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Old cante. Listening guide.
Special Feature
Tips for plunging into old cante
Martín Guijarro
The first contact might have been via Camarón, Paco de Lucía,
perhaps José Mercé or maybe Ojos de Brujo. The curious neophyte
wonders if what he hears playing, what he likes, what has touched him, is flamenco,
then, why not delve into it a bit? Why not find out where that music comes from?
The hell with those who say flamenco is an unapproachable world! He has keyed
in the word 'flamenco' in a search engine and he's come across an appealing website
which, in its selection of albums, offers him a very extensive list dedicated
to old cante dotted with names such as La Niña de los Peines, Antonio Chacón,
Manuel Vallejo... We are in the right direction. Now, what to choose?
Cante flamenco was recorded from the very beginning, since Thomas Edison wanted
to promote his invention with local recordings all over the world. As José
Luis Ortiz Nuevo includes in the book 'Mi gustar flamenco very good', the newspaper
'El Noticiero Sevillano' tells that as early as 1895 the malagueñas of
Juan Breva were recorded in Seville. And the same thing happened with most of
the period's cantaores; there are recordings from the era in quantity and quality.
All of those recordings continue to be the source drawn on by today's cantaores
and make up most of the repertoire they record and perform on stage. What we call
old cante is nearly more current than the new creations. Estrella
Morente, for example, relies on La
Niña de los Peines unhesitatingly in 'Mi cante y un poema'; Enrique
Morente did the entire 'Tribute to D. Antonio Chacón'; Camarón re-performed
El Gloria's fandangos, Cagancho's aires trianeros, Chacón's malagueña...;
José Mercé, on his latest album, recalls Manuel
Torre, El Manijero, El Mellizo... and most cantes that are danced on stage
spring up from the same source.
La Niña de los Peines
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Fortunately, several record companies have taken it upon themselves to compile,
catalogue and remaster those first sound relics from the early 20th century. He
who begins must know what the fundamentals are. Perhaps the most recommendable
thing would be to start with the double compilation 'Grandes
maestros del cante flamenco' ('Great Maestros of Cante Flamenco'), by the
company Sonifolk, a complete catalogue from which to choose individual artists,
according to tastes, preferences... Next, to go into detail with the era's great
personalities after having made the first contact, standing out are the compilations
'Voz de estaño fundido' ('Melted-Tin Voice') by La Niña de los Peines,
the double album 'Copa Pavón y Llave de Oro del Cante' ('Peacock Cup and
Cante Gold Key') by Manuel Vallejo, 'La cumbre de un maestro' ('The Peak of a
Maestro') by Antonio Chacón, 'La leyenda del cante' ('The Legend of Cante')
by Manuel Torre, 'Voces históricas del flamenco' ('Historic Voices of Flamenco')
by El Mochuelo, 'El Cojo de Málaga', 'Manuel Escacena. Un maestro del cante'
('A Cante Maestro'), 'Esencia flamenca' ('Flamenco Essence') by Juan Mojama, 'Maestros
clásicos del cante' ('Classic Cante Maestros') by Garrido de Jerez and
Fernando el Herrero, 'El poeta del cante' ('The Cante Poet') by José Cepero...
All of these references have in common the Sonifolk label, which in the past
few years has taken care of carrying out one of the most successful jobs of recovering
the old cante catalogue. The albums offer more-than-acceptable sound quality after
having been digitally remastered and cleaned, besides a libretto with precise
written documentation (in Spanish and English) authored by José Blas Vega,
illustrated with archive images.
Continues
>>
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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Manuel
Vallejo
Antonio
Chacón
Manuel
Torre
El
Mochuelo
El
Cojo de Málaga
Manuel
Escacena
Garrido
de Jerez y Fernando el Herrero