Flamenco x 2. Carlos and Curro Piñana,
guitarist and cantaor. Interview
“We like researching flamenco
and bringing out new ideas”
Silvia Calado, July 2007
Carlos’s
guitar has accompanied Curro’s cante on many occasions.
Curro’s voice has often lent itself to Carlos’s
toque. But the Piñana brothers had never before
forged a record project together. The moment has come
with a very special album, a flamenco mass assigned by
Festival Murcia Tres Culturas 2006. Distancing themselves
from prior jondo versions of the liturgy, they seek “a
new vision, perhaps more melodic through the contribution
of classical strings and choruses”. And even though
the record is hot out of the oven, each of them is now
engrossed in his following project: Carlos, with his fifth
solo album. And Curro, with a cante minero anthology.
What is ‘Misa Flamenca’?
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Carlos and Curro Piñana |
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Carlos: It’s the
first album we’ve done together, since on the previous
ones I accompanied Curro and vice versa. We’re presenting
it to the public as a novel project since there aren’t
many flamenco masses. It’s a really thought-out,
meditated record, and above all, we’ve made it with
a lot of affection. Both my brother Curro and I thought
it was a really good idea when we were proposed to make
the album. We like researching and bringing out new ideas,
and above all, taking risks.
How did the project arise?
Curro: Doing flamenco
masses wasn’t something new for us. In my family,
my grandfather Antonio and my father had been doing flamenco
masses for many years, since the ’60s. We can therefore
say that it was an inherited custom. The thing is that
the project of recording our flamenco mass turned into
a lovely challenge, since it was a question of making
our vision of a sung mass materialize into nine songs
and making it flamenco, which is what both my brother
and I were born for. Our ‘Misa Flamenca’ was
a project assigned by Festival Internacional Murcia Tres
Culturas for the year 2006 and it couldn’t be recorded
until 2007, so a record’s come out already with
experience on a lot of stages. We’ve had the pleasure
of doing several tours with it in countries like Poland
and Italy.
How was the composing done?
Carlos: We set out to
compose it together. I took care of the music fundamentally.
We got together often for two months and little by little,
the ideas started to come out. We both know one another
really well musically, so the job of composing was easy.
Working with Curro and the Quinteto de Cuerda Diapasón
(Diapasón String Quintet) is great; they understand
my way of working really well.
What does Carlos Piñana
contribute? What does Curro Piñana contribute?
Carlos: Above all, the
musical part. I contribute a new style as far as the musical
composition goes. I’ve confined myself to composing
thinking about the minutest detail of the cante, playing
with the tones and melody of the cante, the counterpoint.
I was able to stick in chords with different inversions,
seeking the refrain in the songs, something I think is
missing in today’s guitarists. Above all, looking
for structure in the songs: seeking the motif, question-answer,
development and conclusion. I’ve been really careful
with the phrasing in the music, and especially the improvisation;
it’s something I like to do at the recording studio.
You never know what might come out, and sometimes you
surprise yourself. And I say that because the soleá
on the album is completely improvised.
Carlos and Curro Piñana
with Quinteto de Cuerda Diapasón
Curro: When all is said
and done, I think I contribute a new viewpoint to flamenco.
I wanted to demonstrate with this mass that flamenco can
be, once again, wonderful music capable of serving a feeling
so ours as that of holding a mass. The best part about
this album is the absolute freedom we had to record what
we were feeling at every moment and that offers you the
chance to feel more flamenco than ever.
What difficulties did you two
come across when transferring the moments of the liturgy
to the schemes of different flamenco styles?
Carlos: We adapted really
well to each part of the mass and we confined ourselves
to making music in tune with the themes of the liturgy.
We used flamenco styles we thought go really well with
a mass such as cantes mineros, soleá, petenera,
verdiales, granaína...
And are the lyrics created specifically
for it or do they correspond to liturgical texts?
Curro: The truth is
that nearly all of them are created for this mass. Moreover,
it’s been a real treat to have the poems by our
friend Juana Román Hurtado, who in turn is the
author of those famous masses my grandfather sang way
back in the ’60s. We also included purely liturgical
elements such as the last song, which is the ‘Salve’
in this case sung a capella.
What role does the Quinteto de
Cuerda Diapasón play on the album?
Carlos: Well, a very
important one. They give the record its touch of miscegenation.
I was really sure that I wanted to do something different.
I like the string sound; perhaps due to the experience
of having studied at a conservatory for ten years, it
opens your mind when you’re composing.
I’ve played a lot with strings
and for this project I looked for the perfect people for
it. I called up Armando, who is the quintet’s musical
director, and we got started once the music was composed
with the string arrangements. I had a great time watching
how some Cubans can play flamenco that way.
Carlos and Curro Piñana
A classical chorus also performs.
How are those voices related to cante flamenco?
Curro: In reality, I
think they’re nice because they sometimes serve
as an ideal harmonic cushion for the different cantes
in which they appear.
Normally, religious expression
in flamenco has been identified with the saeta. Can other
styles replace it?
Curro: I would say that
strictly speaking, no. Let’s bear in mind that the
saeta
is what we could call “cante become prayer”.
The readers surely know that they were already being sung
way back in the 16th century by Franciscan priests and
that they used them to call for the repentance of sins.
But in spite of that, I think that religious feeling is
present in each of the nine songs on our album together.
At least, we’ve tried for it to be.
What does your version contribute
with regards to precedents of flamenco masses like those
of Enrique
Morente, El Lebrijano and Paco Peña?
Curro: In short, I think,
a new vision, perhaps more melodic due to the contribution
of the classical strings and the choruses. The treatment
of the parts we included on the album has been done differently
from the rest of the masses recorded.
What do you think is religious
about flamenco music?
Curro: The religious
has also been one of the great themes sung by flamencos.
In our case, as I say, it’s been useful for us to
record this latest album which does have to do with the
religious.
Is your mass only aimed at Catholics
or does it express a more global religious feeling?
Curro: Obviously not.
I think our mass has to be heard as a new flamenco album,
performed by a good handful of musicians who had the need
to urgently express themselves together. I think it’s
a good record to listen to, even for someone who isn’t
a flamenco fan. It’s an album made with a lot of
affection and respect for the music we’ve grown
up with since we were little.
Do you have any new record projects
on the horizon?
Curro: I’m preparing
‘Antología de Cante Minero’, which
is making me mad with joy. I’ve already recorded
several songs with Cañizares
and maestro Serranito
and I think it’s going to be a really strong album
which I want guitar to play an important role on, which
has several viewpoints in the accompaniment of cantes
mineros.
Carlos: I’m now
doing the demos for my fifth album. I’m really happy.
I think it’s going to be a record with my personality
entirely developed. I’m going to have very important
collaborations from within flamenco and beyond it.
