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Juan Diego, guitarist. Interview
"The guitarist is a frustrated cantaor"
Silvia Calado Olivo. Jerez, December 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
The condition for his parents to pay for his guitar lessons was for him
to study administration. He was about to take an office job, but he took advantage
of a weekend trip to Madrid to 'escape' from that imposed fate. Instead of two
days, Juan
Diego stayed in Spain's capital for nine years, stringing together jobs with
top baile figures such as Rafael Aguilar, Luisillo, Antonio Canales, Joaquín
Ruiz, Juana Amaya, Javier Latorre, El Pipa, La Tati, Joaquín Cortés,
Joaquín Grilo... And all of that, while he struck up communication with
musicians of 'Entre Dos Aguas' fame such as Jorge Pardo and Carles Benavent, heterodox
artists like Tomasito and Diego Carrasco, at the same time he was accompanying
cantaores such as Duquende and Miguel Poveda.
Five years ago he returned to his hometown, Jerez, got married, had a child...
A new cycle began. "Once I was here, I got a little cut off from the circle
in Madrid. After a few months, I was called to do a demo with Remedios Amaya.
I saw a very big source of inspiration and work for me to try and make a living
in the south". The cantaora is "my private muse. The truth is that I
was scared to death the first day because her image and her vital strength have
a great impact. But we connected and it seems as if we've known each other all
our lives. And we've had good times and bad times on stage and all that feeds
the relationship". In fact, Remedios Amaya has paid him back by doing vocals
in several of the songs on his first album, 'Luminaria'. The key for it to finally
materialize was the figure of Dr. Kelly, the producer, whom he met through the
cantaora: "It was about time, since the truth is that I'd been carrying the
demo around with me all over Madrid for a long time. "No instrumentals, thanks",
was the slogan. And that accompanied by "more choruses". And of course
for me to sing, I can't even sing out bingo".
The recording of the album was a real odyssey. Before the Cádiz company
Bujío Producciones put its money on the work, "there were other attempts,
but it was all too informal". He felt that as time passed, the responsibility
grew: "I had been delayed again and again and I felt more and more the obligation
to do a more serious album. It wasn't a kid's début. I'd already worked
with a lot of people and it was getting more and more for real. At first you don't
know you're going to be a guitarist... I'm starting to believe it a little more
now". And that implies becoming aware of the artist's life: "You go
over a lot of rough spots and you end up toying with the idea of trying to make
a living some other way. It's hard to maintain a home when you're an artist; and
it's hard for the partner you have to understand you. At the bank... they don't
understand you straight away".
Juan Diego with Remedios Amaya
Cante, the source
Through accompaniment the music has been cooked up which now comes out of this
Jerez-born artist's guitar. He thinks that "a guitarist has to gain experience
by playing for dancing and for singing because he has to cover all the fronts
there. It's all in one". In his view, accompanying "you're four steps
further back than when you're up front and that makes you hide a little".
He separates cante because "playing for singing is as risky or more so than
playing solo, since up there you have to be a harmonic, orchestra, percussionist,
clapping, and everything buffer. And it's complicated. You have to know a lot
about cante. If you're responsible and you respect this, it has to be clear to
you that cante is the commanding source. The guitarist is a frustrated cantaor,
who tries to sing through his instrument".
Juan Diego goes further upon affirming that "cante is flamenco's source
of inspiration". Although he recognizes that he is fed by many other things
in life - from his son to his people, along with drinking sprees and work -, "what
feeds me the most when composing is cante". He elaborates that "what
I try to do is sing with the guitar; so I always have to take notice of people
who sing very well to see how they make the turns and how they use the melodies
to reach those corners, magic, I don't know what it's called. I think it's there...
maybe not. The doubt makes you progress".
Juan Diego with Diego Carrasco
However, this love of cante does not stop him from being one of the most frequent
guitarists in flamenco heterodoxy: jazz, rock, pop... It's not strange to see
him next to Tomasito or Diego
Carrasco, whom he defines as "an artist who teaches you other kinds of
things which are also very important to play, because besides, he's a very good
guitarist". All that variety has made him grow musically: "A few years
ago I started working with Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent; and at the same time,
I was with Tomasito, while I was doing cante recitals with Duquende. Sometimes
three straight days of "rock and roll", cante and jazz would coincide.
And the more radical the change was, the more I liked it, since it was so much
information I had to recycle later to try and compose something nice". Those
collaborations were special to him, since "they're people I admire a great
deal; I've listened to many of them as long as I can remember and they were my
idols. Now I find myself on stage with them and you can imagine how flipping it
is. When I saw that Carles Benavent beside me...". Jorge Pardo goes further:
"I have a great friendship with him and a stronger musical relationship than
with anyone else, I think because of personal similarity or I don't know why...
it must be because we look like brothers, both with bright eyes, a slightly simple
regard...".
His work has been enriched by all those points of view. "It feeds you
a great deal because they're such different ways of looking at life that it helps
you to know how to be with many different kinds of people, to know how to be on
a stage, to understand each one's point, to know what each one wants from me.
It's a matter of seeking so that everything rolls". The conclusion he draws
is that "in the end I think it's the same to play for Jorge Pardo, as for
Tomasito, as for Remedios... the thing is to get into the bubble and to flip out,
to dive into the pool, to enjoy". That why he thinks there is no room for
complaint: "We're here because we like it. There are times when you can't
enjoy it because of technical conditions, but when you connect with artists you
like and there are good technical conditions, you wouldn't trade places with anyone".
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