Early end for the bass line of a legend

4 December 2007

MADRID – Daniel Zamora, who was best known for playing bass in the rock band Los Rodríguez, took his own life on Friday in his home town of Palafrugell, in the Catalan province of Gerona. Zamora, 42, also known as Pato (duck), played alongside Alejandro Sanz and Manolo Tena during a career in which he did sessions for hundreds of artists, including Rod Stewart. The musician had retired from the music industry and returned home years previously to fight cancer.

Everyone who met him mentioned his sardonic sense of humour, which he attributed to the wind that blows through his native town. During the 1980s he moved to Madrid, where he played heavy metal as well as jazz-rock. In 1991 he was offered a position as bass player for Los Rodríguez, a band led by Ariel Rot and Andrés Calamaro, two Argentines who went on to have hugely successful solo careers. Rot was also well known for his work with the group Tequila.

Los Rodríguez were one of the most influential rock bands in Spain, although widespread recognition came late, when the band had released a farewell compilation album, Hasta luego (See You Later). While he is one of the lesser-known former members of the group, fans fondly remember his bass lines to many of Los Rodríguez’s finest tracks, such as those on the albums Sin documentos (Without Documents) and Palabras mas, palabras menos (More Words, Less Words).

Life with the band was not always easy, and during one particular tour with Joaquín Sabina, some of the band members were not even on speaking terms.

When Los Rodríguez finally broke up, Dani Zamora worked occasionally with Ariel Rot, but he gradually moved away from music to indulge in his other passion – literature. By the time of his death he had written and published Diccionario para el tercer milenio (Dictionary for the Third Millenium), Nuevo diccionario para el tercer milenio (New Dictionary for the Third Millenium), Cuentos impresentables (Outrageous Stories) and Los Rodríguez desde la cocina (Los Rodríguez from the Kitchen).

Subject: Spanish news