Rogelio Botanz

A singer-songwriter born in Legazpi and based in Tenerife since 1978, co-founder of Taller Canario de Canción and a key figure in combining singer-songwriter music, Canarian sounds and island cultural content.

Rogelio Botanz
Roles
Singer-songwriter · Musician · Instrumentalist · Music and culture teacher
Genres
Singer-songwriter music · Nueva Canción Canaria · Canarian folklore fusion · Authorial rock
Instruments
Voice · Guitar · Canarian percussion · El Hierro whistle
Activity
1985

Biography

Rogelio Botanz Parra is a Spanish singer-songwriter born in Legazpi (Guipúzcoa) on 22 December 1956, based in Tenerife since 1978 and linked to Taller Canario de Canción, Nueva Canción Canaria and educational dissemination of Canarian content.

Open biography

Music career

Rogelio Botanz has lived in Tenerife since 1978, and in 1985 he took part, with Andrés Molina and Pedro Guerra, in creating Taller Canario de Canción. Through that project he joined the renewal of Canarian song in the 1980s and 1990s. After the Taller period he developed his work with Puntos Suspensivos, a band that brought Canarian percussion and popular instruments into a singer-songwriter and rock format. In 2007 he released Vuelos, a personal release combining a pop substrate and Canarian sounds, within a career that counted the Taller albums.

Contribution

His importance for the Canary Islands music catalogue comes from a distinctive position: he was not born in the archipelago, but his work and teaching developed around Canarian culture. With Taller he took part in a new generation of singer-songwriter music linked to the islands; with Puntos Suspensivos he brought percussion and popular materials into a language of authorial song, rock and fusion. His institutional work in Contenidos Canarios also connects music, school and cultural identity.

Style

He is a singer-songwriter crossing authorial song with Canarian sounds. He has studied Canarian popular music, uses Canarian percussion and recovers popular rhythms and instruments; Vuelos mixes pop and Canarian sounds. His songs combine traditional and modern rhythms, electronic arrangements and texts by himself or authors such as Pedro García Cabrera and Gabriel Aresti.

Repertoire

His repertory includes the Taller Canario de Canción albums, the Puntos Suspensivos stage and works such as Tic, tac, Tiempo, Rogelio Botanz canta a Alfonso Sastre and Vuelos.

Legacy

His legacy can be read on two levels. Musically, he links Taller Canario de Canción with a later fusion line in which Canarian percussion, El Hierro whistles, social song and rock share the stage. Educationally, his work in the Programa de Contenidos Canarios brought Canarian culture into schools and is relevant for understanding how music and island identity entered teaching materials and activities.

Canary Islands connection

The Canarian connection does not come from birth but from his residence in Tenerife since 1978, co-founding Taller Canario de Canción in 1985, research and dissemination of Canarian popular music, the presence of island percussion and instruments in Puntos Suspensivos and his work as coordinator of the Programa de Contenidos Canarios.

Works and recordings

2007

Vuelos

Álbum que define su etapa personal de mezcla entre pop, sonidos canarios y textos de autor.

Noche de los lápices

Canción destacada dentro de su repertorio de memoria social.

Percusión canaria en Puntos Suspensivos

Puntos Suspensivos es un ejemplo de recuperación de ritmos e instrumentos del folclore canario en una banda contemporánea.

Timeline

  1. Nacimiento

    Nace en Legazpi, Gipuzkoa; desde 1978 queda afincado en Tenerife.

  2. Tenerife

    Se establece en Tenerife en 1978.

  3. Taller Canario de Canción

    Participa con Andrés Molina y Pedro Guerra en la creación de Taller Canario de Canción.

  4. Contenidos Canarios

    Coordina el Programa de Contenidos Canarios, con reconocimiento oficial en 2002.

  5. Castillos de arena

    Taller Canario de Canción publica Castillos de arena, ligado a la etapa de Andrés Molina y Rogelio Botanz.

  6. Vuelos

    Publica Vuelos en Gaztelupeko Hotsak, reseñado como trabajo personal entre pop y sonidos canarios.

Sources

Rogelio Botanz: Contenidos CanariosCEP Tenerife Sur - Gobierno de Canarias ↗"Estoy felizmente insatisfecho con mi nivel de reconocimiento"El País ↗BOC nº 139, 18 de octubre de 2002Boletín Oficial de Canarias ↗Rogelio BotanzWOMEX ↗Rogelio BotanzEntzun / Gaztelupeko Hotsak ↗Rogelio Botanz - VuelosB-Ritmos ↗