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The song by Alejandro Sanz concludes
the album and gives it its title...
Lole (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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I have a musician’s relationship
with Alejandro Sanz, an artist’s. Alejandro is a
simple man; all you have to do is meet him. He sent me
that song, which was played by Ricardo Moreno, a gypsy
kid from Lebrija who plays a lot with Alba and with Vicky.
And by the way, he does really nice fusion because he’s
playing por bulerías, but he does some Brazilian
touches. The bulería is really well done with those
chords. That does stick because the one who’s playing
it’s a gypsy, but if he’s playing blues...
If I sing in Arabic, there’s that fusion of me being
a gypsy but I know Arabic well. That’s why it sounds
natural and it sticks; that’s why it’s something
that doesn’t break. That’s worthwhile; doing
fusion when it’s well done, when it fits.
With all the criticism that fusion
in flamenco gets...
Look at ‘Bintijamila’, which
is on the previous album. There’s a seguiriyas cadence
there... That song’s really well done. It depends
on how it’s done.
There’s a great presence
of women from the Montoya family: Alba, Lucía,
Angelita, Andina... What do they represent in today’s
flamenco?
They’re all a new generation of
Montoyas. They all come from my mother, from my Aunt Carmen...
from Los
Montoya. That’s what it means. We know each
other well and the family’s rhythm is there. In
recent times the Carmona family is spoken of, with their
toque, with their trademark. And there are also ones in
Seville. My father and my mother also stand out because
each family has their place, their charm. All of them
have done clapping and choruses on the album. For example,
‘En ti’, a song which comes from Jerez, by
Manuel
Morao’s grandson, has choruses by Alba and Lucía.
(And she sings: mmmm sin condición ninguna,
amor). That one’s turned out lovely; I love
it.
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Lole |
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And then she also remembers that
“Currito, who’s a kid from Jerez, has played
on it”. Lole is surrounded by really young musicians
on this record. What do they give you?, I ask. “The
truth is that there are a lot of young people who dance,
who sing and who play really well. I do like that; they
know how to express, they give you freshness”, she
answers. And she mentions the alegrías ‘Brisa
de la mar’, “a song by a kid from Seville,
Joselito Amador, whose father is also a cantaor”.
He also authors the tangos ‘Hay que ver’.
And Lole doesn’t skimp on praise: “This kid
sings really well and composes really well. I’ve
known him since he was little”. Now joining the
group of artists who participated in the recording are
musicians who will perform this new repertoire with her
live. The first date was on February 5th at SGAE’s
headquarters in Madrid, where she performed three songs
and had a lot of fun “with Jesule Losada and Carlos
Jiménez, who is Pedro Jiménez’s son,
people who worked with Lola Flores some time ago and go
on singing and dancing”. And the thing is that the
crew is fundamental to her: “It’s important
to name them all and to give each of them their place.
Everybody collaborated on the production of the album,
everybody made their contribution. I knew what I wanted,
but it was important to hear Alba and Lucía, who
also have a good ear and their own criteria; they’re
really delightful. And Angelita can really sing. And my
Andina sings really well. That branch of my father’s
and my mother’s... I’m speechless; they’re
special”.
There’s also a Lole more
of a singer than a cantaora, isn’t there?
Yes, at any rate, it’s not the
first time I’ve sung with a piano. I’ve sung
‘Ojalá que te vaya bonito’, a song
I had for a project I was offered with some specific songs.
We rehearsed with this kid, El Moreno, who plays percussion,
and guitarist David Cerreduela and his son Israel, who
also plays really well. And we played it and it’s
turned out nice, with a little hop like in a rondeña.
It turned out more classical, but they’re bulerías.
The thing is that it’s really free.
Why that prevalence and that
attachment to the bulería?
We have several types of bulerías.
The bulería
‘Metáfora’ is tremendously slow, Lole
and Manuel style. Alejandro gave it to me like that and
I picked up on it quickly; I said this is the way it goes.
‘Ojalá que te vaya bonito’ is another
story... The thing is we feel a lot por bulerías,
because we’re very gypsy.
And the way Lole
and Manuel did the bulería is special...
We’ve been doing it for many years.
The truth is that it’s something special. It can
be really slooooow. Due to the measure, the measure is
important in flamenco for the way of singing and then
for what you want to say. A lot of little things come
together; it isn’t just the music, though it’s
very important. But the text isn’t therefore less
important. Lole and Manuel have been doing it that way
for a long time, with ‘Dime’, the butterfly...
and we push the bulería back. That’s something
that drives young people mad. How do you do that?, they
ask us. That’s not usually done because, well...
they’ll do it some day. The thing is it’s
really hard.
Lole and Manuel. Photos from
CD 'Nuevo
día'
Do you see flamencos as not brave
enough to do creative things?
No, I think there are people who do really
nice things in flamenco. All creation is having a lot
of repercussions. The artist is the fruit of what he lives,
of what he wants. I have a part of me which isn’t
just singing; I also like composing. But I have to have
the instrument next to me. I don’t play the piano
or the guitar and I’d like to because when composing
it’s really necessary. At best, I’ve gone
and recorded what I’ve thought up as in ‘Bintijamila’.
And in ‘Maestro’ I already had the music by
Manuel Reyes and I did the text, what I wanted to say,
what I felt. But it’s important to have an instrument
beside you... I’m really alone.
And some of those feelings have been
captured in a text which is included at the end of the
album booklet, entitled ‘30 aniversario (1975-2005)’.
Although it doesn’t speak about her as an artist,
but rather as a woman. “I want to say that I’ve
lived”, she clarifies. “All this time and
in every era, since the beginning of time, women have
always had to fight. I’m not a feminist; now then,
I’m very feminine. I don’t want to compare
myself with men, but it’s just that women have really
great ability, in politics, in art... I’m expressing
that; surpassing obstacles and achieving your goal every
day means being better... because women can be”,
Lole explains. And she admits that “I’m really
sensitive; I’m often frightened by strange things
that people do. And I don’t like that. I like peace.
I think that people have a really bad time of it, and
especially women”. And she comments how hard it
is to be in your place, for you to be respected... So
‘Metáfora’ is dedicated to women “who
wish to outdo themselves, who study, who are with important
people, who don’t talk about just anything... Do
you realize that people speak for the sake of speaking?
And it’s so nice to be quiet. When you have to speak,
say something, but it should be constructive”, she
judges.
Does any woman in flamenco history
serve you as a reference?
The truth is that I don’t listen
to anything old-time. A few months ago I listened to a
soleá by Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, but right
now I’m not inspired by that. I know how La Niña
de los Peines sings, Caracol who has his way... When I
was a little girl, I used to listen to my mother singing
bulerías and she used to like Manolo Caracol. I
have that there. Those roots are in the tone of my voice.
All of that has to do with your race, with where you come
from. But the thing is that since everything I sing is
new, I can’t take notice of any of them. I wouldn’t
dare sing like Camarón. And I’ve said that
José Mercé sings really gypsy and sings
well, but I can’t listen to anybody because all
of my stuff is new. However, I liked La Perla a lot; we
used to work with Camarón there on Gran Vía,
at Torres Bermejas. No, I don’t have those references.
It must be due to what we’ve sung since Lole and
Manuel onward. If you notice in ‘bulería
de la luna’, there’s a type of cante por soleá
or in ‘el pajarillo’ there’s that reminiscence,
but since it was all so new... Well, you could see I came
from my mother. And there’s a song here, ‘El
regalo’, in which I sound like my mother. Everybody
says I don’t and I say that I do, that I’m
her daughter. When the bulería starts... But I
like a lot of people and new ones, too.
And the conversation then concludes.
Her family has just arrived at the cafeteria of the modern
hotel in Madrid which is her headquarters during these
days of ‘promotion’. And now as the sun lights
up parts of her face, she specifies her imminent projects.
She is now planning a tour of presentations in cities
like Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. And she wants to get
started on the next album right away: “I’ll
start compiling songs soon because it isn’t an easy
task. I don’t want to stop; if I don’t do
it all now... I’m up in age now, but renewal has
to be from day to day”. And she leaves us with her
blessing.
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