The cajón flamenco. Special feature

The fourth flamenco artform

Silvia Calado. July 2005

Twenty-five years after Paco de Lucía imported it from Peru, the cajón already plays a fundamental role in flamenco. The key to it fitting in so naturally is that “it's halfway between the clapping sound of palmas and the click of the heels of a taconeo”. The instrument carved a niche for itself in flamenco at a pace marked by Rubem Dantas as part of the legendary Paco de Lucía sextet. The Brazilian percussionist was followed by musicians Antonio Carmona, José Antonio Galicia, Manuel Soler, Tino di Geraldo and Ramón Porrina. And, little by little, a ‘second generation’ of cajoneros is beginning to emerge, notably artists such as Piraña, Bandolero, Chaboli, Antonio Coronel, Cepillo, Guillermo McGill... Slap-by-slap, the widely-criticized excesses are being toned down, and the instrument is finding the right balance, on its way to becoming the fourth flamenco artform.

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