Mano Negra

Mano Negra was a multiracial music band fronted by Manu Chao. The band was founded in 1987 by Manu, his brother Antoine, and his cousin Santiago Casariego in Paris, France. It split up around 1995, but many members had already left by 1992.

Mano Negra mixed a number of styles: rock, flamenco, ska, ra?, salsa, reggae and african rhythms. The band, which is still revered on three continents, had been among the pioneers of world music fusion and are a direct influence on countless bands in Europe and South America. The mix of African, Latin and other rhythms is often called mestizo or patchanka (which is the name of one of their albums).

Name

La Mano Negra ("The Black Hand") was an alleged anarchist organization in Spain. The Spanish police accused most of the Spanish anarchists of being part of the organization.

It is also a common expression in Spanish to say "Aqu? hubo mano negra" ("There was a black hand here") to say that something has been made illegally or lacking moral values.

Manu Chao's parents were political exiles from Spain who moved to France escaping persecution from the dictatorship of Franco.

Band members

Manu Chao (Oscar Tramor) - lead vocals, guitar (1987?1995)
Antoine Chao (Tonio Del Bor?o) - trumpets, vocals (1987-1992)
Santiago Casariego (Santi El ?guila) - drums, vocals (1987-1993)
Philippe Teboul (Garbancito) - percussion, vocals (1989-1993)
Daniel Jamet (Roger Cageot) - lead guitar, vocals (1989-1992)
Joseph Dahan (Jo) - bass, vocals (1989-1993)
Thomas Darnal (Helmut Krumar) - keyboards, vocals (1989-1995)
Pierre Gauth? (Kr?p?l 1er) - trombone, vocals (1989-1993)

Discography

Albums
1988: Patchanka
1989: Puta's Fever
1991: King of Bongo
1994: Casa Babylon

Live recordings and compilations
1992: In the Hell of Patchinko

Compilations
1991: Amerika Perdida
1998: Best of
2004: L'Essentiel

Other releases
1994: Bande Originale du Livre (picture disc)
2001: Mano Negra Illegal (tribute album)
2005: Out of Time (DVD)

Further reading

Chao, Ram?n. Mano Negra en Colombia. Un tren de hielo y fuego (originally Un train de glace et de feu), 1994. A chronicle of Mano Negra's 1993 tour on Colombia's decrepit railway through small, rural villages, written by Manu's father, Ram?n Chao. The name of the train, "Expresso de Hielo," was inspired by the opening line of Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.