Calle Gitana

Lucas Romero is a member of Gitano Family, a Spanish band based in Arles, Provence, whose 2005 Spring Hill release Torero! was positively reviewed in these pages. They’re a top-notch wedding band, if less well known than the other group with Arles connections – the Gipsy Kings. On this, his solo debut, Romero's musical style has some of the latter's naturalness and grace, but his version of rumba flamenco – like his family's – is somewhat mellower and more pensive. He has a super ear for melody, as confirmed on ‘Asae’ and ‘Nicolassa’, instrumentals that sing with sweet trills and rolling rhythms. Where he is joined by vocalists – whether from his family, or guest solo artists such as François Santiago and Asae Suzuki – Romero provides a meditative, mellifluous backing. Not every song shimmers. ‘Toreros’ turns out to be a cheesy reworking of Bizet's ‘March of the Toreadors’ from Carmen. The best track, by some measure, is ‘El Coco’, which sounds exactly like the version contained on Spring Hill's US release. But Lucas Romero has considerable gifts as a soloist and accompanist, both inside and outside the Gitano Family.