‘El Sarao de los Jueves’ is a weekly event touring Spain and on the 17th of November it arrived in Valencia. This is an event born out of a desire to connect music from around the world in a celebration that promotes respect, diversity, joy and happiness through music.

Last Thursday saw La Salà host, ‘El Sarao de los Jueves’, run by La Mundial, showcasing a diverse array of world music, with the opening act consisting of Rafinha Barros on the banjo, Marcel Moncourt on the ukulele and Ricardo Osorno playing the bass guitar. This trio of spectacular performers from Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia respectively, took us on a musical tour of South America, transporting us first to Brazil, before going on to Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. At each stop on our journey we were treated to a selection of traditional songs from each nation, interspersed with the musicians’ own compositions. The trio ended their performance with a version of “Over the Rainbow”, but as I had never heard it before. Decked out with Latin rhythms and riffs, it was a unique experience, especially for one who had grown up watching the Wizard of Oz, and as a ten year old had sung the very same song, though not nearly as well, in a school play.

After the trio exited the stage to thunderous applause, Colombia’s Lilli de Sol took the spotlight with her five piece band Ricardo Osorno, Manu Linois, Zach Mondlick & Luca Bordonaro. After Lilli made the stage her own, draping a coloured scarf over the mike stand, the group burst into song. Accompanied by fast paced and catchy rhythms, Lilli’s powerful and emotion-filled voice rolled around the room like a wave, ebbing and flowing, washing over all present. At one point Lilli sang one of her song’s a capella and that was an equal joy to watch. Very rarely have I seen an artist sing a capella and it still sounds like the rest of the band are playing with her. Her voice was music, in its most complete form.

Following the two headliners there was an open mike portion featuring  the rich voices of Elena Sasson from Tehran and Malaika from South Africa, amongst a broad array of diverse talents. This was a true celebration of international culture, diversity and respect, something that is seriously lacking in the world of today. The next edition of La Mundial’s ‘El Sarao de los Jueves’ will be on the 15th of December. This is not an event to miss.

Report by Danny Weller

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

‘La Salà’ photo copyright Danny Weller / ’24/7 Valencia’

La Mundial: https://www.instagram.com/lamundialmusic/

La Salà: https://lasalavalencia.com/#bienvenid

https://www.instagram.com/lasalavalencia/

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