Female voices

Zata for Flamenco-world.com
Convento de San Francisco. Lebrija (Sevilla), July 20th, 2002

	Remedios Amaya (Photo: Zata)

With the passage of time, the traditional centers of cante flamenco have turned into bedroom communities of the nearest urban centers, forfeiting a great deal of their small-town charm. This is not the case of Lebrija which, for all practical purposes, is in the middle of nowhere. Or in the middle of everything, depending on your perspective. The town is situated in that slim corredor that joins the vortices of the golden triangle where flamenco's deepest roots are to be found. Lebrija is the essence. Suffice it to say that upon our arrival cante por soleá was coming from the train station's loudspeakers. The Caracolá de Lebrija is one of the oldest cante festivals and in this, its thirty-seventh edition, it sought to put on a fresh face paying tribute to the women of flamenco. An attractive idea that made for a heavily festero lineup of artists... but then the athletic field of the San Francisco Convent filled to overflowing with aficionados is not the best place for enjoying the subtleties of cante jondo.

The program opened with local dancer María del Mar Carrasco, with a long soleá, followed by another Lebrija woman, singer Juana Vargas. With her well-worn voice, tasting of the earth itself, she sang malagueñas, fandangos, bulerías and soleá, closing, as is her custom, with the unusual solea of Tío Pacote de Jerez, in major key, with the guitar of Antonio Malena. Then the beautiful singer from Granada Marina Heredia, representative of the new generation of flamenco singers, appeared on stage. Because in Granada they have their own way of doing things, she began with an odd conglomeration of cantes that combined elements of a classic Caracol zambra with trilleras, the martinete ending ("Y si no es verdad...") and other bits and pieces. Despite being musically interesting, the Lebrija aficionados had trouble digesting it. With soleá, the Granada singer brought them back to familiar territory, but still without provoking 'ole's'. At last, with tangos de Granada (mixed with those of La Repompa as has become the fashion, and backed up with a djembé) she was able to let loose. In the bulerías with which she ended she finally managed to rouse the audience in spite of (or because of) the lack of a Granada sound, since regional subtleties in bulerías have been almost completely lost in today's young voices.

The singer from Jaén Carmen Linares, responsible for the 'Antología de la Mujer en el Cante', ended the first part of the program. Sober elegance, years of experience, professionalism and cantes which balanced out a program that was perhaps excessively festero. Noteworthy were the tarantas, always her area of expertise, but she also delivered in alegrías, soleá and seguiriyas with cabales. With her regular guitarist Paco Cortés she ended por bulerías, and despite this not being her strong suit she managed to convince an audience that was demanding in this area.

The second part opened with dance. The career of Carmen Ledesma, the dancer from Seville, 1983 winner of the La Macarrona prize at the Concurso Nacional de Córdoba, has not unfolded in a spectacular way. The woman simply dances. And her dance is serious, knowledgeable, respectful and above all, carried off with an almost minimalist simplicity. She appeared in street clothes and suddenly, all the ruffles, polkadots, flowers and peinetas worn by other women, seemed unnecessary. The group included guitarist Antonio Moya, and singers María Peña and Curro Fernández, the latter, father of Esperanza Fernández and guitarist Paco Fernández. A small but efficient cuadro, solid, and long on tradition. They were followed by the singer from Lebrija Inés Bacán, sister of the late guitarist Pedro Bacán, accompanied by the guitarist Antonio Malena. This woman definitely has a following. The raw, primitive quality of her singing, so admired by some, is less appreciated by others, but here in her hometown the success was resounding. Tientos, soleá, siguiriyas and bulerías.

If last year the superstar of the night was José Mercé, who had to enter the grounds with a security escort to avoid his admirers, this year Remedios Amaya didn't need to go to such extremes, although her appearance on stage caused tremendous excitement. In the presentation the woman from Triana with roots in Extremadura was described as a "cult figure, gypsyness and inspiration". Remedios was the only person of the night whose performance was intently watched and effusively applauded by the other artists from backstage. With Juan Diego at the guitar, and backed up by a group of young girls, she sang her own special brand of tarantas, in addition to bulerías, tangos, and then some more bulerías. She was also the only singer who was able to step away from the mike in the enormous athletic field and continue to be heard.

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