Juan Habichuela: The patriarch in his labyrinth

1. Juan Habichuela, who out started performing as a dancer, is the patriarch of a lineage of guitarists. He speaks at 65 years of age slowly and proudly, "My grandfather, the father of my father, was the one who began the heritage that we have received. Not only do we have dancers, there is everything, even an actress, Amara Carmona, in the family."

2. After more than 40 years of recordings, during which time he has accompanied some 80 singers, now, for the first time, Juan Habichuela sees a record with his name in the biggest letters, a sort of self-homage with the best supporting cast of recent times. "I hadn't ever imagined myself surrounded by the people on this record, they were very affectionate. But I was frightened because I play some solo pieces and I have always played for singers. I have always liked playing for singers, helping them so that the song not lack anything. I like to support singers, take care of them, not spoil things by playing long solos, but instead playing just enough so that the singers are highlighted. I play a soleá that is dedicated to my brother, Luis, that he liked to play, very easy and simple. That is what I know how to do, simple and easy things. Since I'm not a virtuoso, why would I deceive people?"

Juan habichuela and Rancapino

3. Juan Habichuela's record is called "De la zambra al duende." "I debuted at 10 in La Zambra, on the road to Sacromonte. At 17, I went to El Duende, which was a tablao owned by Gitanillo de Triana in the calle Mayo in Madrid, that is where Mario Maya and I went. Antonio Mairena was there, Chano, El Lebrijano, the Moraos:a lot of people that were extremely good artists. I arrived there terrified. I am very fond of the title of the record."

4. On the album there is a restoration of the now virtually emblematic "Carcelero" that Juan Habichuela recorded with Caracol in 1964. "In 1961 I went to Casa Bermejas and my life there revolved around Manolo Caracol. I have never seen a better artist on stage than Caracol, though in my opinion the greatest of all time was La Niña de los Peines; she was a singer who knew everything."

Juan habichuela and his brother Pepe Habichuela

5. Juan Habichuela has always said that what he likes is playing for singers. "I don't look down on solo guitar playing, for to play solo is very hard technically and musically. You have to be very well prepared. I admire those kids who devour the guitar. I, however, am a more limited guitarist. I have always sacrificed myself for the singer. I play solos, but they are falsetas without picado or runs:my playing isn't like that, its much easier than all that. Its flamenco, plain and simple."

6. Is there any singer that you haven't played for? "I don't think so."

7. He assures us that the idea for the record came from his children: "Dad, you are going to make a solo record in which we are going to have quite a few people work with you. Well, it seemed like a good idea to me. But they made me study what I hadn't studied since I was 20 years old, since the days when I would go home at 10 o'clock at night and my mom was cooking breakfast. For me"

8. Your sons, Juan and Antonio Carmona, lead Ketama. "What my sons do has nothing to do with flamenco. They play flamenco at home, not on stage. The music they perform is what they do for a living. They don't play flamenco on stage, they do a fusion of music from South America and rumba:rumba isn't flamenco either, flamenco is something different."

9. A ruse. The record opens with the voice of Alejandro Sanz. It sounds great. Its a bulería with chorus featuring the two best-selling singers in Spain, Juan's son Antonio and Sanz. "The record is for many different kinds of listeners: for those who don't know much, for those who know a little and for those who know more. What Alejandro is doing with the bulería is not to commercialize flamenco but to attract young people to it. Flamenco has always belonged to a minority, and now is the time when it is expanding throughout the world."

10. Juan says that he likes cante more than anything else, and on his record there are some good singers: Rancapino contributes his bittersweet Gypsy fandangos, Chano Lobato laughs at his shadow in bulerías time, Montse Cortés searches her soul with sumptuous brilliance in a soleá and Juan's nephew Pepe Luis puts himself into "Por la misma esencia." But there is a song of living sorrow that should be singled out, a song that plumbs the depths with a heartbreak that smells of clove and cinnamon. "José Mercé's seguiriya has a special significance for me, since I was there when his son was born. The seguiriya was sung with so much feeling because José dedicated it to his son. I was crying while playing the guitar, and the sound technician was crying, and my son who was there, he was crying: That seguiriya is very well done, and with such feeling."

11. The guitarists aren't bad, either. With his brother Pepe, Juan plays some tangos with shades of Granada dedicated to their father. Paco de Lucía contributes his guitar to a tangos number (that also sees the contributions of Potito, Benavent and Di Geraldo), Tomatito mellows out in bulerías and Cañizares fills a malagueña with his ever so angular slide flamenco.

"Listening to this malagueña, you see how guitar has evolved, and for the better."

12. At the last, Juan, alone, delicately playing soleá: "Everyone wasn't able to be there on the record. I started out doing a couple of things, and I had a lot of singers in mind. The essential one who isn't there, though, is Camarón de la Isla."

1999. Luis Clemente
Translation: Marie Jost.