Oz in Spain

New album from La Orquesta Mondragón

SPAIN’S SHOWMAN extraordinaire, Javier Gurruchaga, is back on centre stage with a new La Orquesta Mondragón album.

El Maquinista de la General is a tribute to trains, cinema, Buster Keaton (The General) and Gurruchaga’s recently deceased railwayman father – in short a magical mystery tour of rock, R&B, blues and jazz… with a Mexican flavour.

The album comprises 17 tracks, performed by La Orquesta Mondragón in collaboration with various Mexican and Cuban artists. (more…)

Vibrant Cuban rhythms in Marbella

STUNNINGLY TALENTED singer, pianist and composer Yanela Brooks has a deep passion for music that began when she studied the genre from the age of seven at an academy in Cuba. Later forming a band with 12 other girls before graduating, she was always destined for success.

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Top international artists for Marbella event

Luz Casal

LUZ CASAL, one of the most successful and influential women singer-songwriters in Spanish pop music over the past three decades, has been confirmed as the closing act for the inaugural European Jazz Festival in Marbella from 20 to 27 July.

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GREAT TITLE TRACK from Tasmanian-born, Madrid-based singer-songwriter Aaron Thomas’ second album, Made of Wood…

Developing creativity – and unwinding

DRAWING AND painting is a great way to unwind and relax, and with some helpful pointers from a professional, and a basic understanding of the fundamentals, the enjoyment can be magnified. (more…)

The good, the bad – and the plain silly of Eurovision

Lordi: Finland's first, and to date only, Eurovision winners

FROM THE country that gave us Lordi – winners in 2006 – this year’s Eurovision contest will feature some rocky East Finnish folk from the Moon Whisperers (Kuunkuiskaajat). (more…)

INAUGURATED ON 18 February, artist and sculpturer Gleny Köhnke’s latest exhibition will remain on show at Casino Marbella until 7 April (open every day from 7pm). (more…)

IT TOOK OVER three decades but AC/DC finally ended their Grammys drought with the 2010 award for best hard rock performance – for War Machine off the Black Ice album. Formed in Australia in 1973, the band received their first Grammy nomination in 1991 (The Razors Edge) and another four before this year’s breakthrough. Rock music – especially their heavy genre – was effectively ignored by Grammy voters during the band’s heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

No such snubs for Keith Urban, however. Already a two-time winner (2002 for You’ll Think Of Me; and 2008 for Stupid Boy) the New Zealand-born Australian made it s hat-trick with the best male country vocal performance award for Sweet Thing from his Defying Gravity album.

New season at Echegaray Theatre

Robert Fripp

FORMER KING CRIMSON guitarist Robert Fripp and jazz and progressive rock flautist Theo Travis (Gong) will be presenting songs from their album Thread during two concerts at the newly re-opened Echegaray Theatre in Málaga capital on 29 and 30 April. (more…)

Kupka, Horses – and Playthings

Picasso's Caballo Alado

AN EXHIBITION of Czech artist Frantisek Kupka’s work from the Centre Pompidou Collection is on show at the Museo Picasso in Málaga capital until 25 April. (more…)