Jordi Fàbregas i Canadell
A benchmark of folk and the recovery of Catalan popular music
Popular culture has been orphaned by one of its key personalities. The musician and cultural activist Jordi Fàbregas, born in 1951, died this Thursday, January 21, at the age of 69 after being hospitalized for a couple of weeks due to heart problems that he had suffered for years. The farewell ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 23, at the Les Corts de Barcelona funeral home
The world of folk and the recovery of Catalan popular music cannot be understood without him. His goal had been to "know where we come from" through music. And so he did.
He was a singer at the Escola Mare de Déu de Montserrat until adolescence and in a self-taught way, he began to play the guitar and sing solo in 1960, influenced by the Setze Jutges and Jacques Brel, of whom he made a Catalan version of Le diable ça va with which he won the 1967 Llobregat de Sallent Festival (1960-1974).
As a poet, teacher and playwright father, he always lived a deep cultural environment and soon founded musical groups such as Roda de Manresa (1967), the Coses group (1973), the string orchestra and pua L'Harmònica Brava (1979) and La Murga (1980).
In 1988 he created the Festival Tradicionàrius of folk music and, together with Jaume Arnella, Solistes de la Costa and Primera Nota (1987). In 1990 he founded TRAM (Associació Musical per la Tradició Musical). In 1991 he was co-founder of the Orquestra Simfònica de la Canya and in 1993 he created the CAT Center Artesà Tradicionàrius, a stable traditional music hall that also schedules dances and improvisation sessions and exchanges between soloists and groups. In collaboration with Urbàlia Rurana and Primera Nota, he recorded the album Folc nou in 1995 and a year later he was co-founder of the musical group El Pont d ’Arcalís, whose discs Discmedi produced. He was also the organizer of Saraos de Primavera (in 1980), the Trobada de Música Tradicional al Pallars (1990), the Mercè Folk (1990-2001), the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic (1989-92) and the Fira d'Espectacles d'arrel traditional to Manresa (1988-99 and 2001). He was the author of a long list of works as a composer, especially of giant dances of different gangs, and of an extensive record production with different groups of popular and traditional music.
He was the director and creator of the Els Ministrils del Camí Ral formation, which every year performs the music of the Popular Entourage of Barcelona at the Toc d'Inici act that opens every Merced Festival.
Last year he received the Creu de Sant Jordi, an award that was added to the aforementioned Bages de Cultura, the National Music Prize (1991), the National Popular Culture Prize (1995) and the Barcelona Medal of Honor (2006) .
The world of folk and the recovery of Catalan popular music cannot be understood without him. His goal had been to "know where we come from" through music. And so he did.
He was a singer at the Escola Mare de Déu de Montserrat until adolescence and in a self-taught way, he began to play the guitar and sing solo in 1960, influenced by the Setze Jutges and Jacques Brel, of whom he made a Catalan version of Le diable ça va with which he won the 1967 Llobregat de Sallent Festival (1960-1974).
As a poet, teacher and playwright father, he always lived a deep cultural environment and soon founded musical groups such as Roda de Manresa (1967), the Coses group (1973), the string orchestra and pua L'Harmònica Brava (1979) and La Murga (1980).
In 1988 he created the Festival Tradicionàrius of folk music and, together with Jaume Arnella, Solistes de la Costa and Primera Nota (1987). In 1990 he founded TRAM (Associació Musical per la Tradició Musical). In 1991 he was co-founder of the Orquestra Simfònica de la Canya and in 1993 he created the CAT Center Artesà Tradicionàrius, a stable traditional music hall that also schedules dances and improvisation sessions and exchanges between soloists and groups. In collaboration with Urbàlia Rurana and Primera Nota, he recorded the album Folc nou in 1995 and a year later he was co-founder of the musical group El Pont d ’Arcalís, whose discs Discmedi produced. He was also the organizer of Saraos de Primavera (in 1980), the Trobada de Música Tradicional al Pallars (1990), the Mercè Folk (1990-2001), the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic (1989-92) and the Fira d'Espectacles d'arrel traditional to Manresa (1988-99 and 2001). He was the author of a long list of works as a composer, especially of giant dances of different gangs, and of an extensive record production with different groups of popular and traditional music.
He was the director and creator of the Els Ministrils del Camí Ral formation, which every year performs the music of the Popular Entourage of Barcelona at the Toc d'Inici act that opens every Merced Festival.
Last year he received the Creu de Sant Jordi, an award that was added to the aforementioned Bages de Cultura, the National Music Prize (1991), the National Popular Culture Prize (1995) and the Barcelona Medal of Honor (2006) .
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