Spanish Folk Jazz Musician GERMÁN LÓPEZ to Play Santa Fe

Spanish folk musician Germán López is set to open for Judy Collins on March 7th at the Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe. His own show, Canela y Limón (Cinnamon and Lemon), is set to play on Wednesday, March 9th at 7:30pm at Chatter. For more information about venues and tickets, click here.

You'll recognize the brilliance of musician Germán López as soon as you hit play. His musicianship is spectacular and his sound is vibrant and exciting, perhaps at first surprising but then uncannily familiar. López is originally from the Canary Islands in Spain, where folks enjoy their cup of coffee with a touch of cinnamon ("canela") and lemon ("limón"). Canela y Limón is also the name of López's arrestingly beautiful album, played in duet with the Andalusian guitarist, maestro Antonio Toledo. You'll find the hallmarks of cinnamon and lemon in Lòpez's music as you listen: spicy and sweet, robust and sharp. It's a recipe for music that transports you to a simpler, kinder, more joyful world.

With a style that embraces Spanish Flamenco, West African traditional, modern American jazz and pop, and rhythms uniquely native to his home country, Germán López has already established himself as a rising star in Europe. His delayed ascent in the US might be attributable to the relative obscurity of his chosen instrument, the timple. A five-string, long-necked instrument originating from the Spanish archipelago, the timple is recognizable in performance as a cross between a classical guitar and the ukulele. López's masterful method of playing the instrument heightens its resonance and precision for a magical and immediately accessible sound.

With an upcoming album featuring guest spots from a host of international all-stars, including the Cameroonian Grammy-winning bassist Richard Bona and the Mexican singer-songwriter Lila Downs, López is likely to soon join other global contemporary musical geniuses, such as Jake Shimabukuro or Rodrigo y Gabriela, on the worldwide festival circuit, making this your best chance to enjoy his "entrancing" musicianship and "delicately rippling notes" (Huffington Post) in an intimate concert space.

Germán López was born in Gran Canaria in 1982. His career started when he was accepted at the early age of seven to study piano, jazz and music theory at the Conservatory of Music in Las Palmas, Spain. By the time he was ten, López began regular public performance, notably collaborating with legendary timple virtuoso José Antonio Ramos, who focused Germán's interest in the timple and other traditional Canary Island instruments. As of today, López is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest living players of the timple. He has thus far released four studio albums: Timplissimo (2006), Silencio Roto (2009), De Raíz (2013) and (with guitarist Antonio Toledo) Canela y Limón (2016). López has recorded and shared the stage with Richard Bona, Sidiki Toumani Diabate, Mestisay, Taburiente, Totoyo Millares, Luis Morera, Sergio Alzola, Pancho Amat and The Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria.

Photo Credit: Nacho Gonzalez