Doriav Kali

La Família Gitana releases a special cassette edition featuring the seven singles previously put out in 2024 by Francisco Rebelo, Joaquim Monte and Cajó, with the participation of Ganso, and now reissued through Lovers and Lollypops. This release marks the meeting of two stories: that of the cousins’ band, raised in the Bairro do Fim do Mundo in São João do Estoril (Cascais), and that of the Porto-based label, which has just celebrated twenty years of independent music. 

They are “sailor” cousins, grown up in a seaside neighbourhood, who “do what they want” with pride in their “brown skin” and a strong desire to honour the musical dreams of their ancestors. 

The sound of La Família Gitana blends flamenco, rumba and Roma tradition, while the band members also draw on modern beats from rap, pop, reggae, funk, funaná and even afro house. Each concert is experienced as a ritual of emotional intensity: “when a gypsy sings, he shows everything he feels, with no shame in exposing his soul,” says the band’s founder, Ari Monteiro.