For the latest installment in its globe-hopping “Sense of Place” series, NPR’s daily music and interview program World Cafe will take listeners to Spain for a week-long exploration of the music of Madrid. From July 12 through July 18, “Sense of Place: Madrid” will be all about the rock and pop music scene in the vibrant capital city, as communicated by some of its most active and intriguing artists.
Since 2011, the World Cafe team (based at public radio station WXPN/Philadelphia, which produces World Cafe) has visited musical hotspots around the globe, where each city’s sights and sounds reverberate through exclusive studio sessions with local musicians and interviews with musical influencers. The resulting “Sense of Place” feature is heard on the 280 radio stations nationwide that carry World Cafe and online, with past sessions archived at World Cafe on NPR Music.
World Cafe Host Raina Douris and Senior Producer Kimberly Junod visited Madrid’s Metropol Studios in April to record new interviews and performances for “Sense of Place: Madrid.”
Said Douris, “There’s a buzzing energy in the city that combines with a genuine warmth to create something completely unique – and you can hear it in the music and interviews we recorded there. In ‘Sense of Place: Madrid,’ we hear from artists who were part of the post-dictatorship explosion of creativity in the ‘80s, and from artists who continue to push musical boundaries in this vibrant, cosmopolitan Spanish capital today. Madrid is a city that feels – and sounds – alive.”
Highlights from the five episodes that comprise “Sense of Place: Madrid”:
- Wednesday, July 12: Hear global music star Jorge Drexler talking to host Raina Douris and performing live before he visits the U.S. for some live shows in late July in support of his most recent album, Tinta y Tiempo, which swept the Latin GRAMMYs last year, earning six awards including Song of the Year and Record of the Year.
- Thursday, July 13: Madrid rockers Hinds were excited to be visiting and performing in the U.S. in 2016, when they talked with former host David Dye at World Cafe’s home studio in Philadelphia. Their interview and live in-studio performance took place at the time of their debut release, Leave Me Alone, which they’ve since followed with two more albums.
- Friday, July 14: Host Raina Douris talks with Aviador Dro members Servando Carballar and Marta Cervera, who started one of Spain’s first independent record labels, about La Movida Madrileña, which was an explosion of artistic talent that took place in Spain following the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco. (This episode will also be featured in the weekly Conversations From the World Cafe program.)
- Monday, July 17: World Cafe has the first interview in front of an American audience for the exciting new Madrid-based songwriter and producer Ralphie Choo, who talks (via a translator) with host Raina Douris. His performance in this session is just a taste from his debut full-length album coming this fall, when World Cafe will feature him in greater depth.
- Tuesday, July 18: Ginebras, the popular female foursome who follow in Hinds’ footsteps representing Madrid’s rock scene, recently recorded at London’s famed Abbey Road Studio. Hear them talk with host Raina Douris and perform live in-studio from their new album ¿Quién es Billie Max?
“Sense of Place: Madrid” can be heard on radio stations that carry NPR’s World Cafe program. To listen online, go to https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/. More about World Cafe is also at http://www.xpn.org/world-cafe