick up sounds from North Africa, you hear the Arabic early morning call-to-prayer, from there you reach out into the whole of Mediterranean Europe, to the Middle East and beyond to the Americas. And that’s us and our music – a meeting point between all the cultures that have passed through and continue to come through that part of Spain.”
Along with Faín, the other two Radio Tarifa members Benjamín Escoriza and Vincent Molino recorded their debut Rumba Argelina (1993) in a bedroom, with contributions from other ‘guest’ musicians, plus some radio tuning FX. Released on Musica Sin Fin, a small Spanish label, the album was taken up by BMG and licensed to World Circuit. It was a surprising success and groundbreaking in two ways: it was one of the first internationally successful albums recorded ‘at home’ with digital technology and, more importantly, it heralded a global audience for Spanish music on the “world music” scene.
The gravelly voice of Granada-born Benjamín Escoriza brings a distinct flamenco flavour. The other two musicians met in a scholarly ‘early music’ group but also played rock and flamenco. Multi-instrumentalist Faín Sánchez Dueñas composed most of the songs, Benjamín Escoriza wrote most of the lyrics and sung the vocals, while French-born Vincent Molino played winds. They had a knack for coming up with catchy melodies, interlaced with pipes, guitars, lutes and driven by a pattering of percussion and drums.
Rumba Argelina (Algerian Rumba) is now considered a classic album. The catchy title track is a rumba flamenco combined with a chorus in the style of Algerian chaabi music. Now that Tarifa-like fusions are common, not only in Spain, but across Europe, it’s easy to forget how pioneering they were. World Circuit released a digitally re-mastered version of Rumba Argelina in 2019.
The group toured extensively and went on to record two further studio albums: Temporal (Temporary),1996, which included mostly traditional songs given a Tarifa makeover and Cruzando el Río (Crossing the River), 2000, which added electric guitar and medieval oboe. They finished up with a blistering live album Fiebre (Fever) in 2003 featuring live takes of songs from all three of the studio albums. Recorded in Toronto, “the mood is almost riotous,” cheered one review, “there are claps, fuzz, asides, long solos and a rough, raw-edged sound – and there’s a tangible vibe between band and audience.” The thrill of this live album, honed by years of extensive touring, makes it a great place to start if you don’t already know the band.
After 13 years of intense creativity and touring, Radio Tarifa decided to call it a day and pursue other projects. In August 2006 they appeared at the BBC Proms and gave their final concert in Aranda de Duero, between Burgos and Segovia, in September that year.
After leaving Radio Tarifa, Benjamín Escoriza released two solo albums, Alevanta! and Mirando p’l Este before his death in 2012.
RELEASES
