Arcángel, flamenco cantaor. Interview
“Unfortunately, there are
still
uncompromising people in flamenco”
Silvia Calado. Madrid, October 2007
Translation: Joseph Kopec
Passion, courage and truth. Those
are the three hidden treasures Arcángel
has revealed upon plunging into the work of Manolo
Caracol. The historic cante maestro has inspired the
first show created specifically for theater by the Huelva-born
cantaor. ‘Zambra 5.1’ is teamwork which cries
out for memory and artistic freedom... still in flamenco.
And that’s just what he didn’t find in a certain
sector of the critics when he premiered it at Málaga
en Flamenco 2007. But there’s no reason for controversy,
since what he openly lays stakes on is reconciliation.
Memory and avant-garde. Tradition and renovation. For
a flashback to 1922 not to be incompatible with new technologies.
For it to be remembered, but also imagined. That’s
how he understands the memory should be restored of one
of flamenco’s greats: “render therefore unto
Caesar the things which are Caesar’s”.
Arcángel, 'Zambra
5.1' |
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‘Zambra 5.1’ is the
first show you’ve created independently of an album.
How did you decide to take that step?
The idea first arose out of my admiration
for Manolo Caracol. And then because I felt like doing
something of my own, thought up by me. I thought there
could be nothing nicer than to pay tribute to one of the
great maestros. They all deserve it, of course, but I
decided I wanted to pay it to Caracol because it’s
cante that I really like and I really identify with.
How is the show structured?
The show is split up into three parts
with no intermission. And they correspond to three very
clear stages in Manolo Caracol’s career. In the
first, we recall the cantes he did in the 1922
Contest. Well, we recall the styles, because it isn’t
exactly known which cantes they were. Seguiriya, soleá
and saeta are done. The second part is where Caracol devoted
himself to doing classic-style performances. Bulerías,
alegrías and fandangos caracoleros are done. And
there’s a third part in which Caracol then gave
free rein to his creativity with the zambra. With a little
ending that lasts about ten minutes, we make up what might
have been going on in his head. And I base it on the fandango
de Huelva because it’s my native land and I felt
like doing it that way.
The music is reinforced with
images...
Yeah, the show includes audiovisuals.
They sometimes run simultaneously with the cante. And
others, independently of the cante. They’re really
short; two or three minutes long. It isn’t old footage
of Caracol, but rather newly created videos. For example,
there’s one with footage of Holy Week, which ends
up as criticism of the world we have, of the poverty that
exists, of how little fair we humans are. There’s
a video which has wrinkled a great many feathers in which
a hooded man with a wide-brimmed hat appears. To us, it
symbolizes the people - unfortunately, there are still
some left - who are uncompromising in flamenco, the people
who are against flamenco advancing, new things being done,
people believing, or at least, providing their personal
contribution.
And on the other hand, it represents
those who don’t respect a position different from
the one they believe to be the right one. It’s a
video which certain people have interpreted rather wrong,
in a sense it has nothing to do with. They think we’ve
done something against the figure of Antonio
Mairena, which I’d never even think of doing,
since I respect him as an artist and as a person, without
having met him. I have a duty to respect him until the
final consequences. Besides, it’d be absurd for
me to go into that controversy which I’m not interested
in at all. I wasn’t bored at home and just started
criticizing people. The only thing I’ve tried to
do is to be the loudspeaker of something everybody knows,
but nobody says. And the thing is that there are people
who as soon as someone does something different in a given
cante, they ring the alarm on him, they start clawing
against it.
And Manolo Caracol suffered that
… as did Camarón.
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| "To
the contrary of wrinkling feathers, what I’m
trying to do is to call for sensibleness, to have
tradition shake hands with renovation, not have
them confronted or opposing" |
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Exactly; you’ve named two of the
ones appearing in the video, together with Antonio
Chacón, Enrique
Morente, Pepe
Marchena… who suffered the repression of uncompromising
people who didn’t understand what they were doing
or who didn’t know how to be up to the level of
what they were doing. That’s precisely what I criticize
in my show. But moreover, the truth is that some people
are a little slow when they want to be, since at the end
of the show, in the fandangos, I adapt lyrics by José
Luis Ortiz Nuevo speaking about purity. It more or less
says that “purity is comfort, a line in your memory,
a grant from heaven, why argue so much about the old and
the modern and what’s to come? If you were looking
ahead and I was looking back, all we’d have to do
is both turn around to find each other again”. To
the contrary of wrinkling feathers, what I’m trying
to do is to call for sensibleness, to have tradition shake
hands with renovation, not have them confronted or opposing.
That’s the sense. I’m really sorry there are
people wanting to create conflict where there isn’t
any, at least, on my part. It’s sad that they want
to put a face on this hooded figure, a fictional character,
when he doesn’t have one. It’s curious, but
may each person do what he wants. I limit myself to expressing
art and try for people to enjoy it.
Arcángel with Dorantes.
'Zambra 5.1' premiere
(Photo Málaga en Flamenco 2007)
Are they cantes and lyrics just
like Caracol used to do or are there also new creations?
Most of them are; it’s the repertoire
Caracol used to do. I also recover stuff by Pastora
Pavón for a bulería, which goes with
a mini videoclip of Javier Conde bullfighting, because
of the relationship Caracol had with bullfighting and
what a big fan he was. And then there’s another
little video, which is a little bit the relationship between
Manolo Caracol and Lola Flores, but artistically speaking.
We don’t go into other matters. I simply do a representation
of those shows they did together.
As a novelty, you also use Dolby
surround sound in the live show...
Yeah, we use Dolby surround 5.1 which
isn’t active throughout the concert, but rather
at specific moments so as not to overdo it too much. It’s
something which gives it a new edge because it changes
the sound spectrum a little which you’re used to
when you go to a concert, where you always have everything
in front of you. You suddenly have the sensation that
things sound behind you or in the middle of the place,
besides the effects we’ve stuck in. It’s a
matter of changing the normal dynamics of a concert a
little. And then there’s another element I include.
I say that because some people have misunderstood it.
And the thing is they’ve thought I stick samples
into a number I do. And nothing could be further from
the reality. I don’t stick in samples, but rather
with a pedalboard I record everything I do live and I
play it at the same time. There aren’t any studio
samples or anything crafty; I have a machine and every
time I step on the pedal it records and when I step on
it again, it plays what’s recorded, that’s
all.
Arcángel with Miguel
Ángel Cortés. 'Zambra 5.1' premiere
(Photo Málaga en Flamenco 2007)
What artists accompany you on
stage?
I have really good musicians. There’s
Daniel
Méndez and Miguel
Ángel Cortés on guitar; Chico Fargas
and Agustín Díaz on percussion; Dorantes
on piano, who’s been a very important addition to
me for the zambra and the final piece, and Pastora
Galván on baile. I’m really happy because
I’ve seen everybody really involved. We’ve
tried to do a show which we ourselves enjoy every time
we perform it, which doesn’t turn out a little boring
for us or something you have to do because it’s
your job. A show’s been done really in agreement
with everyone; we put the music together between all of
us, we’ve all made our contribution. And I hope
it’s a show people like and it has its repercussions
… and not precisely due to controversy.
Did you have to do research to
get to know Caracol’s work even more deeply?
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| "Manolo
Caracol was a very great cantaor and you have to
render therefore unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar’s" |
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Obviously. Besides the knowledge I had,
of course I had to catch up on a great many things, some
of which I didn’t know. I had to investigate his
works more, his person. And the truth is that it was hard
work, many months of preparation. I don’t know if
we’ve gotten it right or not, but we’ve done
it with all the affection in the world, with every respect
for the figure of Manolo Caracol and his cante, starting
with the premise that nobody can do them better than him.
I’ve tried to take it to my own ground, to the little
bit which I can contribute.
Have you discovered anything
in his way of singing or performing which you hadn’t
detected before?
I have a theory and it’s that it’s
curious that when you listen at a certain age, and another
and another, you hear things quite differently. You even
hear things you didn’t hear before. And it’s
curious because it’s still the same recording. You’re
the one who’s not the same. And in Caracol, I’ve
now discovered above all passion in everything he used
to do, courage and truth in everything coming out of his
mouth; it’s amazed me. I knew him more or less,
but every time I listened to him, he scared me more. That’s
the truth.
Why does his figure have to be
vindicated in today’s flamenco?
I think he was really important. To me,
he was one of the pillars of flamenco and I think he’s
fallen a little into oblivion. That’s the sensation
I have. Manolo Caracol was a very great cantaor and you
have to render therefore unto Caesar the things which
are Caesar’s.
