Enrique Morente, flamenco cantaor. Interview
“Cante doesn’t have
maestros,
it has disciples”
The cantaor is getting
an album ready for the Picasso Museum of Paris
with texts by the painter
Silvia Calado. Nîmes, January 2007
Enrique
Morente strolled around Nîmes in the morning.
And just like any other tourist, he visited the Roman
amphitheater, an impressive venue which is still in use
today as a bullring. History, art, bullfighting and cantaor.
It all fits. Thus, telling about those little things,
his encounter with the press began minutes before his
performance. Just like that, at complete ease like someone
talking to some friends. He didn’t provide any details
about what he was going to sing, but with his usual modesty,
he remarked that “within the usual chaos, I’ll
go back over traditional cante jondo, without great importance,
but with a great deal of respect for the city of Nîmes”.
Though the maestro must be contradicted, since his cante,
just like his words, was indeed important.
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Enrique Morente
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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As the questions were insisted upon,
he had no choice but to go a bit deeper and relate that
“the concept of the show is really close to classical
cante flamenco, but it also has its moments of current
creation. It’s classical, but with today’s
sound”. He added that “I’ll go back
over poetry, with verses by León Felipe, Pedro
Garfia and Lorca”. The Granada-born poet couldn’t
be missing in a performance by this cantaor who has dedicated
several shows to him, among them, ‘Omega’
and ‘Lorca’. And so it was.
Then, jokingly, he said he had “prepared
a song by Georges Brassens, ‘The Little Flute Player’,
a European musician I admire. But I don’t think
I’ll dare; I just sing it among friends... who can’t
speak French”. It’s a pity he didn’t
dare, since last year at Flamenco
Festival London he did stick cante into English with
a bit of ‘Summertime’ por bulerías.
And he started to talk about the rough
parts of his show. “I’m a classical cante
lover. But the same thing happens to me in other genres,
like classical music, religious music and jazz”,
the cantaor said before explaining his interest in the
experimental music of Sonic
Youth and Pat Metheny, who he has shared interesting
projects with. But he makes it clear that “I’m
just a cante flamenco enthusiast and that’s my starting
point”. On fusions he has done throughout his career,
he explains jokingly that “things have happened,
but it wasn’t my intention”. And he promised
in the same tone that “I’m going to try and
make fewer mistakes in the future”.
He answered the question about how the
studio cantaor gets along with the live cantaor with another
dose of irony that “they’re both rather worried”.
And then in earnest he related that sometimes “there
are studio jobs hard to take to the stage because the
production doesn’t allow it; it would be really
expensive”. So then, he appreciates that “the
advantage of the studio is that it gives you possibilities
the stage doesn’t”. But he concludes that
“live shows thrill me and the studio thrills me;
I’m both”.
There were also a few minutes to take
a look back and remember why he is a voice enthusiast.
“It might have come from my childhood. The truth
is that time goes by and more and more, you try and remember
why you’re a cantaor. And you all know that my first
post was as a choir boy in the Cathedral of Granada. I
still remember those voices, still hear their echo. I
sometimes flee from them. I’m nearly always fleeing
from the past to renew myself, but the past is there,
trapping you”. And the thing is that “childhood
in the postwar period wasn’t very nice. Indeed,
the priests weren’t good... but they used to sing
well”.
Enrique Morente
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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So taking up flamenco back then couldn’t
be the same as taking up flamenco now. But you still get
things across orally, even though a digital medium comes
into play. The cantaor comments that “in cante flamenco
there’s hardly any school. There are baile and guitar
academies with really advanced techniques. But we cantaores
aren’t so lucky”. And he reveals, flatly,
that “cante doesn’t have maestros, it has
disciples”. With this premise, his relationship
with his disciple Estrella
Morente is based on orientation: “As an example
of a free woman and great cantaora, I always recommend
La
Niña de los Peines to Estrella. I just try
and collaborate on what I can, guiding her towards female
cante: La Perla de Cádiz, Fernanda de Utrera, the
old-time cantaoras of Sacromonte... It’s really
timely in the era we live in, defending women’s
rights. Besides – he says jokingly -, I have to
take care of my relationship with my own wife, ha ha ha”.
And in general, he assures that “my relationship
with Estrella Morente as an artist is good. The father-daughter
relationship is like them all; it depends on the day...
there are arguments, but they’re friendly”.
The questions then point towards the
future. About whether he has any projects with guitar:
“I love guitar. And in fact, in my case composing
starts off with a guitar. Afterwards it opens up with
the musicians”. About what the maestro is now working
on: “Another mess”. And the thing is that
the director of the Picasso Museum of Paris has given
him a very special assignment: to create music for the
exhibit ‘Carmen et Picasso’ scheduled from
March to June 2007, which will shape up as an album, live
show and possibly a DVD (further
information). “I’ll settle for coming
out unscathed”, Morente said instants before getting
up on stage at another venue; that of the Thèâtre
de Nîmes, where
it so happened that...
Morente dreams Picasso
Enrique
Morente shifts his regard towards painting
in his upcoming musical adventure. By assignment
of the Picasso Museum of Paris, the Granada-born
cantaor is getting an album ready that will
provide the sound for the exhibit ‘Carmen
et Picasso’, which will be put on from
March to June 2007. The cantaor has been “seeking
material, getting to know the details of his
life in France”. And he’s come
across an inspiring surprise: “I didn’t
know that Picasso had written so much, so
I’ve focused my work on musicalizing
his poetry, which is really surrealistic”.
He is currently in the phase of seeking texts
to sing and music for those cantes, with the
added difficulty that “visual work must
be done, since we’re talking about painting”.
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