Ketama

Ketama was a Spanish musical group in the new flamenco tradition. Fusing flamenco with other musical forms (salsa, Brazilian music, reggae, funk, jazz), they created a style that lies somewhere between flamenco and pop salsa. Their music drew as much criticism as praise because purists did not like the change from traditional flamenco, but the group won over the young public. They continued to fuse other music in, and their 2002 album, Dame la Mano, added hip hop and house music.

Ketama was formed in Madrid in the early eighties, taking its name from a well-known valley in Morocco. The initial line-up featured José Soto Sorderita (guitar), Juan Carmona (guitar) and Ray Heredia (vocals). Each of the three came from flamenco dynasties: the Heredias of Madrid, the Habichuelas of Granada and the Carmonas of Jerez.

Heredia left the band shortly afterwards, and was eventually replaced by Antonio Carmona (lead singer) and José Miguel Carmona (guitar). The trio briefly became a quartet, but this was only for a short time, as José Soto Sorderita would leave Ketama a few records later.

The group played salsero pop. However they added to their sound, and without ever leaving flamenco behind they incorporated a number of different musical genres into their music, mainly those arising from black roots, such as blues, jazz or the African kora, as well as funk, reggae and Brazilian music.

Their first work, Ketama, was released in 1985, although it was recorded two years earlier.

In 1987, La Pipa de Kif was released. The solo singing was still José Soto's responsibility, but in this record Antonio Carmona started to play a bigger role. It is one of the works by Ketama that drew most acknowledgement and served to launch them at an international level. The record was mentioned in newspapers like The Times and The International Herald Tribune, and in 1989 it came away with prizes for the best world music albums from prestigious international music magazines like New Musical Express and Folk Roots.

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