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Nono García
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Is that what makes you so willing to share?
Music is an act of generosity and transparency with the people involved. I've
always learned from the people I've played with. Even students have given me ideas
for compositions because they have different ways of looking at music that make
me discover things. Music is an exercise in humility and team spirit.
In the live performance of 'Atún y Chocolate,' there is clearly a
moment for all. Nono García gives each of his partners a moment in the
spotlight, and his guitar often acts as a kind of cement that holds things together.
The singing harmonica bubbles forth, the cajón and the tablas lay down
their particular understanding of flamenco rhythms, the flamenco voice splits
the air with a searing melodic line: Together, they flirt with blues, jazz, Andalusian
folklore ('Los campanilleros,' 'Salve marinera') and the basic festive styles,
creating an indefinable approach.
What inspires your compositions?
The guitar makes its own music. Sometimes, I'm just transmitting that music.
It's more a question of working on some detail, and, starting with just three
notes, creating, fleshing out and finishing a piece. The instrument tells you
where it wants to go. It has a lot to do with the key you're playing in.
Does 'Atún y Chocolate' constitute a separate finished project?
No, it flows. It's a little anarchic because there's no structure, bridge or
construction. I think it's good not to take it too seriously, precisely because
of its open and communicative character. It just came about this way spontaneously.
Any recording projects in the future?
I'm going to do something a bit more personal with a tighter focus on the guitar.
I'd also like to do covers of really well-known things like 'Alfonsina y el mar'
and 'Te recuerdo Amanda.' I like working on that kind of stuff because the cover
has to be different from the original in order to offer new color. You can't try
to do something better than the original, just offer another way of looking at
things.
Nono García
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In concert, he is already offering some of the versions that he intends
to record, with the sweet and grainy voice of Eva Durán: 'Alfonsina y el
mar,' by Ariel Ramírez and Félix Luna, is chilling. 'Te recuerdo
Amanda,' by Víctor Jara, is penetrating, despite the inevitable comparison
to José Mercé's recent cover. Standing out is 'Caravan.' Nono comments,
"It was written by Juan Tizol, but Duke Ellington was famous for playing
it... The right guy doesn't always get the credit." A platform for solos,
it serves as a catalyst for collective pleasure and beauty. 'Round about midnight,'
by Thelonious Monk, is adopted as 'Al filo de la medianoche' and set to bulerías,
bringing his live performance to a brilliant close. He states, "The deeper
the sun sets, the darker the silence."
How do you see the current situation of flamenco guitar?
It's stronger than ever, but it needs more contact with other kinds of music
because flamenco is open by nature. Flamenco guitar has to absorb, and musicians
have to open up to studying classical music, jazz… It's very important, because,
if that doesn't happen, guitarists end up with their own ideas that only they
understand. You have to make things accessible to the public and to other musicians.
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"The guitar is like an octopus that throws out its tentacles
and can reach further than singers"
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Flamenco guitarists have a great responsibility. They're usually in charge
of arrangement, but that's not the way it used to be. It's just the way we live
now. Singers used to be the creators, but now singers don't have as much vital
experience, and the instrumental side has moved into the foreground, because the
guitar is like an octopus that throws out its tentacles and can reach further.
That's happening with dance, too. Language is the origin of music, and it's what
makes things flamenco; otherwise we're talking about empty flamenco-influenced
music.
The recording includes some interesting statements about singing...
It's like saying something without getting preachy, but appealing to people's
sensitivity. Instead of lecturing about what's right and wrong, and trying to
lay down the law, you just put what you think into music, acting as an independent
voice.
By the way, how did the actor Gabino Diego get involved in the production
of the project?
'Atún y Chocolate' is the second recording he's produced. It's simple:
He likes listening to music, instead of going to see a football match or going
out for dinner. He's always been like that. Art patrons still exist, but there
are parasites out there pretending to be patrons that are going to exploit artists.
They're all in the recording companies, and recording companies are out to get
rich quick: They create a consumer product to make a profit, and that's detrimental
to the music. The product disappears. The investment isn't profitable. Small companies
are doomed because they've got no profit margin.
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