The Maruja Limón Sextet hits the CMA

Maruja Limón is a Barcelona-based sextet forging their own path through flamenco, pop, Latin, rumba, and electronic experimentation. Since their debut album Más de ti (2018) — named one of the best Spanish records of the year — they’ve appeared on festival stages across Europe and Morocco, earned a Billboard feature, and most recently, a U.S. tour performing at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live. Later this month, they’ll appear with David Byrne at the Big Ears festival in Knoxville.  Check out their song “Miralas,” one of their most genre-defying songs. Note how they use language to underscore themes of female solidarity while always emphasizing the importance of rhythm and emotion.

Neither she nor us are stopped
The shine in our eyes cannot be bought
Look for those who make you feel
Maruja ladies we are already here
To give passion to your heart

— co-written by all the members of the band.

Performing as a standard Flamenco group centered around percussion and brass, the lineup includes vocalists Esther González and Sheila Quero; guitarist Vicky Blum; percussionist Elisenda Fàbregas; trumpeter Mila González; and bassist Carla González Ferrer.

Paul Cox: Your music blends flamenco, rumba, dembow, and electronic production seamlessly. When you write together, where does a song usually begin — a rhythm, a melody, a genre, a feeling?

Maruja Limón: Most of the time it comes from a melody that almost automatically makes you want to dance, especially when there’s a beat behind it. We present the song to the group, and sometimes someone gets inspired and has the idea that the melody could work mixed with another genre. From there, we try to take it into a more experimental direction.

Paul Cox: You sing in Catalan and Spanish. Is that a political choice, a natural one, or both? Does it matter?

Maruja Limón: Catalan and Spanish are both native languages within the band. Some of us speak one more fluently that the other, mainly because of our family backgrounds, though Spanish is the language we communicate with the most. Singing in Catalan allows us to express what moves us emotionally, too, the people, some traditional expressions, the land, memories. In the end, most of us were born and raised in Barcelona/Catalonia, so Catalan is part of our roots and our language, as well. Political or not, Catalan is a part of our identity.

Paul Cox: Does being an all-female group shape how you write and perform, or is it simply who you are?

Maruja Limón: We write about we feel, what we see, what affects us, and what we want to express from our perspective as women. In the same way that a man might compose and express his ideas because he is a man? Or its simply part of who he is? Being a collective/band of women, friends and having the opportunity to share a message makes us more aware and pushes us to address issues where society often falls short, when it comes to thinking collectively. We also talk a lot amongst ourselves, share stories, messages, thoughts. That allows us to express emotions ranging from the most intimate to the most collective.

Paul Cox: After playing Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, what surprised you most about playing American audiences?

Maruja Limón: Playing in these two beautiful venues opened up a great opportunity for us to discover other parts of the US and the American continent as a whole. It definitely brought us closer to experiencing the incredible cultural diversity that exists, and we love that. Also, the feedback has been very warm and expressed in many different ways. We really appreciate the closeness, curiosity and interest in our music that the audience showed.

Paul Cox: Te Como la Cara EP sounds like a departure from your other recordings. How did it come about? A group discussion? A group improvisation?

Maruja Limón: We could say it was a collective improvisation. We’re all very different, but what brings us together is the passion for making music and experiencing it together. Being able to jump into something different fires us up, pumps up our adrenaline drives us to evolve and keep trying new things. It’s a constant: “let’s-see-what-happens” kind of vibe!

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This interviewer’s advice: Prepare to have your mind blown!

Maruja Limón
7:30 pm Wednesday, March 25,
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art
Tickets are required: https://www.clevelandart.org/events/maruja-limon