The new website created by the Data Centre of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, as part of the Memoria Digital de Lanzarote project, was recently presented at the Sala José Saramago of the Fundación César Manrique. It is Memoria Sonora de Lanzarote, a digital sound archive that brings together almost 90 records and more than 800 songs of popular and traditional music from Lanzarote and La Graciosa, and which has also had the collaboration of the ULPGC University Library.
The musician and broadcaster Benito Cabrera, the project's coordinator, was responsible for presenting this sound archive, which has been more than a year in the making and which gathers recordings made in Lanzarote and La Graciosa since 1963.
The almost 90 records have been compiled thanks to the research work carried out by Benito Cabrera and to donations, mainly from private collectors, musical groups and record labels. A large proportion of those records are out of print, but they can now be listened to via streaming thanks to this new free, open-access repository.
Musical categories
Memoria Sonora de Lanzarote is devoted to the popular and traditional music of Lanzarote and includes, among others, lullabies, songs of Canarian roots, serenades, children's songs, seafaring, American and traditional Canarian folklore, choral and instrumental music, parrandas (informal group music-making), and more.
The list of artists is also a very long one: Los Campesinos. Ajei, Acatife, Florián Corujo, Trío Lanzarote, Los Ranchos de Pascua, Guácharo, Domingo Corujo, Los Buches, Alexis Lemes, José María Gil, Guadarfía, Ico Arrocha, La Perla, Parranda Los Toledo, El Pavón, Toñín Corujo, Amigos de Portonao, Maxi Ferrer, Charco de San Ginés, and so on.
Although the project has initially been devoted to traditional music, it is expected to expand in the future to other genres such as pop and rock, as well as to ethnographic interviews and oral testimonies.
Benito Cabrera thanked the Cabildo of Lanzarote for having entrusted him with developing this project and stated that “this project is unique in the Canary Islands. There is no archive like this on any other island. The Cabildo of Lanzarote has done a great job in supporting the creation of Memoria Sonora de Lanzarote. And this is only the beginning. We trust that, thanks to the generosity of individuals, groups and record labels, new recordings will keep coming to light and we will be able to expand the catalogue. And that, in addition, new musical genres will gradually be incorporated. The ultimate aim would be to have a physical sound library where all the holdings could be enjoyed in their original formats.”