Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL August 2013 Latin Issue | Page 25

In my opinion, although there are many notable, and very talented
Flamenco artists, the one musical group mostly responsible for
bringing this music genre to the rest of the world has been The Gipsy
Kings.
The Gipsy Kings are comprised of two bands of brothers, the Reyes
(Reyes meaning “Kings” includes Nicolas, Paul, Andre, Canut and
Patchai) and the Bailardos (Chico, Tonino, Paco and Diego). These
brothers are the offspring of Spanish Gypsy families, who fled Spain
into southern France from the Spanish Civil war and they have been
living in Montpellier ever since. I should add that for this recording
they have recruited French session bassist, Bernard Paganotti.
The Gipsy Kings started out as many musicians, busking the streets
of Cannes, playing weddings, parties and even picking crops when
AUG 2013 / BASSMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM