A new record, a new plaza, a new documentary, a great concert at Sant Jordi and, of course, a new book and a new comic to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Companyia Elèctrica Dharma. The festivities for the half-century of the group face the end of the celebrations with a notable outpouring of events that yesterday focused on the Comanegra publishing house with the presentation of two books, Companyia elèctrica Dharma, 50 anys and the children’s comic Dharma Rock Guitar , two approaches to a group that has become in its own right the history of music in Catalonia.
Made with unpublished material extracted from the archives of the Fortuny brothers’ band, Companyia elèctrica Dharma, 50 anys takes a journey through decades through the graphic archive of the band itself narrated by the voices of writers and journalists, including Àngel Casas, neighbor of the Fortuny brothers in Sants, who left his last lines in this book before passing away in October of last year. The work discovers the different stages of Dharma, born around a commune in the seventies, and named after The Dharma Wanderers, the work of beatnik Jack Kerouac.
After its inaugural concert on February 20, 1972 at the Font d’en Fargues in the Barcelona neighborhood of Horta, the Companyia became a regular at concerts and festivals in the years of “the disappointment of multinational Spain”, as described by Lluís Fortuny, recalling that brief period of time when the group was heard throughout Spain, triumphing at festivals such as the one in Burgos in 1975, with Franco still alive, where his music was defined as “rock with roots” and was received by a generation in search of novelties.
The emergence of the seventies consolidated a formation that found a place within Catalan music with its proposed mix of rock, folk and traditional music, although they continue to define themselves as an eminently rock band.
Throughout its history, the longest-lived rock group in Catalan, Dharma has experienced great performances such as Rock in Rio in 2001, or the full house of Sant Jordi for the twentieth anniversary, in 1994. “It has not been a path of roses” recalls Joan Fortuny, thinking above all of the death of his two brothers, Esteve and Josep, which marked the worst moments for the band. Josep’s death in 2013 led to the temporary dissolution of Dharma, which spent a year without stepping on stage, and seven without publishing a new album.
The unmistakable sound of Joan Fortuny’s soprano sax has accompanied Dharma throughout their career, in which they have released 25 albums, to which on April 1 will be added Cançons arraconades, a compilation of 15 unpublished songs recorded throughout of the history of the formation that will appear on March 31st. Quite a gift for the most seasoned followers of the band, since the songs are published just as they were recorded in the different periods of the formation, maintaining their original sound, sometimes of low quality.
The closing of this Any Dharma will take the form of a concert, again at Sant Jordi and again for Sant Jordi. It will be on April 22 when the group will perform in what they expect to be the last great concert of their career, where they will be accompanied by artists such as Albert Pla, Gossos, Sopa de Cabra, Maria del Mar Bonet, Quimi Portet, The Tyets and the activist Jordi Cuixart. among others, as well as a large representation of Catalan popular culture.
A last (great) goodbye to a band that from now on will be remembered in their neighborhood, Sants, with two squares next to the Mercat Nou metro stop. One of them will pay homage to the deceased Esteve and Josep, and will open on April 1 with a performance included by Dharma. The other will be located in front of this one on the other side of the street, and will appear when the reform for the transfer of the Vapor Vell library is finished. A physical space to remember an indelible sound.
