Damian Leyva Cortés | Tango Singer

Damian Leyva Cortés | Tango Singer

Damian will perform at Tango Lounge in Amsterdam!

Date Sunday September 7th 2008
Occasion Tango Lounge | Tangosalon
Location Mirror Centre, Ter Gouwstraat 3, Amsterdam
Info www.tangolounge.nl

Interview

“My favourite tango singer is Julio Sosa, an Uruguayan singer. My next favourite singer is Carlos Gardel”, says Damian.

“I’m now interested in the modern style of singing which began when Sosa started to sing in the late fifties and early sixties,” Damian explains. Damian tells us about his hero: “With Sosa you have a singer with an exciting life. He lived fast and died young. He had a love for fast cars. This love for cars was also fatal for Julio Sosa. He died young, in a car accident”.

Damians second hero Carlos Gardel died in an accident too. An airplane accident. Gardel crashed in Bogota during a tour, Sosa died in a car accident after singing on the radio, heading back home.

“Sosa’s singing was bright and exquisite. Gardel I always have in my mind because he was pure and started the beginning of tango singing. With those two you have a period before the forties with Gardel and the sixties with Sosa”, says Damian. “The later period of the sixties was influenced by modern music, like Sinatra and others”.

Video of Carlos Gardel


Damian acquired his knowledge about tango singing from an Argentinean singer Juan Antonio Cura, who sang with the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra. “First I learned from hearing. I fist sang Spanish songs, not Flamenco but the songs of Spanish Folklore. With Cura I learned how to make a characteristic tango sound”, he say about his teacher. “I was glad that I had that opportunity because in Spain we don’t have teachers in Tango, especially in the south where I come from”.

Damian is an Andalusian. He was born in the beautiful city of Cadiz. He grew up in Granada where he sang in a company with the name Juventudes Musicales ONU.

Damian is a Spanish singer with the love for ‘el Canto’. He sings music which for him is ‘Mediterraneo’ (Mediterranean). “From coast to coast, from Argentinean Folklore, Spanish Folklore, Napoletan songs… Those countries –Argentina, Portugal, Spain and Italy- have a profound connection and share the same passionate lyrics. Favourite subjects are loneliness, heartbreak, homesickness and especially love.

And love is what brought Damian to Holland. “I met a Dutch girl in Spain. I fell in love with her. But she lived in Amsterdam and I lived in Granada”, Damian explains. Damian followed his girlfriend to Amsterdam. Despite the weather, he is very excited to start a new life here in Holland. “In Amsterdam you have more opportunities than in southern Spain. It’s a exciting place for cultural activities”.

Damian will perform at Tango Lounge in Amsterdam!

Date Sunday September 7th 2008
Occasion Tango Lounge | Tangosalon
Location Mirror Centre, Ter Gouwstraat 3, Amsterdam
Info www.tangolounge.nl