Mario Reyes, El Gipsy!

Born artistically in Camargue, southern France, Mario Reyes come from a wild, gypsy cultural tradition. His distinguished name, Reyes, is legendary amongst the gypsies for a combination of musical talent and a marked creativity for songwriting. Original, passionate and explosive with the mixture of hot rhythms and exotic gypsy 'duende', Mario Reyes continues to enrich the flamenco rumba, originally created by Jose Reyes and Manitas De Plata. The 1994 concert at the Greek Theatre of Taormina (Sicily), apart from its artistic prestige, marked an important new landmark in the Mario’s band's (The Gipsy All Stars) career; the extraordinary response from the public and international press, that magical evening, paved the way for them to appear later in famous European squares and theatres. In October, 2000 Mario Reyes performed to an audience of 250,000 people in St. Peters Square, Rome, by invitation from the Vatican. As Mario Reyes explains, "We have presented gipsy pop music in a more modern way, re-evaluating and enhancing it with warm Latin Mediterranean rhythms, and keeping it, at the same time, closely linked to our roots. Our music never loses that atmosphere of festivity and cheerfulness whose main purpose is to make people dance and have fun" Every show confirms the ever growing artistic maturity and creativity of Mario Reyes and stands out as one of the most exciting new contributions to the genre.