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TOP 10. FLAMENCO-WORLD.COM 2006
Today’s cante
boom
Flamenco-world.com, December 2006
Flamenco cante comes back to life. The Top 10 put
together annually by Flamenco-world.com based on its sales
records reflects a new boom in young cante in 2006. Consolidating
their work are the main voices of the latest generation, highlighted
by Estrella
Morente and Duquende. It hasn’t been an especially
fruitful period for guitar, though there have been surprises
such as the début by José Manuel León
and new experiences close to jazz. As far as audiovisuals
go, the rage continues to be baile courses, everything authored
by Carlos Saura and the recovery of television programs in
more and more elaborate editions. And in books, highlights
include the bilingual manual ‘Todo sobre flamenco’
(‘All About Flamenco’), guitar sheet music and
methods, and the deluxe photo book by Sara Baras. Not as much
has been released as could be desired for a living genre,
but perhaps there is finally a tendency towards the so longed-for
normalization.
| CD. Top 10
Flamenco-world.com 2006 |
The new generation of cantaores which burst
out on the record market in early 2000 is at it again. Throughout
2006 new albums have come out by these young, now mature voices
which in passing have taken over the top positions in the
charts at Flamenco-world.com. Estrella Morente glitters at
the peak with her firm neo-classical work, which Miguel
Poveda is also attached to in his return to flamenco.
The validity of Camarón’s heritage is sealed
with ‘Mi forma de vivir’ by Duquende and ‘Barrio
alto’, the return of Potito.
Estrella Morente (Photo: Daniel
Muñoz)
The traditional hit artists continue in the top positions
with their new albums: Niña Pastori with ‘Joyas
prestadas’, her successful visa for Latin America; and
José Mercé with ‘Lo que no se da’,
another episode in his quest for freshness. ‘Sneaking
in’ amidst this cantaor display is the third album by
Ojos
de Brujo, showing with ‘Techarí’ the
reliability of their eclectic mestization and the discovery
of new directions.
Guitar, however, has had a sluggish year. Although the absence
of great names didn’t cast a slur on the quality of
the brief panorama of this year’s charts. ‘Sirimusa’
by José Manuel León was a real discovery due
to its opening of new roads and its ground-breaking flashes.
Niño Josele with ‘Paz’ decided on joining
up with jazz, a trend followed by another surprising instrumental
album: ‘Sumando’ by Carles Benavent & Josemi
Carmona.
Close to joining the list of the ten top-selling albums were
two cantaores making their début: Pitingo
and Argentina. Also making their bid for the top slots were
instrumental albums such as ‘Spain again’, the
second installment of the encounter between Tomatito and Michel
Camilo, the experimental ‘Doméstica’ by
Pablo Martín - bass player of the Gerardo Núñez
Trio - and ‘Cal’ by Son de la Frontera, which
delves deeply into their updated version of Diego del Gastor’s
legacy.
Pedro Sierra (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
Standing out among guitar albums is ‘Nikelao’
by Pedro Sierra and ‘Bordón de trapo’ by
Miguel Ángel Cortés, mature, skilled records
by two of today’s young toque maestros. The curio is
the deluxe edition used to present the encounter ‘Qawwali
flamenco’ on CD+DVD, in which Duquende, Miguel Poveda
and Pakistani musician Faiz Ali Faiz take part. By the way,
we’ll have to wait until next year to size up the success
of ‘Ropavieja’ by Arcángel,
released in December, with a great chance of soaring up the
charts.
Continues
>>
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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