7th FLAMENCO PA’ TOS FESTIVAL 2006
ARCÁNGEL. PITINGO. FUENSANTA LA MONETA. MIGUEL ÁNGEL CORTÉS

Infinite cante

Silvia Calado. Madrid, June 20th, 2006

Online video / Photo gallery

7th Flamenco pa’ Tos Festival. Arcángel/ Pitingo/ Fuensanta la Moneta/ Miguel Ángel Cortés/ Chirigota Las Niñas. Colegio de Médicos. Madrid, June 20th, 2006. 9 p.m.

Arcángel (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

A huge Arcángel. What a way to finish the seguiriya! In the crowd, some stood amazed, others sat agape. No, he isn’t exactly one of those who let the air finish off the cantes. The Huelva-born cantaor makes them grow and grow until impossible limits with clenched fists, with his throat open to infinity. Head, heart... and something harder to define are at work in that way of his of making music with his divine instrument. He needn’t swear that he’s bored by monotony, that he needs to seek out new roads. That search is in every cante, in every stage. From the caña to tangos, from tangos to alegrías. The seguiriya. And throughout this stroll of an intelligent musician with soul, he’s firmly accompanied by two inspiring, consistent guitars; those of Miguel Ángel Cortés and Daniel Méndez. For the latter, the young man from Morón, he publicly foretold a promising future. The Granada-born artist, however, was able to demonstrate live, as the cantaor said, that “he’s a really great guitarist and accompanist”.

And the thing is that it was up to Cortés to open the seventh edition of this festival, which has been held for the past seven years with proceeds going to the Gomaespuma Foundation, presenting alone several fragments off his new album, ‘Bordón de trapo’. Well-rounded compositions, classical in mood, sufficient in virtuosity, elegant. He provided the right climate for this start to the festival, passing the baton onto another artist with an album fresh out of the oven: Pitingo. Another cantaor from Huelva, this one still getting started, making his way with a sure step. And the thing is that there’s an abyss between the Pitingo who sang in the previous edition of this festival and tonight’s Pitingo. Making a first album surrounded by such high-level guitarists as those of the Habichuela family seems to have sped up this artist’s maturity, even in his ease on stage and his own esthetics (not very far from that of a pop singer, with jeans, disheveled hair, shirt hanging out... now then, with frills).

Pitingo (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

After surmounting problems with the sound – inevitable in a show with such variety - he came out on stage by right, por soleá and with El Camborio on toque. His cante leads more towards the vocal filigree of a mellow, old-time echo. And meanwhile, he sticks in a few little touches of what on his album has been called ‘flamenco soul’, those vocal spins which for the time being define his intention to mark a difference. The freedom of the granaína therefore suits him just fine. Then with clapping and choruses, he also sang the tangos ‘Celos’ and the bulerías por ‘soulerías’, in which he even fits in ‘Yesterday’ in Spanish. Not without first paying respect to he who would come next, “a colleague of mine who sings like you wouldn’t believe”, he said farewell por fandangos. And he did so without a microphone, recalling the origins of this flamenco event. Intermission came. The huge Arcángel came. And then past midnight, baile came. Fuensanta la Moneta was brimming with temperament in her two bailes. The Granada-born artist opened up por seguiriyas, feline, vehement. From head to toe, from shoulders to hips, from her eyes... she really dances with her eyes. And the thing is that she’s one hundred percent expression. She displayed abandolao airs in an equally energetic but less transcendental register, more with an eye to the fiesta. She’s overflowing with energy, but faces up to today and tomorrow’s flamenco dancing scene with the show of a complete bailaora who’s known how to devour stages since she was a little girl. When she finished with an encore por bulerías, the first day of this festival had already lasted about five hours, once again with the ‘openers’ being the four members of the Cádiz chirigota Las Niñas. Nothing carrying the radio duo Gomaespuma’s trademark is conceivable without humor.

Photo gallery. Flamenco Pa' tos Click the images to enlarge
Miguel Ángel Cortés (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)	Pitingo (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)	Fuensanta la Moneta (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

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