Ketama's project: to take flamenco away from the "flamencoliques" ("melancholy
flamencologists"). At first, the group drew on light cante (rumbas and
tanguillos), revisited by the bass of Paco de Lucia's collaborator Carles
Benavent. La Pipa de Kif (1987) marked a first turning point, with the arrival
of an electric guitar, paving the way for Songhai (1988), Ketama's most
accomplished album, in which he meets Toumani Diabaté's kora.
Buoyed by their success, the group went on to record Y es ke me han kambiao los
tiempos (1990) for Polygram, where bossa, salsa, blues and jazz incre...