Have any of you heard of him? What do you think? I've been a fan since his first CD came out and he's been doing pretty well now mainstream and was curious to what people's opinions were about him.

HEARD of him? Why, I LOVE HIM!!! (hehehe... but not in the romantic/physical sense though ) In fact, you can download/listen to one of his new songs, "Eres", for free (you do have to register first, but can put in a false email address) in MP3 format @ http://es.artists.mp3s.com/artists/370/ismael_serrano.html

His official website @ http://www.IsmaelSerrano.com . In fact, a message board member turned me on to him several months ago and now I can't find enough about it. I've also posted my comments about him in the lonnnnnng thread, " Ten Great Songs In Spanish (Add Yours!!) " along with a direct link to my favorite of his song, "Km.0", about the Puerta del Sol of Madrid. Mmmmm.. I love that song... so smooth and easy and passionate about Madrid.. You can hear the RealAudio, 43 second song-clip from his site HERE as well the lyrics:

Km.0 by Ismael Serrano

Madrid, deshabitado como mi colchón
el verano en que me hice mayor,
y ella que ya no llama.

Tanta ciudad y tan poco por hacer,
gente que sueña su siesta y que
mira por la ventana.

Gente que miente por un trozo de calor,
que reza por que pare el ascensor,
atrapado contigo.

Madres que pieden a sus hijos al nacer,
buscando entre tus piernas lo que ayer
han dado por perdido.

Kilómetro Cero,
respira en el centro de la ciudad
el alma que se pierde al escapar.
Kilómetro Cero,
comienzo de los días que han de venir,
la lluvia que se derrama por ti.

Bares en los que la calma y la cerveza
salvan nuestra vida, y mi cabeza
soñando estar bajo tu ropa.

Promesas que se dicen en la cama,
luces que se clavan en tu espalda,
deja que yo te vista ahora.

Bajo unas ruedas mi mala sombra arrojaré,
quizás así interprete ese papel
en el que soy tu abrigo.

Mujeres que quizás hoy no puedas pagar
cuestionan con sus labios la verdad
de que aún seguimos vivos.

Kilómetro Cero,
respira en el centro de la ciudad
el alma que se pierde al escapar.
Kilómetro Cero,
comienzo de los días que han de venir,
la lluvia que se derrama por ti.

Kilómetro Cero,
respira en el centro de la ciudad
el alma que se pierde al escapar.
Kilómetro Cero,
comienzo de los días que vendrán,
la calma que nos trae tu tempestad.

I'm the one who turned Madridman on to Ismael Serrano. We are going to see him at Palau de Musica in Barcelona on June 1. He'll be in Madrid at Teatro Albeniz from May 28-30 as well, though tickets are probably going fast. He's the most popular of a wave of new singer-songwriters in Spain (cantautores). Other great ones include Tontxu, Antonio de Pinto , Paco Bello (currently in the duo Doctor Grillo ), Carlos Chouen. These four play in Madrid at least once a month in places like Libertad 8 and Galileo Galilei . Ismael Serrano's concerts can be found Here .

Jejej! Glad that I'm not the only one!
I do get moved by his music and the lyrics. So true to life and growing up, falling in love, getting older. Very poetic. You know his mentor was Serrat? Many people say he sounds too much like him, but I don't care. He is the voice of our generation like Serrat was of his time! (and still is). I have an autograph of his on one of his postcards that a friend of mine who goes to school with his younger brother got for us. It was signed for another friend, but she asked me at the time to hold it for her and now we go back and forth about it! jjejeje! Currently its mine! ;P

I got to see him also in concert one time in the Plaza Mayor for one years San Isidros festivities kick off! I almost cried!

Love Serrano! Sad to say it's hard as **** to find in the States - I bring his CDs back I'm in Spain. A friend is sending me the one that was released a few months ago (that's a slow friend - I asked for the CD before it was released and I think my friend waited until it went on sale! ) Is it as good as his other CDs?

I haven't heard the latest one yet... but check out the 40 Principales website . I saw they had something on him the other day, or try Ismael's website, they have clips.

As far as trying to get CD's from there. Blockbuster Music can special order music for you. (At one time I looked into getting an Antonio Flores CD- but then got it through a friend). Some of the other big Music stores will do it too! Look into that for future music purchases. I too bring back from Spain... and find also that I generally get better prices from FNAC than el corte inglés .. and there's the added convenience of having the books in the same place too! One stop shopping! More time to stroll around and visit with people!

Oh, Ismael Serrano! I listened a bit, and suddenly I'm a fan!

I've been off the board for many months now, and while it's true that I never did make a proper report after my visit to Spain last year (so sorry!) I have the good fortune to be able to visit Madrid again this year!! My daughter and I are leaving in 9 days (!) and I'd love to be able to get tickets to see Ismael Serrano. Assuming that any are still available, is a phone call the only way to obtain them? I can't find a web site for Teatro Albeniz, only a phone number, and while I'm competent in Spanish, I find phone conversations somewhat daunting. I wouldn't have any idea if I were buying good seats or not. Do they even sell them over the phone? Where would I pick up these hypothetical tickets anyway? What do you all advise? We arrive in Madrid on May 27th, and the tickets will surely be gone by then.

This board is the best! I learned so much last year that I was able to use on my trip (my first visit in 30 years), and when my daughter insisted only a couple of weeks ago that we should return, this is the first place I came for information. I promise to do better about reporting my experiences.

josie
embarrassed to have kept quiet so long :o

NO WAY! Just tuned into TV Andalusia and they have one of his videos playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT! And he's keeping up with the good stuff!

Espe3 - are you right - El Corte Inglés &/or FNCA is always where I go to pick up CDs. Selection and price are both good. I'm also a sucker for the photogrpahy book section at El Corte Ingles - it's sort of that last minute stop before trying to cram stuff into a suitcase to come home.

Well, I decided to try calling the Madrid number listed on Serrano's website to see if it's possible to get tickets to one of his upcoming concerts (it's the CajaMadrid number, listed on his site as 902 488 488). My international dialing skills have obviously suffered from lack of use, because I kept getting the message that my call could not be completed as dialed.

I'm using a calling card with some free time on it, so I dialed 1, 34 (country code), 1 (city code) and the above number. What am I doing wrong?

To think I was hesitant to call because of foreign phone fear, and I'm not even able to get far enough to say a word!.

josie