18 ABR 2010, 18:00 06:00 PM – SALA DE CULTURA CAL GALLIFA
Sant Joan De Villatorrada, Barcelona.

16 JUL 2010, 22:00 10:00 PM – MARINALEDA
Marinaleda, Marinaleda, Sevilla.

The secret behind Chico Ocaña’s artistic reputation is not to be found in his build.  And don’t look for it in his painful and battered voice or in his indeterminate style.  Rather, you will find it halfway between his heart and his soul; in what he says and how he says it.  And just in case you want to know, Chico has no idea how to tune a guitar and he’s never used a recorder.  His tools are his hearing and his sight; his office is the street.  And that’s all there is.

From the 30 meters to which the ex-minister of housing (whose name nobody remembers) tried to condemn us all to the pathetically pitiable Marbella scam, in every song on Canciones de mesa Camilla 3 there is a shoulder to cry on, a hug to receive, a discovery to be made and a place to add “Palmas” of happy complicity.  There is love, death, life, failure, victory, lies, truth, the wonder of bringing a little one into the world, stories of nature that is being drowned and of the neighborhood corner hangout.

A musical form was needed for this poetic stew with melodic thread.  Chico could have called on some of the best “teachers” in the country but instead he brought in four average guys as “kitchen help”, each with a different style but all sharing the desire to experiment.  Three from Manresa with Andalucian roots; one from Seville with a Catalan passport.   The result is a “guarantee of origin” and Chico’s poetry is as crushing as ever.  The condiments flavoring the songs and the sound they produce offer a fresh texture that provides for difficult simplicity so hard to find in this day and age.

Chico is on a journey and there is still no banner hanging on the horizon announcing the “finishing line”.  In short, it’s been three years of rewards, verification, adjustment and adherence…
The pot has been stewing and what a delicious smell!

1. Venenoso means poisonous and is a reference to Chico Ocaña’s collaboration with Kiko Veneno.
2. Martiresco means martyr and is a reference to Chico Ocaña’s former band Mártires del Compás.
3. Canciones de mesa camilla means “Songs from the…”.  The term mesa camilla has a double meaning in Spanish and it is precisely because of this double meaning that Chico Ocaña uses the term for the title of his new album.  A mesa camilla is commonly found in Spanish homes in the winter.  As a way of keeping warm and maximizing heat, the family table is draped with a blanket and a heater is placed underneath.   The songs on Canciones de mesa camilla were born out of this familial intimacy.  A mesa camilla is also a medical gurney.  This use of this definition of the term is in reference to the various close friends and family members that Chico has lost during the time that he wrote the songs included in the album.

Entrevista extraida de esflamenco.com