There was a time when people didn`t scoff at artists who insisted that they joined or started a band for the pure joy of performing music for the people.

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll have been the universally accepted raison d`etre for musicians throughout the history of contemporary music. It was and still is the thing to say for those in a band.

But Chico Bouchiki, the co-founder of legendary World Music band The Gipsy Kings said his entire musical career was dedicated to promoting "hope, tolerance and fraternity" through music before his new band, Chico and The Gypsies took center stage at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival Saturday.

"We have the chance to do music that bring people together without having them understand the words because music is a universal language," he said through translator-cum-manager Ruedi Ledermann who said he has been with Chico for more than 30 years and is like a brother to him.



The two proceeded to grip each other`s hand in a moment of what men call nowadays "bromance."

"If you listen to my music, you don`t have to understand the lyrics. This is not important. Yesterday, for example, in China no one understood the love songs we sang and yet they were completely involved. Perhaps it was a moment of luck but you will see later when we perform."

This may sound trite, but their headlining performance on the festival`s main venue, Jazz Island after the interview attested to his pre-performance statement.

When the band took the stage and performed "Marina" it didn`t seem to matter to festival-goers that they couldn`t understand the Spanish lyrics.

Men and women of all ages, that up until then had been sitting or lying on their silver 3,000 won mats they had purchased in the festival grounds, were grooving to the fast tempo guitar riffs of the song.

"We love that people dance to our music and it`s impossible not to move - you have to move," he said.

"It`s not important to be a good dancer, what`s important for me is to share the energy with the audience. It`s like a fiesta and there is no border with languages, ages, and different ethnicities. We are all here to enjoy life through music."

The Gipsy Kings are of course the French-based Romani band that brought modern Rumba Flamenco music to the mainstream during the 80s with such international hits like "Bamboleo," "Baila Me," "Sin Ella," "Djoba Djoba," and their scintillating cover of the Eagles` "Hotel California" - one that was effectively used in the Coen Brother`s 1998 film "The Big Lebowski."

Aside from the paunch around his mid-section, Chico, now 55-years old, looked very much like the Chico from decades past.

He parted ways with the Kings in 1991 after falling out with manager Claude Martinez over the direction of the band.

Though no longer with the group he helped formed, the Kings` music lives on through his new band with younger musicians recruited from the same French caravan estates in Arles and Montpellier the same year he left the group.

The son of Moroccan and Algerian immigrants, Bouchikhi was 12 when he met the children of influential Gypsy singer, Jose Reyes.

He spent most of his time at the Reyes family caravan encampment where he taught himself to play guitar at age 17.

He later married Reyes`s daughter, Marthe, which deepened his assimilation into Romani - also known as Gypsy - culture.

Chico was later chosen by Jose as his successor just before his death in 1979 as leader of the family`s band and in 1983, he changed the name from Los Reyes to the Gipsy Kings.

In 1995, he was chosen as UNESCO`s special envoy for peace by its head Federico Mayor for his efforts to bridge Arab-Israeli relations.

His involvement with the organization to promote peace between the embattled regions was all the more surprising to many as his older brother Ahmed had been killed by Mossad agents when he was 18 in Norway, where he had been a waiter in a resort town in Lillehammer.

At the time, the agents had mistaken him for the mastermind of the Munich Summer Games massacre Ali Hassan Salameh.

"That event was a shock. You lose a family member, it`s a shock for anyone - for you, for me - everyone," he said.

"If you lose a brother by an accident it`s tragic, but it wasn`t an accident and that was a shock to me, but at the same time I`ve carried with me great hope because if you don`t carry hope you can`t live life. I was angry - it`s natural but I quickly learned if you don`t leave that circle, you`re forever lost in hate and I didn`t want to live with hate in my heart."

"Sometimes it`s difficult to do it, but I think forgiveness is the only solution for healing."

"I came here tonight being full of hope that we would all have a good time."

Asked whether he was a romantic at heart, he simple gave a matter-of-fact shrug.

"I am always in love and that`s why the songs we create are mostly love songs and odes to the people we love and we have loved."

"My muse is life because in life you have everything - people, family, nature - those are my inspirations."

(kws@heraldm.com)



By Song Woong-ki