Diego El Gavi

Flamenco / Latin Jazz

Diego El Gavi’s life story is marked by his origins. Born in Lisbon, the singer moved with his family to Madrid, where he lived for a few years and had contact with the main characteristics of the Spanish soul, from the language to the flamenco culture. Already in his teens, he moved to Porto and became interested in the sound arts of his ethnic group, especially thanks to a Gipsy Kings cassette given by his mother. In 1987, together with their cousins, they formed the Les Gitanes project in which they made versions of flamenco songs. Returning to Lisbon, he discovers the genius of Camarón de la Isla and the whole tradition of flamenco that he personified, which motivated Diego to develop his original work.

In 2019, he released his first album Puerta del Alma with the featurings of special guests such as Tatanka, Paulo de Carvalho and Ricardo Ribeiro. He performs live in a quintet with the musicians Victor Zamora, Carlos Mil-Homens, Léo Espinosa and Paulo Croft.

album

puerta del alma, 2019

Gypsy singing is increasingly open to the world – and the world is opening up more and more to hear it. In June 2019, the singer and composer from Lisbon Diego el Gavi released his first album at Teatro São Luiz. Puerta del Alma reveals a heartfelt interpretation of the deepest gypsy aura, in a fusion of flamenco and Latin jazz. The voice Madonna wanted to hear singing live on her last birthday joins Victor Zamora’s piano, Paulo Croft’s guitar, Ricardo Pinto’s trumpet, Léo Espinosa’s bass and Carlos Mil-Homens’ percussion. A singular sound, where the whole is considerably greater than the sum of the parts. On this album, Diego el Gavi also invited three very special guests: Ricardo Ribeiro, with whom he sings Bolero Zamora; Tatanka (The Black Mamba), with whom he duets in Mentira; and Paulo de Carvalho, with whom he shares a version of the song Calon.