2009 CIUTAT VELLA FLAMENCO FESTIVAL. JOSÉ MIGUEL CERRO · DORANTES, JOAQUÍN GRILO & PASTORA GALVÁN
We are together
Silvia Calado. Barcelona, May 22nd, 2009
First part. José Miguel Cerro ‘Chiqui’: cante. Manuel Castilla: guitar. Esperanza Rotger: piano. Second part. Dorantes: piano. Pastora Galván, Joaquín Grilo (guest artists): baile. Juan San Juan: cante. Tete Peña: percussion. José López: contrabass. 16th Ciutat Vella Flamenco Festival. Contemporary Culture Center, Pati de les Dones. Barcelona, May 22nd, 2009. 9 p.m.
Knowing that art is above political proclamations relaxes the spirit. And the thing is that it was a real surprise - at least for an Andalusian born in the transition, like this writer - to see Jordi Pujol, the now historic leader of Catalan nationalism, in the audience of a flamenco festival … and his enthusiastic applause. We already know flamenco is universal, that it is admired throughout the world. But for it to be so in this land is truly special. For this art came to Catalonia with thousands of Andalusian emigrants who contributed to its prosperity with their work and, in passing, to its cultural diversity. Flamenco ran so deep here that it produced figures as huge as Carmen Amaya, which is reinvented from here nowadays with voices like that of Miguel Poveda, and the festival of this traditional neighborhood of Ciutat Vella is now in its sixteenth edition.
To take an obvious example, the cantaor in charge of opening the fourth night of the program is precisely one of those Andalusian emigrants. He was born in the Cádiz-area town of La Línea in the fifties and he has made his life and career in Barcelona. And in this city, from the classrooms of Taller de Músics, he is now in charge of getting across cante to very young students who are swelling the ranks of the new generation of Catalan flamencos. And he does so committed to the classical forms, just as he focused his recital at the Pati de les Dones. The first thing he did was to pay tribute to Manolo Caracol, standing next to the piano, singing the romance ‘Carcelero’. Then with propriety, seriousness and taking a seat, accompanied by guitar, he opted for tientos before moving on to the guajira uttered and sprinkled with influences from Valderrama. In the cantiñas, he mixed his own lyrics with others like the ones originally sung to the rhythm of sevillanas by Salmarina. And he finished the way he started, next to the piano, singing a vidalita made in memory of Federico García Lorca.
And from the classical to the open. That’s the base of the show by Dorantes, who fosters a space from his piano where musicians and bailaores can dialogue, express... thrill. Those three actions came together during a recital reigned above all else by the personality of Dorantes’ sound, which goes beyond flamenco and the Andalusian, to become something like Atlantic. The instrumental pieces were captivating per se, but the collaborations by the bailaores sublimed the crowd. First came the solo by Pastora Galván, materializing the bewitchment of ‘La danza de las sombras’. Accompanied by metal castanets, dressed in black and strass, mighty in footwork and in body. Her stuff wasn’t adorning the piece, but dancing it. Without a breather, Joaquín Grilo came out on stage to immediately join the group as another musician, contributing his overwhelming way of understanding flamenco rhythmics. And then, his baile started to become intoxicated, to decompose, to parody itself … and his movement nearly eclipsed the scene. Sparks flew from the gathering between the Sevillian bailaora and the Jerez-born bailaor. And the two of them, the piano and the entire band made the sounds from ‘Sur’ a high-voltage discharge, which electrified the end of an evening which was a ceremony of the encounter between what’s from here, what’s from there and what we are together.
Hall,
8 p.m. Alba Carmona • Simón Román
Alba Carmona
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
Simón Román
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
The Ciutat Vella Flamenco Festival always reveals originalities. And that business of a psaltery accompanying a cantaora por seguiriyas, por bulerías and por malagueñas was original … in a really big way. The vocals were provided by Alba Carmona, a young Barcelona-born artist with a hoarse voice. And the ancient instrument of Persian origin was played by Marina Albero, who surprised the crowd with her performance, her mastery of compás and her good taste in transporting the traditional accompaniment of guitar to such ethereal and Oriental places. The encounter between the two of them turned out to be enveloping and a very pleasant surprise to the ear. We are more used to the fullness of Simón Román’s quejío, since the Marbella-born cantaor has become a usual of Los Farruco over the past few seasons. With a very raspy echo, he struggled with soleares and bulerías, styles in which he synthesized his way of making a virtue out of imperfection
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