Usuario:Aqui c/Manu Chao

Manu Chao
Manu Chao en el Festival de Coachella 2007
Datos generales
Origen	Francia, París
Información artística
Otros nombres	Manu Chao, Oscar Tramor
Género(s)	Worldbeat Rock Reggae Ska Alterlatino
Instrumento(s)	Guitarras Bajo Piano Percusion Teclados
Período de actividad	1984 a la actualidad
Discográfica(s)	Because Music
Artistas relacionados	Mano Negra, Radio Bemba Sound System, La Pegatina
Web
Sitio web	www.manuchao.net

Manu Chao (nacido José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao el 21 de junio de 1961 en París, Francia) es un cantante francés de origen español. Canta en español, francés, inglés, árabe y portugués, y ocasionalmente en otros idiomas.

Comienza su carrera musical con Hot Pants, banda francesa que combinaba diferentes estilos musicales e idiomas, hasta que en 1987 funda la banda Mano Negra con varios amigos, convirtiéndose en solista cuando se desmembró.

Juventud

La madre de Chao, Felisa Ortega, es de Bilbao, en el país Vasco; su padre, el escritor y periodista, Ramón Chao, es de Vilalba, Galicia. Se mudaron a París para escapar de la dictadura de Francisco Franco en la que el abuelo del cantante había sido sentenciado a muerte.​. Apenas después del nacimiento de Manu, la familia se mudó a los suburbios de París, y Manu pasó la mayor parte de su infancia en Boulogne-Billancourt y en Sèvres. Desde pequeño estuvo rodeado por artistas e intelectuales, muchos de los cuales eran conocidos de su padre. .​ Chao dice que muchas de las experiencias de la niñes fueron inspiración para sus canciones.​

Carrera

Manu Chao en vivo

Primeros años y Mano Negra

Fuertemente influenciado por la escena del rock del Reino Unido, en particular The Clash, The Jam y Dr. Feelgood​, Chao y otros músicos formaron el grupo Hot Pants a mediados de los 80s, formado por integrantes españoles e ingleses. El grupo lanzó un demo llamado "Mala Vida" en 1984 que recibió muy buena crítica local pero que atrajo poca atención. Para cuando el grupo lanzó su primer album en 1986 la escena de la música alternativa parisina había despegado y Manu, su hermano Antoine Chao y amigos como Alain de Les Wampas formaron Los Carayos para incorporar este sonido con el rockabilly y el punk de Hot Pants. Los Carayos permaneció como un proyecto secundario de los artistas por ocho años, lanzando tres albumes en los primeros dos años seguido por un album final en 1994.

En 1987, los hermanos Chao y su primo Santiago Casariego fundaron la banda multi-étnica Mano Negra. Comenzando con un sello más pequeño, el grupo lanzó una nueva versión del single de Hot Pants "Mala Vida," que rápidamente se transformó en un hit en Francia. El grupo rápidamente se cambió a Virgin Records, y su primer album Patchanka fue lanzado en el siguiente año. Aunque el grupo nunca ganó mucha fama en el mercado de habla inglesa, la popularidad en el resto del mundo no demoró en llegar, llegando al Top 5 en Países Bajos, Italia y Alemania. La banda también alcanzó un cierto grado de fama en América del Sur con la gira Cargo Tour de 1992, donde realizaron una serie de shows en ciudades portuarias, cantando desde un escenario construido sobre el barco que los llevó a recorrer el continente. ​ Mano Negra también realizó una gira alrededor de América del Sur en un tren. ​ Las riñas comenzaron a crecer entre los miembros de la banda durante la gira de los puertos y al año siguiente, con la gira en tren; muchos de los miembros de la banda, incluyendo al hermano de Manu, Antoine, habían dejado el grupo para el final de 1994. Ese mismo año fue el lanzamiento de su último album, Casa Babylon. Manu Chao mudó la banda a Madrid, pero por problemas legales con ex-miembros de la banda forzaron a Chao a terminar con el grupo en 1995.​

El sonido de Mano Negra se caracteriza por contener ritmos más bien enérgicos, vivaces, simbolizados por el título de su primer album Patchanka, derivado claramente de la palabra pachanga y además por poseer una informalidad característica, lo que permitió a la audiencia involucrarse y sentirse más cercana a su música. De cualquier manera es imposible categorizar el estilo de la banda, ya que se encuentran mezclas de diferentes géneros musicales a través de los álbumes.

Solo years with Radio Bemba

Manu Chao in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, June 2007

After arriving in Madrid, Chao and other band mates from Mano Negra formed a new group, Radio Bemba Sound System (named for the communication system used in the Sierra Maestra by the Castro- and Guevara-led rebels in the Cuban Revolution), featuring groups from diverse backgrounds, such as Mexican Tijuana No!, Brazilian Skank, and Argentinian Todos Tus Muertos.​ The goal was to replicate the sound of street music and bar scenes from a variety of cultures; to that end, Chao and the group spent several years travelling throughout South and Central America, recording new music as they went.​ The resulting music differed drastically from Mano Negra; the songs were primarily sung in Spanish with far fewer French tracks and the musical style had shifted from punk and alternative styles to the street vibe Chao was aiming for. The songs were collectively released as Clandestino in 1998, under Manu Chao's own name. Though not an instant success, the album gained a steady following in France with hits such as "Bongo Bong" and "Clandestino", and the album eventually earned the Best World Music Album award in 1999's Victoires de la Musique awards. It sold in excess of 5 million copies.​

Chao's second album with Radio Bemba Sound System, Próxima Estación: Esperanza, was released in 2001. This album, named after one of the Madrid metro station stops (the title translates to "next station: Hope"), features similar sounds to Clandestino but with heavier Caribbean influences than the previous album. The album was an instant hit, leading to a successful tour that resulted in the 2002 live album Radio Bemba Sound System. Two years later, Chao returned to his French roots with the French-only album Sibérie m'était contée, which included a large book featuring lyrics to the album and illustrations by Jacek Woźniak.​​

Manu Chao's next album La Radiolina (literally "little radio" in Italian, but also "pocket radio") was released on September 17, 2007. This was the first international release since 2001's Próxima Estación: Esperanza. "Rainin in Paradize" was the first single from the album, available for download on his website before the release of the album.​ Concert reviews indicate that music from La Radiolina was already being performed live as early as April 2007's Coachella show.​

Other works

In 2003 he approached Amadou & Mariam and later produced their 2004 album Dimanche à Bamako ("Sunday in Bamako"). His song "Me llaman Calle," written for the 2005 Spanish film Princesas, earned that film a Goya nomination for Best Original Song. It has been released in 2007's La Radiolina. Vocals from the song are included in the Go Lem System song "Calle Go Lem". Time magazine named "Me Llaman Calle" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #8. Writer Josh Tyrangiel observed,

Chao's warm singing over José Manuel Gamboa and Carlos Herrero's leaping Flamenco counter melody creates a direct emotional line to the core of this mid-tempo ballad. With its easy melody and universal rhythm Me Llaman Calle walks proudly in the shadow of Bob Marley, the last guy who made world music this disarmingly simple.​

He is working on the soundtrack for the upcoming documentary film Maradona with Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica.​ Manu Chao and Tonino Carotone performed the theme song "La Trampa" for the short-lived improvisational comedy Drew Carey's Green Screen Show.

The songs "Bongo Bong" and "Je ne t'aime plus", which appear back-to-back on Clandestino, were covered by British singers Robbie Williams and Lily Allen, who recorded them as a single track, "Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus" and released it as a single from the album Rudebox.​​

Manu Chao sings his song "La Vida Tombola" from his album "La Radiolina" to football legend Diego Maradona in the streets of Buenos Aires. ​

Style and influences

Manu Chao sings in the French, Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, Arabic, English and Wolof languages,​ often mixing them in the same song. His music has many influences: punk, rock, French chanson, Iberoamerican salsa, reggae, ska, and Algerian raï. These influences were obtained from immigrants in France, his Iberian relations, and foremost his travels in Mesoamerica as a nomad following the disbanding of Mano Negra.

Many of Chao's lyrics are about love, living in ghettos, immigration, and often carry a left-wing message. This reflects Chao's own political leanings—he is very close to the Zapatistas and its public spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos.​ His band Mano Negra is possibly a reference to an anarchist group. He has many followers among the European left and the anti-globalization movement.​ Punk and reggae historian Vivien Goldman commented of his work, "I was writing about Good Charlotte and The Police. They adopted the trappings of punk. They aren’t bad groups, but the punk aspect is more manifested by somebody like Manu Chao. He’s one of the punkiest artists out there I can think of. It's an inclusionary spirit that is punk."​

Manu Chao performs in Paris, Francia

Chao also has a tendency to reuse music or lyrics from previous songs to form new songs. The hit single "Bongo Bong," in contemporary French style, takes its lyrics from the earlier Mano Negra hit "King of the Bongo," which owes more to The Clash. The musical backdrop for "Bongo Bong," in turn, was used in several other Chao songs, including "Je ne t'aime plus" from the same album and "Mr Bobby" and "Homens" from Próxima Estación: Esperanza. The music from that album's "La Primavera" is used in several other songs on that album, while lyrics for a few songs on Sibérie m'était contéee are repeated several times with different music, leading the lyrics to be interpreted in various ways depending on the mood of the track. Several musical themes and clips from that album also appear on Amadou & Mariam's Chao-produced Dimanche à Bamako, which were being produced at approximately the same time.

Though Manu Chao is one of the world's best selling artists, he is less well-known in the English-speaking world. ^{[cita requerida]} Tours in the United States with Mano Negra never led to much success in that country, and Chao seems inclined to focus his efforts in Europe and Latin America, where his musical style finds its roots. Though his live performances in the U.S. are exceedingly rare, Chao played a handful of dates in that country in 2006, including a headlining spot at Lollapalooza 2006.​ His final appearance on his 2006 U.S. tour was a benefit concert in the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, New York on August 7. He returned to that venue in the summer of 2007 for two concerts, part of the multicultural "Celebrate Brooklyn" concert series. The crowd was treated to a nearly two-hour performance, including two encores. Manu Chao also appeared at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland to a sellout crowd on June 23, 2007. This was a semi-spontaneous endeavour between Thievery Corporation and Manu Chao facilitated by a new-found friendship developed during Lollapalooza 2006.​ He was one of the headlining acts at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival and the Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park.

Discography

• Clandestino (Virgin, 1998)
• Próxima Estación: Esperanza (Virgin, 2001)
• Sibérie m'était contéee (Virgin, 2004)
• La Radiolina (Because/Nacional, 2007)
• Estación México (Live in Mexico,2008; Sell only MEX )

DVD

• 2002: Babylonia en Guagua
• 2005: Mano Negra: Out of time

Further reading

• Chao, Ramón. Mano Negra en Colombia. Un tren de hielo y fuego (originally Un train de glace et de feu), 1994. A chronicle of Mano Negra's 1993 tour on Colombia's decrepit railway through small, rural villages, written by Manu's father, Ramón Chao. The name of the train, Expresso de Hielo, was inspired by the opening line of Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.
• Chao, Ramón. The Train of Ice and Fire - Mano Negra in Colombia - (ISBN 978-1-901927-37-5) Translated by Ann Wright, published in English by Route Route's Website

External links

• Wikimedia Commons alberga una categoría multimedia sobre Aqui c/Manu Chao.
• Official site

Manu Chao