Olé (group)
Olé are an international musical comedy trio, created & written by Paul Morocco in 1992, in collaboration with Alessandro Bernardi and Antonio Forcione. The current members are Paul Morocco, Guillermo de Endaya and Marcial Heredia. In addition to comedy and Latin guitar music, their act also includes juggling, dancing and the sublime.
Paul Morocco
Paul Morocco was born in 1961 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. He comes from a Moroccan mother and an American father. Paul was taught to play guitar by his brother at the age of 10, and learned to juggle with three lemons while working in a restaurant at the age of 15. In 1978, he joined the International Jongleurs Association where he won several competitions. After he had performed in many school plays, it was his high school talent show that was to sow the seeds of the life of an artist. In 1980, he attended Old Dominion University, where he studied languages and international marketing. In 1984, he learned the ancient craft of passing the hat; he street-performed from New Orleans to New York, and finally ended up in Europe. In 1985, he won the Cardiff Street Festival Competition. In 1987, he based himself in London, where he became well known on the comedy club circuit, and soon began appearing on numerous TV shows and commercials: The Jonathan Ross Show, Saturday Night Live, Playdays, Vimto and Worthington.
EC Big Band
In 1990, He created a new show called Paul Morocco and the EC Big Band. Collaborating with Bill Bailey and Alessandro Bernardi, they performed at the London Mime Festival. With his new manager, Glynnis Henderson, and the combined talents of Alessandro Bernardi and Antonio Forcione, he formed the “Ole” show, where they won the British Gas Awards and the Scotsman Best Newcomer’s Award at the 1991 Edinburgh Festival. In 1993, Ole performed for “Just For Laughs” in Montreal, as well as the Adelaide, and Melbourne Comedy festivals. In 1995 in his first TV Sitcom, he played a silent character in the Asylum for Paramount Television.
In 1996, Guillermo de Endaya, the longest surviving Ole member, joined the show. The following year Marcial Heredia joined Ole. They performed with Ramon Ruiz and Anita La Maltesa in a five-person show, where they performed throughout Italy in theatres and television including: Maurizio Constanzo's “Buona Domenica”, Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo show, Teatro Nazionale in Milan.
Guillermo, born in Bilbao, Spain, started playing guitar at the age of 14. Later on he studied Arts at the University of the Basque Country obtaining a degree with honors in audiovisual arts. Contemporarily, he studied music (singing and clarinet) at the Conservatory in Leioa (near Bilbao), becoming the drummer of the Big Band Bilbao for over three years. He led several bands as a singer, guitarist and composer performing in clubs and festivals in the Basque Country. In 1990 he moved to southern Germany. He founded the Willie Endaya Band and played his own songs for about four years until he joined Paul Morocco in 1996. At the same time he worked in other live and recording projects as a guitarist, singer, cajón player and music programmer. Throughout the past years he performed solo (guitar & voice) and still does using a vast repertoire that goes from own songs to pop, rock and jazz standards. His senses of melody, rhythm and acting skills have been part of Olé! since 1996.
Paul, Guillermo, and Marcial performed together for eight years.
In 2002, Michael Hilleckenbach became Paul’s international manager. In 2005, Antonio Gomez joined Ole, and in the same year Paul Morocco created the second show based on Ole, called Lost Locos. The artists include: Carlos Chávez, Juan Antonio Portela, and Rubén Alvear.
Antonio Gómez was born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. His musical life began at family parties and fiestas in his home town playing traditional Cuban music. At the age of 16 he began to study in Havana at the ENIA and ENA (Cuba’s esteemed National Arts Schools) where he successfully finished his studies of Choral Direction, Classical Guitar and Ensemble Direction. Since 1995 he has been touring throughout Europe with different musical projects as a Singer, Solo Guitarist and Latin Performer. In 1996, he contributed to the album Cuando Ci Sarai by the legendary Italian group Nomadi and recorded in 1999 Como Suena with his Cuarteto “La Timba” including own compositions and traditional Cuban songs. In the European Latin Music Scene he has performed, e.g. with the Salsa band “Conexión Latina”, “Dúo Bacilón” and “Cubayuma”. As a composer in 2004, he started a new project “Trovador de afuera” - an acoustic mix of Poetry and Contemporary Latin Music. Paul Morocco discovered the young musician with Spanish Temperament and the Afrocuban voice in 2005. Now he is a part of Olé, combining his energy, musical talents, creativity and natural feeling for humour.
Quote
“The future is greater than the past”, It’s not just a show, it’s a philosophy…this journey continues. Thanks to all the artists who have contributed ideas, spirit, and joy". P.M.