##KNOWN TO HIS FRIENDS AS ‘MANUÉ’, ANDALUSIAN SINGER-SONGWRITER & POET ‘MANUEL DELGADO’ ARRIVED IN VALENCIA IN THE EARLY 1990s. WITH SPANISH GUITAR IN HAND, ‘MANUÉ’ WOULD PLAY IN BARS, RESTAURANTS, THE METRO AND ON THE STREETS IN DIFFERENT BARRIOS OF VALENCIA. HE WAS ALSO A VERY FAMILIAR FACE ON THE BOHEMIAN NIGHTLIFE SCENE OF THE HISTORIC CENTRE, WHICH WAS HIS BASE FROM 1991 TO 2005.

BY 1994, HE HAD FORMED ‘LOS CARRILANOS’ AND WITHIN A COUPLE OF YEARS THEY WERE SIGNED TO ‘LUCAS RECORDS’. THEY HAD REALLY HIGH HOPES AS A BAND AND RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘POR PURA CASUALIDAD’. HOWEVER, THINGS DIDN’T WORK OUT AS PLANNED AND THE GROUP BROKE UP AS PROMOTION, BY THE RECORD LABEL, DID NOT LIVE UP TO THEIR EXPECTATIONS.

‘CASA MANUÉ’ WAS FOUNDED: “FROM JAM SESSIONS WITH LOCAL MUSICIANS IN THE LATE 1990s IN VALENCIA. THE BAND WOULD REHEARSE AT MY LITTLE PLACE ON CALLE BENEFICIENCIA …WE WERE NEVER LACKING WINE OR TORTILLA, WHICH IS WHY THE BAND SAID WE WERE LIKE A MUSICAL BODEGA!”

AN ECLECTIC BAND WITH MANY INFLUENCES, CASA MANUÉ HAD A CONSIDERABLE TURNOVER OF MUSICIANS AS THE YEARS WENT BY. MANUEL RECALLS: “AT ONE POINT, WE HAD EIGHT MEMBERS IN THE BAND INCLUDING PERCUSSIONISTS AND BACKING SINGERS…I REMEMBER A GIG IN VALENCIA WHERE THERE WERE MORE MUSICIANS ON STAGE THAN PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE!”

AS THEIR POPULARITY GREW, THEY BECAME A STAPLE OF THE LIVE LOCAL SCENE INCLUDING ESTABLISHED VENUES LIKE ‘LOCO CLUB’, ’RADIO CITY’ AND ‘BLACK NOTE CLUB’.

GROWING UP AS A YOUTHFUL REBEL IN SEVILLE, WITH BANDS FUSING FLAMENCO WITH ROCK & JAZZ, IT IS PERHAPS INEVITABLE THAT ‘KIKO VENENO’ AND ‘PATA NEGRA’ BECAME MUSICAL INFLUENCES THAT STAYED WITH HIM.

MANUEL ADDS: “I STILL CONSIDER KIKO VENENO AS A FRIEND OF MINE. REGARDING ‘PATA NEGRA’… I REMEMBER A MEMORABLE EVENING IN ANDALUSIA BY A LAKE, WITH BOTTLES OF RED WINE FLOWING & JOINTS BEING PASSED AROUND, AS THEIR LEADER RAIMUNDO AMADOR WEAVED MAGIC WITH HIS GUITAR TO AN ATTENTIVE CROWD…IT WAS A SPECIAL NIGHT.”

DELGADO: “DEFINING THE SOUND OF ‘CASA MANUÉ’ IS NOT SO EASY BUT I WOULD CALL IT ‘INFUSIÓN LATINA’. WHEN WE PLAY LIVE IT TENDS TO BE A MUSICAL TRIP OF SORTS, LIKE A JOURNEY THAT INCLUDES SALSA, POP, ALEGRIAS, SWING, BLUES, CHA CHA CHA AND FANDANGO AND OTHER FLAVOURS… IT’S INEVITABLE THAT THERE IS A LATIN TOUCH AS THAT IS PART OF OUR CULTURE.”

THE ALBUM BY CASA MANUÉ IS CALLED ‘LA BODEGA DE LOS SUEÑOS.’ IT FEATURES ON ITS FRONT COVER A PHOTO FROM ‘LA BODEGUETA’ …THE LEGENDARY FLAMENCO & TAPAS BAR THAT WAS A POPULAR HANGOUT FOR MUSIC LOVERS IN THE BARRIO DEL CARMEN OF VALENCIA FOR MANY YEARS…

“TU SIEMPRE ESTAS
EN LA LUNA DE VALENCIA
YO SUSPIRO CON PLACER
CUANDO TE SIENTO CERCA
QUISIERA SENTIR
SEVILLA EN ABRIL
Y SERÉ…”
(‘LA LUNA DE VALENCIA’ – CASA MANUÉ)

REPORT BY 24/7 VALENCIA TEAM