The 2014 Grammy Awards included an album by the Gipsy Kings, whose albums and tours have kept them in the public eye for over twenty-five years.

When their music got my attention years ago, I found and read their official biography, "Parce que nous sommes gitans," whose author I forget. As their families live in the Camargue, in the south of France, their language for formal official occasions is French; they have acquired some Spanish over the years, but it is with French that they are more conversational, as the biography made clear.

This year there have been appearances and tours, which I only know about second-hand as I have not gone. Time, however, has brought a development which, when viewed in the long term, is natural -- but disconcerting to fans buying the music products.

Now that the original members of the group, in both families -- Reyes and Baliardo -- are old enough to have grandchildren (and some undoubtably have them), there are two things being expressed. One, is that some of these older men don't want to be touring anymore, especially when their health is more fragile. The other, is that some of them want to be making music with their adult children as well as with the relatives of their own generation.

It has not been easy for these developments to be accommodated by the existing group. Indeed, there are two groups now, where there used to be one.

There is still an official presence, for whom the publicity now reads: Gipsy Kings Featuring Nicolas Reyes (longtime lead vocalist) and Tonino Baliardo (longtime lead guitarist). They have some of their sons with them in the band now. It is their brothers who are missing.

Guitarist Tonino Baliardo in fact is the youngest amongst his own brothers; as the biography discloses, they were raised without a father, and oldest brother Diego was very much the surrogate parent. It was no secret, although spoken of discreetly, that Diego's health was challenged by the touring; with his younger brothers now off and raising their own families, he no longer needed to support them; and his only child had married and started a family. Now he no longer tours, but stays amongst his own people. By all accounts, his departure from the touring group was amicable and everyone wished him well.

With the five brothers Reyes, it is a different story. These men, all proficient with the guitar, are the sons of a flamenco singer, and they all sing themselves, some of them are songwriters and poets. You can have an ensemble of men singing in harmony for a while, anyway....and Gipsy Kings recordings have -- if you know where to look -- occasional tracks where the harmony singing is remarkable. That acoustic album "Alegria" is a good example, it was recorded before they had a backup band with drums and electrified instruments, and the vocal harmonies are really tight and clear.

Today Nicolas Reyes sings in harmony with his sons, nephews and cousins. His brothers sang with him on the Grammy-winning album; and yet, it seems, the writing was already on the wall. Not long after the award was received, two of Nicolas' brothers, Patchai and Canut, released brief statements in French: we have been thrown out of the group, and they are leaving for the Australia tour without us....

It is not a simple question of not wanting these older men around. It is about their adult children, and how each parent wants to sing with his own. The latest new configuration, managed by Miles Copeland and currently named Gipsy Royale (James Bond, anyone?), includes three brothers, Pablo, Patchai, and Andre, and their sons. Canut's children are much younger; and he himself is staying at home, although at last report he was on better terms with Patchai and company than with Nicolas.

Then again, the group lineups are subject to change without notice....some of the fans lament the breaking up of the brotherhood, but the groups keep going one way or another.