Celt Iberia
Celt Iberia is the brainchild of flamenco guitarist Valdemar Phoenix and his wife, flamenco dancer and singer Lucia Rodriguez-Sanchez. It grew out of the fact Val's repertoire included musical pieces based on the themes played and recorded by Sabicas, one of the greatest maestros of flamenco in the 20th Century. Sabicas was a Gypsy, but born in the North of Spain. He undoubtedly was familiar with the alala, muneira, alborada, and other Celtic song forms from Galicia, Asturias, and other northern locales. Val had been playing one of Sabicas' arrangements when he came across a recording by the Spanish bagpiper (gaitero) Carlos Nunez playing an arrangement of the same Sabicas piece. Lucia and Val fell in love with Spanish Celtic sound and Celt Iberia came alive.