Paco Cepero (b.1942 Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz) is without a doubt one of the few remaining witnesses of a generation that has been very important for an understanding of flamenco. During his long career he has accompanied Tío Borrico, Terremoto, la Paquera, Caracol and Camarón de la Isla. For this reason, taking advantage of the presentation he made in Seville of his record "De Pura Cepa" we had the opportunity to talk to him about the current moment of the flamenco guitar.

How and with whom did Paco Cepero start out playing the guitar?

As everyone knows, I'm from Jerez and of course, ever since I was small I've felt flamenco close at hand. My father wanted me to study, and that's exactly what I did, but a time came when he had to take me to a guitar teacher there was in Jerez - his name was Rafael el Aguila - so that he could teach me the basics and I could go out and make a living.

What was that like Paco, going out and making a living?

It's just a manner of speaking that we flamencos had and have. Remember that I was only a boy, because we're talking about a time when I was just 15 or 16 years old. I remember I used to hang out with other boys my age and they used to look for fiestas with Terremoto - when he was in his prime - Tío Borrico, Sernita, el Sordera, etcetera. Those were the ones who really taught me how to play.

Well, but you're talking about playing just for cante, aren't you?

Of course! That's my world, in playing for singing. The thing is the years go by and you're not going to discover anything new. I think my style or way of playing is rather well-defined. I've never tried to compete with anybody, which is why I think I've been honest with myself and I managed to get a personal and unmistakable sound from the guitar. Nowadays, thank god, I'm one of the few who can say that I don't sound like anyone else.

Paco Cepero

Who was the first person to call you to play in public?

To tell the truth, the first one was Doña Francisca Méndez Garrido, La Paquera de Jerez, who called me to go with her in her company.... (he remains silent for a few seconds and adds) What fantastic memories I have of those times man! So then I went on tour with the Toronjo brothers, and with Curro de Utrera, Farruco, Chocolate....

Nobodies...

Jesus, just think of it! That was really something else. Not better, not worse, but completely different from what there is today. There I had to play for Paquera, Chocolate and Farruco, with the demands that all that made every day, because they were three of the biggest stars of the moment and I had to be up to the task.

So then it could be said that you got to know all different types of stage settings and venues, couldn't it?

Exactly. After that tour with la Paquera, Caracol called me up to go with him in his company and also do a tour of various Spanish theaters.

After that tour I stayed in Madrid and began playing in the tablaos. Mind you, I was about 20 years old then, more or less. That's why when I remember it now, I get so emotional, because you realize that life is just a breath of wind and everything has gone by so fast that I hardly stopped to think that in the course of my life I've lived through different stages of flamenco.

That way of learning that you all had, is that being lost?

Well I think that's true. Nowadays the kids play wonderfully and they have technique which we didn't have in my day, but they need to get out and live and enjoy the instrument in the school of life, which is the most important. I always say that today's young people start building the house from the roof down, when the most important thing is to lay some good foundations.

Technique-wise the guitar has arrived at a point that I think... they're doing insane things, you just can't get any more mischief out of six strings. Nevertheless, they lack soul and personality. We're witnessing a period of cloning of the flamenco guitar. One person imitates one guy, and another imitates some other guy, but in the end, where is flamenco guitar headed? I don't think that all this is positive for the development of the flamenco guitar.

Is the art of being a good accompanist being lost?

Well, I'm not the best person to say, but it does seem that everyone's crazy to become a good concert guitarist these days.

I've always been of the opinion that a guitarist who wants to become a true professional must first be an excellent connoisseur of cante. And there isn't anyone now who can possibly get that idea out of my head, I mean, it's just that I've experienced it in my generation. You have only to look at the professional history of guitarists like Paco de Lucía or Manolo Sanlúcar to realize that what I'm saying isn't all that far-fetched.

Let's talk a bit about the generation previous to yours, the so-called "School of great, individualistic creators". Which of those guitarists most influenced your personality?

That's some hard question! To be honest I would have to say Diego del Gastor. Because I admired Sabicas a lot, just as I did Niño Ricardo, Manolo de Huelva, Melchor de Marchena, and Esteban Sanlúcar, but Diego was different from them all. He was a guitarist that had a taste and sensibility out of the ordinary. How must he have been that the best singers of the that era wanted him to play for them. Singers like Juan Talega, Perrate, Fernanda, Mairena... I really think he was the one who most influenced me as an artist in spite of having been my teacher or anything like that.

"De Pura Cepa" is your latest solo work. How would you define it?

Well, the truth is, in that record Paco Cepero has shown himself like an open book so that people can understand what I really think and feel. It's my way of understanding flamenco and the guitar, nothing more, nothing less.

In actual fact the company hasn't given you much support in the way of promotion, has it?

The thing is, I had the idea of recording one single record, but then I met these people from Utrera thanks to Manuel Orta, and since I am the way I am, I jumped aboard and told them yes. Later on things came out differently, but the truth is that I can't really complain because in spite of not having had a good promotional campaign, the record has been heard a lot, and some of its themes have even been used as background music for several flamenco programs on television.

The record has some very good things, and technically it's no disappointment either.

Well thank you! The truth is I tried to be myself and I think that in the end I managed to do it. In actual fact I wouldn't have known how to do anything that wasn't what I did.

Maestro, it's been a pleasure meeting you and I hope that everything continues going at least as well as it has up til now.

Okay, well I'm glad and I thank for thinking of me, goodbye.

Translation: Estela Zatania