And old Arab proverb says: “The past has fled and what you expect is still absent but the present is all yours”. Macaco endorses these wise words convinced that the present –the now– treasures the only asset that man owns. Ever since his eponymous project started back in 1997, Dani “Macaco” has been leading by example, turning every track, every song, every album, and every performance into a new beginning. Distinguishing hope from routine, desire from demagoguery, ambition from artifice, has taken him to live fully every moment making the most of the opportunities his talent affords him and gaining mainstream support here (in Spain) and abroad. His is a career in constant progression that, slowly but surely culminates in Puerto Presente (Present Port) (Mundo Zurdo-EMI, 2009), a reassertion of his ethics and aesthetics which, exceeding the boundaries of Gold Record (hard copy release) and Double Platinum (digital), have earned him an outstanding series of recognitions and awards including one Ondas Award 2009 for Best Album, a 40Principales Award for Best Video-Clip (Moving) and three additional nominations, one Rolling Stone Award, a couple of nominations at the Latin Grammy Awards (as Best Indie Song) and at the MTV Europe Music Awards and, finally, the Best Song Award (Moving), given by the readers of EP3-El País (Spanish main newspaper).

And it is at this precise moment when it is only fair to point out that Macaco is a true pioneer. Bearer and champion of fusion without confusion, he was ahead the latest crossover trend coming from Barcelona devoting himself to Ingravitto (Mundo Zurdo-EMI, ‘06), built on solid pillars (Catalan rumba and reggae) but with much further views, to the very essence of popular music; a song, that ultimate revolution so much talked about by John Lennon, the principle of synthesis and the absolute purpose for a creator involved in the universality of the local and galvanized by the power of communication. Thus, while Brasil 3000 or Bajo Un Mismo Sol (Under The Same Sun) showed that you should only mixed music from different latitudes when you can understand the cultural features framing them, Sideral and Con La Mano Levantá (With a Raised Hand) set themselves as reliable proof that a different pop was–and still is–possible.

As well as selling more than eighty thousand copies in Spain only, his appearance in the massive Concert For Peace event in San Sebastián (north of Spain) –sharing bill with Bob Dylan and sadly-gone Basque singer-songwriter Mikel Laboa– and the enormous impact of the Mama Tierra (Mother Earth) video-clip, where famous music colleagues (Bunbury, Bebe, Julieta Venegas), top-notch actors/actresses (Fernando Tejero, Lola Dueñas, Luis Tosar), and good communicators (Jon Sistiaga, Eva Hache, Concha García Campoy) extended their call for attention to the damage continuously inflicted on our planet, this record meant a real turning point. It was so for his international projection, with live performances in Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, France, and the United States; and above all, for his unstoppable creative progression.

The Ingravitto success proves indeed to be a just reward for an investigation process which, somehow, culminates in Entre Raíces y Antenas (Between Roots and Antennas) (Mundo Zurdo-EMI, ‘04), a rather ambitious conceptual work which has finally received due recognition. Exploring the relationships between tradition and avant-garde, Macaco put together a double CD taking the discovery of the most precious treasure –the groove, the camine, the soniquete, the cozinha– as a return trip. First, De La Raíz A La Antena (From The Root To The Antenna), exploring together with his band the sources of a raw, sinewy and convincing sound. And then, De La Antena A La Raíz (From The Antenna To The Root), working in the solitude of the studio on the organic side of electronic music. A true tour de force which stamped the passport of an international tour including Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Taiwan and Japan, adding the likes of La Banda Iónica, Zuco 103, and Los Patriarcas de la Rumba to his wide curriculum of collaborations and which, all told, reshaped and resized his proposal beyond all expectation.

In fact, Macaco has always been an artist of artists. David Byrne remixed Delaveraveraboom and after listening to El Mono en el Ojo del Tigre (The Monkey In The Eye Of The Tiger) (Edel, ‘99) he invited him to produce Los de Abajo and King Changó. Italian artist Roy Paci (Mau Mau), Senegalese band Touré Kunda and Brazilian singer-songwriter Lenine all left their imprint on Rumbo Submarino (Submarine Course) (Edel, ‘01). Moreover, besides having been member of the Ojos de Brujo band, his service record features collaborations in various film scores and soundtracks; “Amnesia” (‘92), by Gabriele Salvatore (Best Foreign Movie Oscar Academy Award for “Mediterráneo”), “Darkness” (02), by Jaume Balagueró (Gold Mélies Award at the Sitges Festival for “Los Sin Nombre” (The Nameless)), “A Más” (’02) by Xavi Rivera (where he plays a small role with actress Najwa Nimri) and, more recently, “No Me Pidas Que Te Bese” (‘08) (Don’t Ask Me To Kiss You), by Albert Espinosa.

As one of his songs reads, “Tengo” (I’ve Got), Macaco has managed to get up to where he is now by means of love and faith. He’s definitively earned and deserves what he’s got. He now has a personal and non-transferable territory of his own, bathed by the undertow of sailor romances and the hangover of messages overflowing the bottle with commitment, exuberant in rhythm and melodic lush, sunny in intentions and honest through and through. But do not let the trees of success prevent us from seeing the forest of truth; casted off from his contingent of love and evolution, Puerto Presente (Present Port) is the cove where all he knows landfalls and the docking bay where all his got to learn sets sail, beginning with his unforgettable visit to the Saharawi refugee camps to perform at the closing ceremony of the International Sahara Film Festival (FiSahara’09). In the personal aspect, that was the highlight of a tour which, over the last year, has travelled across Spain and Portugal with some fifty shows in such significant arenas like the Cathedral Plaza in Barcelona, the Sudoeste Festival in Zambujeira Do Mar and the Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid. But let’s not talk about the past, nor the future–which throughout 2010 will be touring Europe and Latin America; let’s talk about this present which is (always) ours.