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SEVILLE’S 2006 BIENAL DE FLAMENCO. JOSÉ ANTONIO
RODRÍGUEZ
Thinking guitar
Silvia Calado. Seville, October 5th, 2006
‘... en el tiempo’. José
Antonio Rodríguez: author, guitar, musical
director. Francisco Javier Gallardo, Javier López:
second guitar. Ángel Morilla: electric bass, cello.
Rafael de Utrera: voice. Jon Robles: sax, flute. Miguel Ángel
López: sax, flute. Agustín Henke, Agustín
Díaz Sera: percussions. Rosario Toledo: baile. Miguel
Ángel Camacho: lighting design. Seville’s 14th
Bienal de Flamenco 2006. Teatro Central. Seville, October
5th, 2006. 9 p.m.
José Antonio Rodríguez
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
He’d already warned of it. “Instrumental music
is for minorities”. You could tell by the empty seats
in the crowd. But that relative ‘minority’ of
three-fourths of the seating capacity also has a right to
take part in the Bienal. And enjoy themselves they did; big
time. José
Antonio Rodríguez might not be as consolidated
or legible as guitarists of the masses. To savor his concert
requires a slight effort, since he doesn’t it feed it
to you with a spoon. The music by this Córdoba-born
artist comes from deep study, from sophistication. And it
contains a high percentage of thought which isn’t concealed
in the live show, but just the contrary. The development he
needs to make his case is perhaps extremely prolonged, but
the musician feels it to be necessary like that. And he needed
to embrace his guitar for two straight hours to display ‘...
en el tiempo’.
José Antonio Rodríguez
and Rosario Toledo
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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The concert, whose premiere inaugurated the 2006 Córdoba
Guitar Festival, evokes the musician’s memories, the
early days of his career, places, people, maestros. ‘Guad-el-Kebir’,
the taranta ‘A Cobitos’, the bulería por
soleá ‘Alquimia’, the bulería ‘Arcano’,
the soleá ‘Guadalcázar’, the tangos
‘El Pozanco’, ‘Seguiriya de Carmen’,
the ballad ‘Paisaje’, the jaleos ‘Por la
ribera del tiempo’ and the rumba ‘La farga’
make up this closed repertoire. And each personage has his
role perfectly defined: bass, cello, earthen vat, tambourine,
box drum, flute, guitars... and even Rafael
de Utrera’s voice, not entirely cante.
José Antonio Rodríguez, gifted for composition
for dance, makes use of this rich musical wrapping, in which
the bass player, flutist and bailaora Rosario Toledo stood
out at moments, to place his guitar in the most diverse tessituras.
Virtuous, deep, ballad-playing, playful, abstract, basic,
complex, unhurried, vigorous, know-it-all, cross-border. This
instrumentalist has everything, except consolidation. Just
that factor, which led him to stretch out the concert to two
hours, would perhaps need to be varied in the show. Though
judging by the ovation, the crowd was more than ready for
such a burst of music. They even called for an encore and
got the live ‘Manhattan de la Frontera’ as a blessing,
this time in original version.
And tomorrow...
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Eva Yerbabuena
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
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Eva Yerbabuena, ‘El
huso de la memoria’. Teatro Lope de Vega,
9 p.m. After inaugurating the season
at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, the
new show by Eva
Yerbabuena arrives with two performances
at Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco. According
to the Granada-born bailaora, “being the
responsibility that it was to open the one hundred
fiftieth season at La Zarzuela, I’m satisfied
with the show and after a fortnight in Madrid,
it’s now more polished since it’s
at a premiere where you really see what works
and what doesn’t work”. In this
show, the artist takes a look back and shapes
up “a great many feelings caused by memories
from my childhood”. She has two contemporary
guest dancers, nine bailaores on stage, four
cantaores, two percussionists and a saxophonist.
The show includes saetas, mirabrás in
a bata de cola – a piece for which, she
recognizes, “needed maturity, since strength
isn’t the one in charge” - and shawl,
farruca, rondeña and, “as a tribute
to Paco
Jarana, I’ve also included the soleá,
which I have so much to be grateful for”.
The duration of the show depends on the inspiration
invoked by this style. And, on the subject of
improvisation, the sevillanas were brought up
which she danced at the premiere of ‘Tierra
de calma’ by Miguel Poveda: “The
first two sevillanas, I went to the studio and
I elaborated on them, but the two with piano,
over seventy percent was improvisation, so don’t
ask me to repeat them”. Creation doesn’t
cease in her and she assures that in the rehearsals
of ‘El huso de la memoria’, “they’ve
caught me completely gone more than once, when
the picture of the next show suddenly comes
to mind”. And in that following adventure
she’ll have, tête-à-tête,
Paco Jarana, author of the music and the artist’s
husband: “Paco now has full confidence
in me. He doesn’t hold me back; he’s
my other half. My baile wouldn’t be anything
without his music. But his music without my
baile... would surely be something great. If
he doesn’t record an album or doesn’t
collaborate with other people it’s because
he doesn’t want to or he doesn’t
feel like it... I’m not to blame”.
Further information
- Interview
with Eva Yerbabuena, bailaora (August 2006)
- Eva
Yerbabuena, ‘El huso de la memoria’.
Special feature & photo gallery
Capullo de
Jerez and Remedios Amaya (Photo: Daniel
Muñoz) |
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Remedios Amaya / Capullo
de Jerez. Hotel Triana, 11:30 p.m.
An unfortunate incident totally outside of flamenco
had to occur for the television camera crews
to come in a mad rush to the gathering at the
Expo Casino. As has been repeated over and over
again in the news this week, Capullo de Jerez
spent several days in jail after being reported
for an alleged crime of attempted homicide.
The accuser retracted in the end and the cantaor
was released without charges. But now he’s
being zeroed in on by the flashes. Although
during the press conference, what was most talked
about was what Remedios
Amaya and Capullo
de Jerez are going to offer on stage at
the Hotel Triana on Friday night. The Sevillian
cantaora didn’t hesitate to express how
happy she was to sing “in my native land,
Triana” and to “share the stage
with my cousin for the first time”. To
which the Jerez-born artist responded that “I’d
like to work with Remedios every day”.
He added that “an artist’s quality,
like in football, has to be seen in the field
of play”. Remedios will be there accompanied
by Juan
Diego on guitar, choruses, clapping and
percussions; and Capullo, with Manuel Jero on
toque, percussion and clapping.
Further information
- Interview
with Capullo de Jerez, cantaor (September 2006)
Online store
- CD:
Remedios Amaya. Me voy contigo
- CD:
Capullo de Jerez. Poderío
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magazine@flamenco-world.com
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