The History of Lombarda

Lombarda is an authentic name in traditional Adalusian music. The group was formed in 1980 and lived through the rebirth of all things folk in Spain. This musical genre(folk) was heard throughout the entire country during this recovery period. In Galicia, folk music was performed and popularized by the groups Milladaro and Na Lúa. In the Basque region the sounds of folk were heard by Oskorri. In the region of Andalucia, this movement of folk and traditional music was reborn thanks to groups such as Almadraba, Andaraje and Lombarda.

In the beginning, Lombarda's musical interests were centered on medieval and renaissance genres, which were maintained by various group members even after the first period of Lombarda had finalized.

Soon after this first stage in the group's musical career, Lombarda began to develp an interest in traditional andalusian music, which gave way to a new project which focused on researching, to be able to bring back to life the sounds of their roots and homeland.

Thanks to the first era of Lombarda which lasted up untill 1992, the group recorded the LP Lombarda and released the single La fuente de los Cantos.

After a short break, the group returned to their musical life in 2000, and recorded their new CD with a new name, which made them a legendary group in the traditional spanish music scene: Lombarda.

In this new stage in the band's career, they grew into a group of eight, opposed to their earlier quartet and quintet formations. This enlargement of the group, gave them the opportunity to take advantage of a greater variety of instruments and sounds which were, and are very much present in the group's repetoire.

For the recording of their first CD in the group's new stage, they counted on the collaboration of various musicians including: Paco Vergara, Arturo Cid, Galter Vogl, and Isabel Marques, only to mention a few. Twenty-three artists in all brought their musical experience to the CD, which had it's debut in December of 2000, thanks to the sponsorship of the city council of Granada.

In order to bring this new CD to life in 2000, Lombarda had to return to their Andalusian roots. In 1986, in their first CD, Lombarda demonstrated a grand ability of recovering almost the entire part of the Alpujarra region in the province of Granada. But in their second CD, Lombarda surpassed their geographical boundries, and reached all corners of Granada's region, and cultivated a style and sound which is not exclusive to only eastern Andalucia, but to all of this autonomous region.

This new recognition of Lombarda's music was a step forward in the trajectory of one of the oldest groups in the Andalusian folk music panorama.

In 2003, Lombarda prepared yet another musical project focused on traditional Andalusian music. Once again, as in their other projects, this album is full of traditional themes with the distinctive sound that characterizes and sets apart this musical ensemble.

This new CD, which had it's debut in July of 2003, with the original title Dalequetedale, counted on the collaboration of the cultural ministry of the junta de Andalucia. The CD contains a large variety of traditional music, such as Lombarda's very own musical style, emphasizing on restoring lost songs. Songs such as las coplas (verses) of afilador, which are a tribute to a peculiar character linked to the Spanish pop culture. The types of songs found on this album are children's songs, lullabys, cheery songs and many more.

In this album, Lombarda has once again counted on the collaboration of many prestigious artists in the musical panorama, including Enrique Morente, Eliseo Parra, Manuel Luna, Carlos Beceiro and Paco Vergara. Approximatley 30 musicians contributed to this CD, making it the most complete and innovative musical project ever offered by Lombarda.

Since the end of 2004 up until the beginning of 2005, Lombarda's repertoire has expanded and is preparing new concerts and recordings. In April of 2005, the group colaborated with other prestigious artists in the traditional music scene, and put together a CD brought out by Granada's city hall. The CD is made up of songs about the life of Mariana Pineda dedicated in the bicentenary of her birth. Along with Lombarda, artists such as Amancio Prada, Joaquin Diaz or el Nuevo Mester de Juglaría, share their experiences and knowledge.

In Janurary of 2006, the group colaborates in a project brought together by the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucia, made especially for new mothers in Andalucia. The Cd is a sort of anthology, made up of the various infantile folklore songs of Andalucia, of which Lombarda has done quite a lot of fieldwork and perfomances. This Cd, called Pipirigaña, had it's debut in February of 2006, and counted on the participation of none other than Marina Galiana and Antonio Banderas.

Other works by Lombarda, such as one they have been working on about Romances and children's songs, and another about trades, are all captured in their latest Cd, brought to you in 2006, with the simple title of Colección, in english Collection. In this new project, their are 9 unpublished songs, as well as a selection of some of their best songs of all time. This Cd which will debut in May of 2006, is made up of a doble Cd+DVD.

Lombarda is made up of:

Lombarda will be going on tour in 2006. The group hopes to show bring their audience with them across time and showcase their history and over 25 years of musical research. Lombarda will play a complete and varied repertoire of the different songs and traditions heard throughout Andalucia.

Lombarda's concerts offer the audience a high quality performance. The group's members utilize a large variety of musical instruments on stage to help perform a diverse musical repertoire, largely based on traditional Andalusian music. The group invites their fans in each concert to an array of musical compositions that manage to please and reach all types of audiences. At the moment, Lombarda is considered to be one of the best examples of folk music in Spain, not only for their recorded work, but also for their live performences.

A typical concert by Lombarda lasts approximatley 1 hour 30 min.