Interview with Tomatito, guitarist

"Competition shouldn't enter into music"

Silvia Calado. Madrid, July 2004
Translation: Gary Cook

The guitar and the mellow man are on the beach that brings inspiration. On ‘Aguadulce’ Tomatito takes flamenco as his starting point and his destination, with cante as his traveling companion. He wants to have fun, give joy to others and avoid unnecessary strife... that's what life's all about. By nature, he keeps his music in a state of constant flux, like the tides. And he searches within, plunging the depths of his soul, but also in what's around him, feeling like a tiny “ant” in the midst of a great orchestra, or perhaps a romantic tango artist from Buenos Aires. Camarón is still a guiding light for him, so too is Paco de Lucía, whose genius he came to accept as a child. With the utmost respect he concludes that “there's Paco de Lucía, and then there's the rest of us. And anyone who doesn't know it should go and visit a shrink.” He knows it only too well and “that's why I seek out my own way, that's why my conscience is clear, that's why people like me, that's why I do what I do, that's why I have my own personality and that's why I found my niche.”

	Photo: Anahí Cármody

What can fans expect to find in this new recording project?

Another step along the way, a flamenco phase I'm going through. After ‘Spain’ and ‘Paseo de los castaños’, with jazz influences, I got back into my flamenco stuff, and this is the result. Apart from a rumba where I got Luis Salinas to perform, a sort of semi-funk number, everything else is soleá, bulerías, tangos...

They're pretty rhythmical styles, do you feel more comfortable writing and playing that kind of stuff?

Except for the soleá, a freer style, it's true that I play rhythmical ‘palos’, maybe because it's what connects with people, they like how I play 'por bulerías', how I play tangos... I wanted to get closer to my listeners.

So why this return to flamenco, why leave behind the other musical styles you were dabbling with?

They're just phases. After dabbling with other types of music I feel like going back to flamenco harmonies, less of the modulation and shifts. And flamenco audiences and young people appreciate that. It doesn't mean the other stuff will get neglected. In fact, I'm planning another album soon dedicated to Piazzola, that has nothing to do with this. The project was performed live at the 2002 Festival Bienal de Sevilla, of course, but also in Japan and at the recent Festival Mar de Músicas de Cartagena, where it's the year of Argentinean music. And I'm going to do it, and it's nothing like flamenco, but it's beautiful and I want to leave it recorded for the sake of posterity, because I like it and I listened to it so much...

What was it about Argentinean music that attracted you?

The romanticism... it's sublime. And the nostalgia and the way artists put their soul into their performances.

So it has something in common with flamenco...

For me, at least. With my way of listening to music, it has a lot in common. Maybe it doesn't attract other musicians so much, but it attracts me a whole lot.

Have you discovered any other musical direction that tempts you right now?

	"when you're in amongst so many musicians and you hear your music performed by a great orchestra it's overwhelming"

Right now I'm involved in a project with Joan Albert Amargós, 'Sonanta suite', which we already played with the Orquesta de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña (OBC), and which we're going to perform again with the Orquesta de Córdoba at the Córdoba Guitar Festival. It's a beautiful experience because when you're in amongst so many musicians and you hear your music performed by a great orchestra it's overwhelming. I never had that experience, and I think any guitarist who has the inclination and the means to do so, should take the plunge, for the sake of their own personal satisfaction and for the sake of their musical career.

But it must be difficult, overwhelming even, isn't it?

Of course. When you play tangos with an orchestra you have to adapt your style a little. There are sixty musicians you have to bond with. But in the end the result is delicious, really. And the strings, when you hear them all together...

Photos: Daniel Muñoz

What does your repertoire consist of?

The songs include the soleá taken from the new album, with an arrangement by Amargós, then there's a very pretty alegría, I play the tune ‘Turco’ taken from ‘Paseo de los castaños’, which sounds wonderful... I never played it live because I made it for the album with an orchestra, and now when I hear it I say to myself "of course, that's why." It's very satisfying. And of course it takes a lot of effort. The first time I did it in Barcelona with the OBC, eighty musicians in total, I said "My God, I feel like an ant in amongst all of them." But it's a lovely experience, I was overcome with emotion when I listened to the music, listened to my music played like that. It's an amazing feeling! When you're used to your old guitar, the sonority is completely different.

Does it inspire you to develop other types of language for your guitar?

More than anything else, it inspires me to focus that music for so many musicians because, of course, you can't just do what you like. They have their sheet music, you don't, and you can't improvise musically. You can improvise with the rhythm, so long as you fall back into line at the right place. As for flamenco, it gives you discipline above all else. Amargós said to me "look, I'm going to make an arrangement for you, but you have to copy it note-for-note." And that means you can't squeeze in three other time signatures like you would with flamenco, which is pretty anarchic. I can play a bulería with two 'palmeros' marking time, and here we go - you play a string of notes, then another, and you start building it up and changing things around, and we're used to that. You communicate with no more than a glance... or one tap on the guitar, that's all.

Going back to 'Aguadulce'... You leave a lot of space for cante on this disc. Give us a run-down of the cantaores that worked with you.

We all know Potito is a marvelous rhythmic cantaor and, out of the young guys on the scene, he's the one who sings with the strongest 'gitano' flavor. Guadiana isn't exactly a newcomer either, although he is a relatively recent revelation. I've known him for years, in flamenco circles he's a superstar, and his voice is so unique, so special... that unmistakable ring of his. I really like the pluralism between Potito and him, relating the two approaches to cante with a single guitar. I wanted to make an album that was dedicated to vocals, in the sense that I wanted a change from playing so many solos, so many details, so many instrumentals. I think the real test of a concert guitarist is whether they're able to play for a bailaor, and to play accompaniment to a vocalist - it's a long learning curve. Flamenco isn't just guitar, nor just cante, nor just dance, it's a mixture of everything. I wanted not to let my playing 'para cantar' slip - to humbly say, "Here, I'll play for you, and I'll play my melodies so you can sing." Then there's my daughter, Angeles, a very special person to me, and who in my eyes has a really beautiful voice, very precise, very refined. If she tells me tomorrow she wants to carry on in this game, I'll do all I can to help her.

Do you see a future for her in flamenco?

	"I love my instrument, I love music. And that keeps you vibrant, keeps your mind alive"

Well, she has to decide if she likes it. Nobody's going to make anybody else do something they don't want to. Nobody forced me when I was little. At my age, if I'd never liked the guitar... In my generation many artists disappeared because they got comfortable - they learned four chords, and their classes pay the bills, and they don't make their lives difficult getting involved in projects. You have to enjoy it like I do. I love my instrument, I love music. And that keeps you vibrant, keeps your mind alive. Time passes but you keep going without conscious effort. And you're constantly toying with ideas and keeping your eye on new stuff that comes out: by this jazz guitarist, who I'd like to play with, and learn one of his songs, and maybe record...

Is that what happened with George Benson?

I love Benson and an amazing sequence of events led to me recording with him. I was in New York at the JVC Festival, and he came to see me. He started to congratulate me. And I said "Jesus, what's this guy doing here?" He's my idol, ever since I was little, because his phrasing is out of this world. He's one of the leading figures in jazz, from the Wes Montgomery school. And I told him I was recording an album and he told me he wanted to play with me. And I went to his house in New Jersey and he was showing me his guitars, including some of Wes Montgomery's - the guitarist who invented almost all there is to know about jazz guitar. It was incredible. And he asked me if I liked what he was doing... And I just sat there not knowing what to say. "I feel honored just to be in your presence," I thought. They're life's twists and turns, personal satisfactions that keep you on your toes, keep you alive musically. When inspiration comes along, Lord let it be at a time when I have my guitar in my hand!

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