Manuel Morao
Madrid, 1999

- It has been said that you are recording flamenco rhythms that aren't often heard in today's recordings, with some of them being practically unknown.

There are songs and rhythms from weddings, rhythms from private Gypsy celebrations, that have never been recorded and they have never been presented in theaters. This is music that is unknown to those who aren't Gypsies because it comes from their rituals. I have brought this music out into the open, it seemed to me the time to show all the richness of this music.

- What other palos are these rhythms linked to?

The example that I am referring to is performed entirely in the rhythm of Soleá, but it is neither Soleá nor Bulería, it is at a point between them. For this reason it is very hard to do, it is something delicate. You have to create a very precise balance to play this rhythm.

- In all of the "Manuel Morao y gitanos de Jerez" productions there is a clear preoccupation with content: for quality as much as for variety.

Yes, indeed. The majority of record producers are looking for the "kick" in order to makemoney. Its all about money, but this detracts from the artistic productions. Other producers reject real flamenco. They dress it up with other things to make it lighter, to adapt it to the masses. What I do is to show authentic flamenco, as it really is; and for the moment I believe I won't go wrong because the public accepts it as it is. It may be that I will have a smaller audience, but this could also be because there is less promotion... and for this reason wearen't as well known. They say that flamenco puro is antiquated, but I am showing that flamenco puro is in the vanguard. Now that it is totally unknown, it is something very new to the public.

- As a guitarist, you have worked with many great names in flamenco like Mairena and La Perla de Cádiz. In what ways do these artists, when they were 20 or 30 years old, differ from today's flamenco artists?

Then they only made music, it wasn't all about making money. They made this music because itwas part of their lives; this music of the Gypsies is part of our experience, of our culture. Its different to express yourself in music that forms a part of you as opposed to playing music that you have learned.

I understand flamenco as ethnic music, belonging to a people. Andalusian Gypsy cante, which is what we Gypsies of Andalusia do, is part of our experience. In this music each one tells hisstory.

- It has been a music that has assimilated many influences from other cultures.

Exactly. All music has influences, no one has invented music, but you have to have creativity.

- When you were a child, were you drawn to the music played in your home?

When it is something that is part of you, it is very natural.

- The analysis came later?

Yes, years later, when you learn that there is other music. Then the comparisons and the analysis occur. Before that you accept the music as something natural, something that is part of your life.

- When you became a professional, you had to play a repertory several nights running with lighting and amplified sound. In that case the attitude and the meaning are very distinct.

If you arrive at this stage of professionalization you get used to it. Someone who is an artist and feels something tries to express these feelings outwardly, but perhaps the intensity isn't the same when you work everyday. But of course a professional gets used to this. Its never the same because some days aren't good, there are days in which you are average or bad.The artist himself is the most critical because he always thinks he could have done better.

- Flamenco has suffered quite a bit in the recording studios. Has the evolution of technique allowed the musicians to feel more comfortable?

Well, today there is greater ease in demonstrating your technique, but it also puts a chill onyour artistry. Everything in the studio is cold, for this reason you can't express anything in the studio. All of the records that I have produced were recorded live because I prefer to give them the warmth of live performance, of improvisation, and of experience.

- Do you think the preoccupation with technique and perfect playing is exaggerated?

I think its barbaric. This is the end of art. At the same time it also paves the way for many professionals who aren't good artists. There are a lot of good professionals and very few artists.

- Who is an artist?

Someone who expresses feeling, someone who improvises, someone who makes you understand something, who creates something. All the rest is technique.

- With time everything has changed, and the lyrics?

The words of Gypsy flamenco songs tell a story. The authors are also known for the lyrics, you can say that that such and such a song is by such and such a singer, and this is because he wrote the words and the music. Each singer contributes a little bit to the lyrics if he is an artist.

- If you could create an ideal flamenco group, which artists would you include?

There have been so many good artists: flamenco singers like Manuel Torre, Enrique el Mellizo, Joaquín el de La Paula. There has been an infinite number of Gypsies who have been marvelous singers. Song is the musical foundation of the art of flamenco.

- It seems that the new musicians understand rhythms more than singing.

With the exception of some flamenco singers who have learned the fundamentals, it is lost; therest don't have a clue. They sing "songs," "themes" as they say now... there are people who have nothing to do with flamenco, the Gypsies, the people of Andalusia nor with music. They perform "themes" and make money...

- There are also artists who know much more about flamenco than they show in their professional career, perhaps determined by the music market...

No, because sadly they don't know. Nobody is born knowing how to do it and if you don't like something very much it is impossible to learn it, and these people don't like flamenco: perhaps because it is harder and today people live differently. You have to live in aparticular way to understand cante and to know what it means. The young artists are popular singers, in fact they give "concerts." There isn't a word that is further from Gypsy cante than the word "concert."

Daniel Muñoz 1999.
Translation: Marie Jost