For those who harbor any hope of seeing Manu Chao perform in New York City this year, now is the time to start working the bandwagon.  There’s a good deal of public talk on this, and another voice is always welcome.  Especially because it would work beautifully with the populist leanings of this amazing musical artist.  New York seems like the perfect place for him, too.  In the midst of all the fine Manhattan business hotels, there are many different voices working in different mediums, and from any kind of perspective, the city is a barrage of multiple rhythms that don’t stop.

It suits his music perfectly, and it only makes sense that he performs again here as he makes his way around the world.  With things as they are, we need his voice here now more than ever.  The madness in the music has always been the perfect dada response to a world gone wrong.  On the sunniest days, it can make you feel the juiciest rhythms of the soul, combining influences from French and Italian sources, with a spirit that is wholly Latin.  And on rainy days, it can strike a wonderfully absurd chord in the back of the heart, to remind you that laughter is something that no one can ever take away from you, even if it has to be a cackling, insane giggle.

The man is as interesting as his music, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his multi-layered, chaotic, and sometimes surprisingly simple works.  He was born in Paris in 1961, and both of his parents are from Spain.  His formative years were spent in France, and when punk came to town with the Clash, Manu Chao started to find his calling.  He would eventually play as the front man for Mano Negro, where you can hear a lot of the multiple languages and cultural influences present in his recent work.  His solo career has been a very exciting one to watch, earning him the respect of other artists, the music industry, as well as the multiple alternative communities he crosses into and out of with a radical deftness.  It’s a remarkable feat for anyone.  He should play New York.

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