Tomasito

'Torrotrón' is the spearhead of Tomasito, his war cry, his bulerías presented here in its third reincarnation for his third release. Break-bailaor and cantaor with his own style, Tomasito tiene 'Castaña'.

TORROTRONING AGAIN

He was an altar boy, and, since he knew most of the sermon by heart, he set it to bulerías. This is no hyperbole, but the schizophrenic flamenco of the 21st century. A wily jerezano, and gitano from the Santiago neighborhood, he began as a dancer, admiring Michael Jackson, and made his name with an award in the Jerez Fiesta de la Bulería. Diego Carrasco, the guru of lo jondo and gracia itself set to rhythm, discovered him, and took him to Los Canasteros in Madrid in 1984. Tomasito, born Tomás Moreno Romero in 1969, squints: "He found me in Jerez, he talked to my old man, and took me with him for two months. From that point on, I started to get around, until I took part in the 1986 New Year's program with Concha Velasco".

He began to travel around the world with Paco Peña, and also with Lola Flores, forming part of the cuadro and performing in television programs, like 'Sabor a Lola'. From there, he was invited to record a demo, and he soon made his first recording. Performing live, he's a sensation, like Mr. Clean rapping por tangos, or Mr. Kravitz doing funky bulerías. He is a master of a "free and rubbery" school of dance, whose best student burns it up with Los Activos.

"I'm more of a bailarín than a singer, because I've danced since I was a kid. But I sing a little, too. The thing is, when I sing... You've got to put your soul into it. Dancing is easier for me".

REDISCOVERING HIMSELF

At that time, Tomasito was the inseparable companion of Antonio de los Ríos, known as "el Madriles" (a character based on El Loco Romántico). He composed the songs that got Tomasito noticed, and he composed an enormous hit for Navajita Plateá, 'Noches de bohemia'. Two years earlier, el Madriles had been playing and writing for Tomasito's second release, his first for a multinational recording company. Today, Antonio works between Germany and Jerez, and has left Tomasito to make a living in Madrid.

'CASTAÑA'

"I've had to rediscover myself to a certain extent, and it's been a good thing. A change of concept, a fresh approach... I like investigating, having the balls to do it, because pure flamenco isn't going to disappear. It's great when a metalhead or a punk rocker knows who Pericón is".

If flamenco is to stay alive and reach eternity, new flamenco shouldn't turn people off; it has to be based on old flamenco. Tomasito has no doubts about this ("With new artists, flamenco has even become more respectable"), and has suffered his own share of contractual obligations and excesses in the studio. "When you sell half a million copies, it's a normal thing to stray from your own compositions, but I've got a bit more slack in that regard, because I sell ten thousand, tops. And they tell me, 'we need to sell eight thousand copies to make a video clip, pero chiquillo..."

Sobreviviré y allí estaré
"I'll survive, and there I'll be"

He announced in his last recording. Tomasito has a special style, a special rhythm that Tino de Geraldo picks up easily, playing all the instruments and producing his releases. "Tino took to it great. He's incredible, and he just tore into it, because he's got a special concept; he's good friends with Diego Carrasco..." In the liner notes, Tomasito gives thanks to the inspiration of Elsa Fernández who is his girlfriend, Tino's sister, a former bassist and drummer, as well as Tomasito's writing partner.

'Torrotrón' is the spearhead of Tomasito, "the robot boy", the "Stan Laurel" of flamenco ("someone said that in Las Vegas, where we were playing with a flamenco company"). Here, he records a third solo version with the guitar of Moraíto. "I was looking forward to it, and he's one of the best por bulerías. He's known me since we were kids. He arrived, he sat down, and... Tino told him:

¡Quillo, equivócate un poquito!
Come on, make some mistakes!

WHIP OUT THE MACHINE GUN

To close the recording, 'Amor garantizado', in which he recites Germán Coppini, and punks it up with a nod to 'Twenty-first century schizoid man' by King Crimson. In the midst of this, bulerías-rap-rock. And he says, "I used a really popular refrain. They're percussive things that fit my style well. Sometimes I whip out the machine gun".

While his previous release featured 'África', this time it's 'Africaneando':
("trying to bring out the black man inside me"). He raps over funk in 'Te quemaste', and he leans into his 'Seguiriya del 2.000', with two drummers for a seguiriya por bulerías. "And that's just filler, because when we were going to do the recording there were only six songs. The rest were spontaneous".

But, in the end, there was extra material, or rather, it was made extra: "I recorded a version of AC/DC por tangos, 'Black in black', but the record company didn't want us to do it. But I'll bet that if Angus Young could hear it, he'd support us".

A RECORDING EVERY THREE YEARS

This recording may not mean large-scale commercial success, but Tomasito doesn't mind acknowledging this. A long-distance artist, he crossed the 90's proposing new ways to deal with flamenco, and his facets of musician-cantaor and break-bailaor have grown with him. His first "Torrotrón" (Divucsa, 1993) was a great recording; seminal, although unappreciated at the time due to the precarious instrumentation in the line of the first Veneno release, like the most streetwise (callejera) Pata Negra. The release was (barely) produced by Pedro Javier González, the first guitarist for El Último de la Fila.

"We recorded it in four days, singing at nine in the morning, but with a lot of enthusiasm. They sure were catalanes... They got scared, and it never got much promotion. It only sold two thousand copies".

He started over with his second release, titled simply "Tomasito" (Sony, 1996), including four songs for the unforeseen debut, newly dressed by Queco and Tino Di Geraldo. The former, a producer and ex-producer from Córdoba; the latter, a multifaceted instrumentalist and producer from Asturias that plays bass under the alias of "El Mochilones".

"Sony will do anything for me, they ready to cooperate, but they didn't quite know how to get my idea across. These big labels back down and change their minds about things. When I realized, they weren't behind me anymore".

Despite it all, Tino backed up the production of "Castaña" (Sony, 1999), Tomasito's collection of surprising songs. The trick of the tail: "When I want to go commercial, I'll wear a ponytail and acheverelerele... but I've got my own style and ideas".

Luis Clemente
Translation: Norman Paul Kliman