Guitarist celebrates beauty of adopted home

A BRASS band, fishermen’s choir, folk musicians and a dash of flamenco – Eduardo Niebla’s latest musical composition is nothing if not bold.

Tomorrow night, more than 150 musicians including the Ripon City Brass Band, the Men of Staithes, Rock Up and Sing! as well as a host of virtuoso musicians will join Eduardo for the first live performance of his latest, epic composition. My Yorkshire Road is a collection of musical pieces by the acclaimed guitarist and composer inspired by Yorkshire’s landscape and culture which he will be performing at Ripon’s Holy Trinity Church and on Sunday at the Ryedale Festival.

Eduardo’s career spans four decades and along the way he has toured all over the world, produced 23 cds and collaborated with countless musicians, including jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill, flamenco bass pioneer Carles Benavent and pop stars like George Michael and Craig David.

For the past 10 years the Moroccan-born musician has made Yorkshire his home, living in Melmerby, near Ripon, with his wife Katherine and their family. During this time he became fascinated by the landscape and culture of his adopted home which inspired his music. “It started very simply and then slowly it grew and it become a mammoth piece, but I wanted to celebrate Yorkshire folklore and culture as well as its landscape, so it had to be big,” he explains.

Not content with assembling an army of musicians, he also enlisted the help of Ian McMillan to write some lyrics to accompany the music. “He is a wonderful writer and his lyrics fitted perfectly with my music,” says Eduardo, whose own lightning guitar playing has won him countless plaudits over the years.

“I’m very excited about this; the local musicians are superb and they have done a great job. There are elements of traditional folk, there are choirs and a bit of flamenco – it is a coming together of musicians from across Yorkshire.”

Eduardo’s colourful life started in Tangiers, in 1955, the seventh of 11 children. In 1960, his family left Morocco due to growing political turmoil and arrived as refugees in Girona, in northern Spain, during the reign of General Franco.

“I remember it was very cold. I had always lived somewhere hot but we lived near the Pyrenees and that is where I saw snow for the first time.” But it wasn’t just the weather that made life difficult.

“Life was tough under Franco. Everything was militarised. As a kid you had to salute the flag in the streets because if you didn’t, you could get into trouble with the police, even if you were a child. Most people didn’t speak out because they were too scared, so there were no political opponents.”

From an early age, though, music proved a salvation. “When I was a toddler my mother used to tell me off because I would stand with my ear right next to the radio listening to classical music. My father loved music, he loved opera, and my brothers loved jazz and flamenco, so I had all these wonderful influences,” he says.

“For me music is a universal language, even without words, and for me it has always been a place where I can be free and open and express how I feel. There is something special about live music because a performance can take you to a different place, it’s magical.”

At the age of 18 he formed the cult symphonic rock band Atila before moving to England in 1978. Since then he has performed at festivals all over the world. But he says he is settled in Yorkshire. “It’s such a wonderful region. I’ve been very fortunate in the last ten years to have performed all over Yorkshire in towns and villages and my wife is worried that I know Yorkshire better than she does,” he jokes. Surely, though, Yorkshire and Spain are like chalk and cheese? “There are a lot of similarities, in Spain the family is very important just as it is here and the people are very honest and hard-working, which is important to me because I come from a hard-working family.”

My Yorkshire Road, concert premiere, Sat, July 23, Holy Trinity Church, Ripon. Tickets £12. Sun, July 24, The Ryedale Festival, Joan of Arc Hall, Botton, near Whitby. Tickets £12.

Eduardo Niebla – Journey of a guitar man

Eduardo was born in Tangiers in 1955, the 7th of 11 children.

In 1960, his family left Morocco and arrived in Girona, Spain, where Eduardo grew up.

He dabbled in rock music, forming cult band Atila, before moving to Paris and then England in 1978.

He has performed across the world at the Jaipur Festival, the San Isidro Fiesta, in Madrid, the Brecon International Festival, and Glastonbury.

Earlier this year he launched his 23rd album, My Gypsy Waltz, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.