Biography
Two decades ago Rogelio Botanz arrived on the Canary Islands. After tying up his boat in Tenerife he could be seen straight away with the local Gomera drum and immersed in the strong currents of the island culture. He was one of the creators of *the Taller Canario de la Canción* (Canaries Song Workshop), together with Andrés Molina and Pedro Guerra, and took part as a composer, arranger, musician and singer in the recording of seven albums.
The Taller came to be a curious meeting place and throughout this history of album production the likes of guest artists Silvio Rodríguez, L.E.Aute, Joaquín Sabina, Luis Morera, Natxo de Felipe, Ruper Ordorika, Victor Manuel, Ana Belén, Carlos Varela, Ismaila Sane Badiane, Polito Ibañez, Quintín Cabrera, Moluda Mboirik and Mikel Urdangarín can be appreciated.
After the winding up of the Taller in 1992, Rogelio opted to stay on in the Canaries with his usual musicians, the group known as “...puntos suspensivos” which incorporated a whole Canaries percussion section (drums, chácaras, tambourines, espadas,...) with the idea of carrying on working on the rhythmic memory of the Islands. He thus continued to swim in the waters of the Canaries folk tradition, at the same time letting in fresh breezes from his other beloved coasts: African, Caribbean and his native Basque Country.
Rogelio’s music is a result of this from-the heart mixture of poetry which expresses eternal thoughts on what is foreign: the similarity amongst people and amongst peoples. His songs bring together traditional and modern rhythms with a rap giving way to a tajaraste and a Canary polka takes us to the shores of Ireland. Although Rogelio is a songwriter above all, he is able to present his compositions both live and with no frills and also with electric arrangements.
His long career on stage and his extraordinary communicative skills have made his gigs participative fiestas, both when performing solo or when accompanied by his 10 musicians. He has toured the islands and has regularly played on the peninsula. He has also been on tour in Pretoria (South Africa, 1998), Havana (Cuba, 1999) and Mexico (2001).
