Our music

RADIO TARIFA was created at the end of the 80s by three musicians: Fain S. Dueñas, percussions, strings and arrangements, Benjamin Escoriza, singer and lyric writer, from Granada, and Vincent Molino, in the wind section.
Produced by Juan Alberto Arteche in his studio, "EL AGUJERO", and released at the beginning of 1993, RUMBA ARGELINA was presented as an eclectic work with Arab, Oriental, German Medieval, old Andalucian, Sefardic, Sanabrian music and some themes composed by Fain with lyrics written by Benjamin Escoriza. This first CD included also Flamenco and Andalucian Folk songs such as RUMBA ARGELINA, TANGOS DEL AGUJERO, LA MOSCA, BULERIAS TURCAS, and OYE CHINA. In this recording they had Javier Ruibal as guest singer, Gerardo Nuñez on the guitar, Javier Paxariño in the wind section and Wafir Sh. Gibril, Ramiro Amusategui and Eduardo Laguillo.
The CD had fantastic reviews and received a great public reaction both in Spain and internationally. By this time the group had grown to eight people with a Flamenco dancer included. They toured Spain and different European countries, with tremendous success.

In the second CD, "TEMPORAL", (1996)they tried to go deeper into the traditional Spanish folklore that defines them, making a creative and wonderful sound with music from different Spanish regions. Two of the songs were sung by the gypsy singer Rafael Jimenez "Falo" who is one of the great singers of traditional flamenco. His interest for the traditional songs of the north of Spain and flamenco are what attracted him to RADIO TARIFA.

On "CUZANDO EL RÍO" (2000), recorded in Faín's then recently completed studio, RADIO TARIFA proposed a new voyage in Iberian music with diversions to Renaissance ("Si j'ai perdu mon ami" de Josquin Desprez) and traditional japanese music ("Gujo Bushi") with the collaboration of flamenco dancer Joaquin Ruiz and the singer/piper Merche Trujillo. This work received great international critical acclaim (one of the top ten best records of 2001 on the "World Music Charts Europe"). RADIO TARIFA was nominated for the "BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music - 2001".

RADIO TARIFA celebrated the tenth anniversary of their first ground breaking disc in 2003 with the release of FIEBRE (Fever), their first ever live album. With it they not only capture the exhilarating 'fevered' atmosphere of their live gigs, but also show just how far they have evolved during their first decade together.
FIEBRE proved to be another critical success for the band, with fROOTS calling it "exemplary" and MOJO stating that "they damn near ignite, pouring their souls into the set." The album received a nomination for the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music - 2003 and has also been nominated in the Best Folk Album category at the 2004 Latin Grammy Awards.
RADIO TARIFA continue to bring their exhilarating live performance to audiences around the globe, and were privileged to be one of the few western acts invited to play in the Palestine territories. In July 2004, they performed in Jerusalem and Ramallah as part of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of United Nations Development Programme in the Palestine territory. Irrespective of where they go, this unique band improvise and experiment with sound and tempo, spreading the 'fiebre'.

RADIO TARIFA work with musicians from different walks of life and musical backgrounds, ( Flamenco, Jazz, Rock, Arab music, Classical…). They use different sounds and timbres, from traditional Mediterranean instruments like the Derbuka, el Ney or the Ud to medieval instruments like the Cromorno or oriental ones like the Bansuri - the Hindu flute - or modern instruments like the electric bass, electric guitar or the Hammond organ. In RADIO TARIFA´S CDs there are traditional songs and others composed by them with arrangements by Fain S. Dueñas and the other musicians of the group who collaborate with him. Sometimes the arrangements are modal. These type of arrangements permit them to rediscover other perspectives of the themes that have been composed without harmonies and, that for the past two centuries have been performed with only a guitar accompaniment. This is also the case of some of the flamenco songs. If you take the harmony out, you will discover the affinity between the traditional Iberian music and the popular and cultured music of the Mediterranean world, for instance, the ones from the north of Africa such as Andalusi and Bereber. For this reason, when a refrain that comes from the Maghreb is inserted into an Andalucian song, as RADIO TARIFA has done in several songs like RUMBA ARGELINA, LA MOSCA, LA TARARA, it is like rediscovering the common origins of two cultures that are very close.