The Big Yuyu – The Blues for the Soller Valley
The odd word here and there and then the rumble – you know how it is in a small community. The word was out that there was a great blues band in our midst and gradually we all started making our way to their weekly gig in the Porto Soller Hotel to see what all the fuss was about. Soller and the rest of the Hidden Valley has a collection of fine musicians and groups that entertain at Fiestas and parties. In the summer many of them get residencies at prestigious hotels that host Spanish Guitar evenings or Jazz nights. The singers on the Mallorca circuit turn up in our great restaurants on the beach and are accompanied by the sounds of the lonesome saxaphone and other fine instruments. What many of them have in common is that when they head for Palma and City music they all congregate in the Jazz Club of the Saratoga Hotel. The hub of the Saratoga means that when the Sollerics want to see what musical trend is brreaking or just be reassured that the
old music is still the best that’s where they go.
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The Big Yuyu Blues Band are exactly that mixas they head for the Port of Soller every week bringing a repotoire of black music, funk and rythym and blues. They are deep into the Blues and a far cry from the flamenco that many summer visitors expect to see in Spain. The clientele have listened to their music for the past five years now and many of the returning guests come back for the sound. The other side of their work is very Palma based and the Saratoga is their spiritual home. It has to be said that their music is beginning to take them much further afield than these shores but Majorca is their home, their life and the start of their story.
Since their beginning in 2006, the band is proud to say that it’s got more than 1,600 hot blues nights under its belt, having played in the best clubs and festivals around Spain. This is a band made up by musicians who love what they do every night; making music with soul and passion.
Their first album BIG YUYU (Masterdisc-2007) was celebrated by the local Majorcan press as one of the best albums recorded in the Balearic Islands that year. It contains a bunch of classic tunes from all times and styles hovering around the deep Blues tradition, which is the core of Big Yuyu´s style and sound.
As their popularity grew the opportunities came too and in 2010, they were given the chance of recording a great album, a true home cookin´ Blues session with the Chicago Blues singer Lorenzo Thompson. It came out as a real blues encyclopedia, called DO THE SIESTA (Gaztelupeko Records 2010). Supporting such a great singer and bluesman from the USA was a great experience for the band and also a stepping stone as they also sided with Bob Margolin – a former member of Muddy Waters, Terry Harmonica Bean and James Armstrong among others
The third and latest release up to date is the most personal album from Big Yuyu, BURNIN’ UP (Masterdisc-2011). It contains ten original songs and one smokin’ cover from Mess Around (Ray Charles), where the band is joined by a Hammond organ, piano, a three piece brass section and percussion. The band found renewed inspiration for writing and creating new tunes, always based on the tradition of the good old sounds from the 50’s & 60’s, basically Blues and Rhythm’n Blues Music. It’s a must-have album that took the band to the best Festivals, Clubs and Radio & TV stations around Spain. This new set up was a great success but with the economic recession the band had to reconsider its financing. So Big Yuyu went back to its original power trio format and took a new trip back to its roots. So much had been learnt along the way, a great wealth of experience acquired on the road resulted in a sound unlike other bands, their own unique, personal,
powerful live show that doesn’t leave any listener unmoved. The rock-solid rhythm section formed by Esteve Huguet on drums and Juan Amaro on bass surrounds Jordi Álvarez´s unique guitar and vocal skills, filling the air with reminiscences of the legends of the Blues, but always with that personal touch that gives Big Yuyu a hard-earned spot in the European Blues Scene!
These are the men that the English speaking Sollerics are discovering as their musical soul mates. Add that to the many musicians who visit here on holiday and then the sessions at the Porto Soller Hotel can become a serious jamming session. These guys love music and they love to share it with other musicians so there is no hard and fast rule about what you will find in any of their gigs. This is Blues with an edge and that edge is inclusivity.
On Thursday 26th June Big Yuyu are booked to play in the square in Fornalutx. This is an eagerly awaited gig and the fans will be out in their numbers. The idea of a starry balmy night in the ‘oven of the sun’ in the mountains of Fornalutx with the blues being pounded away into the night sky is a special moment in Fornalutx’s calendar.
The band have recently returned from a sold out three day concert in Westfalen in Germany. The music was so well received by their German fans that a much longer tour is planned for later in the year. This is being placed in an increasingly busy calendar and alongside the release of their next album.
It has to be said that this is Big Yuyu’s moment – Majorca loves their home grown sons and are proud of their success but it comes at a price. The fame that awaits them is going to take them away from here and that is the dilemma. Until that day happens the Sollerics are going to enjoy the regular Monday nights at the Hotel Porto Soller and the appearances in the local village summer nights. The events at the Hotel Saratoga in Palma will soon become a distant memory if their Agent has his way.
The Sollerics are really enjoying having this group in their orbit and pleased that they have found a launch pad in the Port of Soller. Visitors and locals alike are just taking one musical opportunity at a time while these clever, talented musicians climb into that Hall of Fame.
The message here is that when you are having a drink and a chat accompanied by a live musician giving his all spare a moment to listen. You never know the talent you are listening too and where it’s going to take the singers. We all wish the Big Yuyu well as they climb those steps of fame. In the meantime it’s Monday night as usual in the Hotel Porto Soller
