The Spanish flamenco artist Diego el Cigala, known for blending European and Afro-Cuban traditions, has reimagined the classic salsa sound in a new documentary called Indestructible: The Soul of Salsa. On Tuesday, November 6th, The Orchard and Sony Music Latin will release the documentary on a global scale on digital and on demand.
Indestructible: The Soul of Salsa, a music documentary directed by David Pareja, developed organically as a way to document the recording process and the significance behind Cigala’s Indestructible album. This album was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award in the category of Best Tropical Latin Album. The music documentary takes audiences on a visual journey through the history of Salsa from its inception until the very moment when Cigala gives it his own flare. In the film, Diego drives his strong personality as a musician to the open roads that lead from Colombia to New York via Cuba (Havana), Puerto Rico (San Juan), The Dominican Republic and Miami.
Indestructible captures an experience that reflects Cigala’s unique adventure beyond the music. By visiting places where Salsa prevails and has stood the test of time, Cigala knows it’s a powerful genre that reaches the hearts of all who love life. Indestructible will give viewers an extraordinary glimpse into the moments when Cigala encounters the greatest living legends of Salsa during his travels. As he spends time with each artist, the iconic songs they play become transformed by the originality of El Cigala.
“There is no reason for me to copy what’s already been done and done so well by those giants,” says Cigala from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, his home for the past few years. “What I do is to interpret it with a flamenco voice, and even then, I want to add just the right touch, because otherwise the music would lose its natural flavor. That´s the work: to preserve both, what is salsa and what is flamenco, in a way that they don’t clash.”
Inspiring new steps for a rhythm that has always been synonymous with life, happiness, hopes and dreaming, the film is an homage to the FANIA heritage of Music. Throughout the film, Cigala performs with an all-star cast including singer Oscar D’Leon, pianists Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Larry Harlow, trumpeter Luis “Perico” Ortiz, and many of the original Fania studio musicians. Every performance becomes a nostalgic visit to the past while creatively renewing the soul of the genre’s future. The documentary will be available with English and French subtitles for the global aficionado.
Cigala On Tour
To celebrate the release of the documentary with fans around the world, Cigala will go on tour to
perform songs from his Indestructible album. The complete schedule includes shows in the following locations throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America:
NOVEMBER
1- 4 San Francisco, California (Jazz Festival)
9 Miami, Florida
14 Barcelona, Spain
16 Murcia, Spain
17 Valencia, Spain
27 Bogota, Colombia
29 Cali, Colombia
DECEMBER
3 Madrid, Spain
10 Madrid, Spain
The Indestructible tour, featuring Diego El Cigala and his eight-piece band, kicked off on October 13th in Germany and continues to Switzerland, Finland, Russia, Miami and Spain. Indestructible is Cigala’s most ambitious and most personal project yet, a dream shared by Cigala and his late wife and partner in his musical adventures, Amparo, who passed away in August of 2015. “We both liked salsa a lot,” he says, softly. “But the salsa that is no longer played, 70s salsa, the Fania sound, salsa dura (hard salsa).”