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Interview with Juan Cortés, pianist:
"In flamenco, no matter what you play,
you have to look to the guitar"
Martín Guijarro, September 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Jurepén: defined as feeling translated into flamenco through the
keys of a piano, the piano of Juan
Cortés. The compositions the young Tarragona-born musician puts together
on his début album are the result of years of learning, hard work, inspiration
and above all, communication with flamenco and jazz artists. This action of sharing
transmits a pronounced tone of freedom to the creation of a pianist whose guide
is flamenco guitar and whose aim is not to close the door on any experience.
Juan Cortés
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How did you get started in the music world?
It was all very natural. I began with my little group. And now I've put together
the songs I've composed with them in the last three or four years, plus a few
collaborations. The album is a reflection of the group.
Jurepén?
I got the word 'jurepén' out of a caló dictionary. It means feeling.
What is the stylistic starting point of your music?
I always start with flamenco, since what I've learned is flamenco. Although
it's true that I discovered jazz when I was fifteen and I started playing with
everyone. I don't limit myself to one aim, to wanting to do one specific thing.
I do what I like... and what I like is halfway between flamenco and other things.
I want it to sound like flamenco deep down. Even though it's jazz form, it isn't
jazz style.
Are you, like Diego Amador, among the pianists who take the guitar as a
reference?
In flamenco, no matter what you play, you have to look to the guitar because
there are no other references. But I opted for piano, I like to listen to its
sound. And I do what I like: flamenco my way expressed through the piano. And
Diego Amador is right when he says that you can't talk about flamenco piano. Flamenco
has always been musically expressed with the guitar.
What influences can be made out in your compositions?
Influences... I pick up things from everyone: Paco
de Lucía, Vicente Amigo, Bill Evans... I see if it expresses or not,
if it touches me or not. I look and see what's behind it and more so if it's piano
or guitar.
And you're introduced as a disciple of Chano Domínguez.
I met Chano
Domínguez in Valencia at the age of sixteen. He played flamenco, but
was doing things with jazz. And he gave me another point of view, another way
of understanding music.
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Juan Cortés
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What do you think 'Jurepén' contributes to the flamenco music scene?
What I contribute with this album are my compositions. I don't know if it's
something new. I simply try to give my frame of mind, not to hinder myself. If
I like it, I leave it as it is. I do songs I like with my friends, with people
I've worked with and who have come to collaborate on the record: Jorge
Pardo, Antonio Serrano, Montse Cortés... There is always that bond
of complicity with them. In fact, the atmosphere was more like that of a party
than a recording at the studio; it was practically done live. The bases were set
and four or five musicians took it from there. Most of the time, we took the first
or second take, since they were fresh.
What projects do you have in mind now that you have a début album?
For the time being, to go on playing and composing for the next tour. In autumn
we present the album in Madrid and Barcelona, and we'll go on tour around Spain.
Aside from that, I'll go on collaborating with all my fellow musicians. I like
doing a bit of everything, including music for baile. I don't want to stop doing
anything.
revista@flamenco-world.com
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