Josefa de Bastavales

Josefa de Bastavales (Tordoya, A Coruña, 20 July 1932 – 2 October 2024) was a Spanish tambourine player who performed with Manu Chao.

Career

She was born in the hamlet of Santaia, 30 km north of Santiago de Compostela. She started playing the tambourine when she was ten years old, "in those village parties."

In 1999, the French musician Manu Chao organized a large pulpada at the house that his father ―Ramón Chao (1935-)― owned in Bastavales (300 m north of Josefa's house). There were over thirty guests, including Xurxo Souto, Os Diplomáticos de Monte Alto, José Manuel Pereiro, and Pinto d'Herbón. "They came to get me, we made food, and everything ended in a party, and that's where a great friendship was born."

Later, Manu Chao invited her to participate in some home recordings (with his portable recording studio). When Josefa's husband died, he invited her to sing and play the tambourine in Lyon (France). She had never traveled further than León (Spain). He later called her to every concert he did in the region: Lalín, Pontevedra, A Coruña, Costa da Morte... Eventually, she participated in a tour with Manu Chao and his musicians ― always accompanied by her daughters― that took her for nine months across Spain and France. In the recording studio, Josefa de Bastavales did not feel so comfortable; she preferred the stage.

In 2002, Josefa de Bastavales had a heart attack, from which she was slow to recover.