After three decades of intermittent activity, El Molino is reborn with a stable program with which it wants to recover its role within the cultural landscape of the Catalan capital. Hand in hand with the organizers of events such as Cruïlla, Barcelona Events Musicals, the venue will open a new stage on October 27, which will be full of music and humor and which aims to maintain the transgressive spirit of El Molino.
Jazz, blues, soul and folk will be protagonists of the space, owned by the City Council and which will work with the complicity of other cultural entities in the city. With a capacity of 250 people, the venue aims to become a reference in these musical fields, pointing to modalities of experimentation and improvisation in a more intimate atmosphere: "We want to turn El Molino into the great club of minority music in Barcelona," highlighted the new director, Victor Partido.
The doors of El Molino will reopen on October 27 with an inaugural party, and the program will start regularly from November 1. Among the names already included in the program are Donald Harrison, Eliane Elias, the Kahil'El Zabar Quartet, Bill Frisell, Eliades Ochoa, Ayo, Fatomauta Diawara and Uri Caine in the field of jazz. There will also be experimental and avant-garde proposals, such as those by Theo Croker, Zoh Amba, Ben Lamar Grey, Thom Skinner, Oren Ambarchi with Ghosted, Lakecia Benjamin, Myriam Gendron and Dorian Wood, in a program that will also feature Maestro Espada and Marala.
El Molino will revitalize a Paral·lel where the Teatre Arnau is also located, which will begin to be rehabilitated next yearIn addition to this firm commitment to music in a close format, far from large concerts, the recovered theater will be filled with humor,recalling its past as a meeting place for sailors, then called La Pajarera, characterized by flamenco and humorous performances. Now it passes into the hands of the organizers of Cruïlla, whohave won the contestlaunched by the City Council for four years, with the possibility of extending it annually for a maximum of four more.
Music and humor will be accompanied by a commitment to gastronomy and mixology, which can be enjoyed during the performances that will take place in a space characterized by its iconic blades. Initially, the program will run from Wednesday to Sunday with three sessions a day, with a configuration with chairs, tables, and sofas, instead of numbered seats.
With its new proposal, El Molino aspires to become a space of recognized international musical prestige, which will host intimate concerts by great musicians, both local and from the international sphere. In addition, the reopening of El Molino will contribute to revitalizing its surroundings in Paral·lel, something that the Teatre Arnau will also do, which will begin its rehabilitation during the first quarter of next year, as announced by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni.
El Molino, active for more than a century, wants to maintain its essence as a "prejudice-free, transgressive, diverse, plural, open to the world, and iconic space in Barcelona", as highlighted by the director of Barcelona Events Musicals, Jordi Herreruela. It is an iconic and "emblematic space for the city of Barcelona, emblematic for Catalan theater, and above all emblematic for Paral·lel and for the surrounding neighborhoods", as Collboni added. And it is that the space was for years a meeting point for well-to-do Barcelonians, who mingled with the residents of Poble-sec in a theater that wants to be filled with public again and recover its role in its environment, the city, and the world.