ROBERT ‘ROBI’ SVÄRD – ‘PA’KI PA’KA’
This is the story of a Swedish guitarist who was invited to a baptism in Granada, which turned out to be a huge celebrity party in the flamenco world. And it just so happened that he himself was one of the party’s most esteemed guests. His own role models courting him, wanting to meet and shake hands with him. It was like a dream. How did he end up there?
The fact is that guitarist Robert ‘Robi’ Svärd unleashed something during the recording of his debut album, “Pa’ki Pa’ka”. His music has already caused many of flamenco’s most prominent musicians to gasp for breath. It has something to do with his fingers, which dance like light as feathers on the strings, making the harmonics glitter like sequins. But it doesn’t stop there. Even if his skill is impossible to miss, it is never boastful, it doesn’t beg for admiration; no, it is just there, making space for love – the love of music. Sometimes it coincides with the love of life, but it can also be that which makes life bearable and beautiful. Such is flamenco and, even in a chilly country like Sweden, the glowing heart of a musician can set the music on fire.
Robert ‘Robi’ Svärd is a classically trained guitarist who won multiple awards and was highly sought after as a young talent in Australia, where he got his education. When he chose to focus on flamenco in Sevilla, the best musicians and dancers soon started to book him on a regular basis. It’s as if all of those quite complicated rhythms, the dynamic expressions, the intricate finger movements – all of it seems to come easy to him.
So when Robert ‘Robi’ Svärd posted a video of his own song on Facebook a couple of years ago, it was really no coincidence that it suddenly had a vast number of shares. Neither was it a coincidence that one of flamenco’s hottest singers, Alfredo Tejada, approached Robert about singing with him. Nor that he was invited to record his album in the legendary FJR Estudios de Grabación in Granada together with the very best musicians in the flamenco world, including Nani Conde (Pata Negra) and the percussionist Miguel ‘El Cheyenne’, who later invited the Swedish music phenomenon to his daughter’s baptism.
Musicians:
Robi – guitars
Alfredo Tejada- vocals
Miguel “El Cheyenne”- cajón/djembe/nudillos/tabla/pandero/shaker/palmas
Nani Conde – bass
Ahmad Al Khatib – cello
Ann Sehlstedt “La Pantera” – dance
Tracks:
- Pa’ki pa’ka (rumba)
- El aire de mi corazón (bulerías)
- Dulce maravilla (alegrías)
- La chispa (bulerías)
- Caminando (tangos)
- Barokería
- Lágrimas secas (soleá por bulerías)
- Habana a Suécia (guajiras)
- Paseo de los tristes (granaina)
Total playing time 45:04
All tracks composed by Robert Svärd, track 7 public domain, arranged by Robert Svärd. All lyrics by Alfredo Tejada.
All tracks published by Asphalt Tango Records GmbH.