Special Feature. Takeover in flamenco cante
’80s Generation
Silvia Calado, August 2009
Not even ten years have gone by
since the appearance of the surprising batch of cantaores
that had Arcángel, Estrella Morente and Miguel Poveda
in its ranks. And while they mature, you can now begin to
catch a glimpse of the takeover. The times have changed
completely for the record industry - shifting from the euphoria
of the multinational labels to independent production -,
but the voices of those born in the eighties are starting
to be recorded and to renew the flamenco scene. Jerez-born
Jesús Méndez, Cádiz-born Encarna
Anillo, Huelva-born Rocío Márquez, Argentina
and Jesús Corbacho, Almería-born María
José Pérez, Córdoba-born India Martínez…
are a few of those cantaores who are refreshing the cante
of the early 21st century. And that occurs when there are
still many born in the seventies who have yet to come out
with their first records. More cante, more.
While they were still just babies, Camarón
became a cantaor of the masses with ‘Soy gitano’,
Paco de Lucía recorded ‘Sólo quiero
caminar’ in a sextet, Ketama shook up new flamenco
with ‘Shongai’, Pata Negra rocked the jondo
in ‘Blues de la Frontera’ and Chocolate, La
Paquera and Fernanda still wielded their tremendous voices.
In that explosive context, marked by the transition to democracy
and Spain’s return to the world and to time, the children
were growing up who, now twenty-something, are refreshing
the flamenco cante scene.
Those who preceded them, the cantaores
born in the ’70s, faced the challenge of choosing
between Camarón’s path or seeking in the past
in order to put personal neoclassicism into practice. The
cantaores of the ’80s, however, now nearly consider
Camarón as yet another classic. Now then, none of
them loses sight of the history of flamenco cante as a reference
in order to define their own discourse. In general, there
is hardly a trend to innovate - except for a certain renovation
in the musical accompaniment, the conversion of cantes into
songs or the lyrics -, but rather a search in their own
throats which makes what was recorded by the maestros in
the past sound personal. But sometimes they even hold as
models artists from the previous decade who in some cases
have yet to go to the recording studio.
Arcángel, Huelva, fandango…
and an exception
Arcángel’s case, for example,
has been a real stimulus in Huelva. As a result of the cantaor’s
début in 2001, as one of the stakes of the no longer
existing flamenco label of the multinational Virgin, voices
keep on streaming out with his same edge, breeding ground
and school; that of fandango… although transcending
towards a complete cantaor repertoire. Curiously, most of
the ones who stand out took part on the premonitory collective
album ‘Fandango joven’ (2003). That is the case
of Argentina
(Huelva 1984) who after studying at the Cristina Heeren
Foundation, released her first album - currently off the
catalogue - in 2006 under the direction of Jerez-born guitarist
José Quevedo ‘Bolita’ and sponsored by
Arcángel himself. Since then, she has kept on performing
recitals and working to distinguish herself: “I don’t
like going out on stage and people saying that I’m
exactly like another cantaora”.
Stemming from fandango, but also song and
copla, is also Huelva-born Rocío
Márquez (Huelva 1985), winner of the Lámpara
Minera 2008 of the La Unión Contest. And it occurred
to her instead of recording an album, to shoot a DVD with
a live studio performance. The idea is to do a self portrait
‘Aquí y ahora’ (‘Here and Now’).
And her challenge: “To manage to contribute something
new to flamenco”. Besides her personal voice, she
composes some of her songs and she is even capable of composing
and being accompanied with a hurdy-gurdy… that’s
the way things are going.
He still doesn’t have an album out,
but cantaor Jesús
Corbacho (Huelva 1986). continues to draw more and more
followers. Although he is offering his cante solo little
by little, the most usual thing up until now has been to
hear him singing for dancing in shows such as ‘Mujeres’
by Merche Esmeralda, Belén Maya and Rocío
Molina. Bordering on the decade in question, we also have
Jeromo Segura (Huelva 1979), with a career originating in
cante por fandangos and which has focused on baile so far.
For the past few years, he has been a member of the Eva
Yerbabuena Company, although at the same time his first
recording is in the planning stage. And there are a couple
of pairs specializing in Arcángel-style choruses
to look out for. On the one hand, Macarena de la Torre and
Sandra Carrasco - although she now stands out all by herself
between cante and song on account of the musical ‘Enamorados
anónimos’ and on collective albums like ‘Sangre
Nueva’ - and on the other hand, Los Mellis.
Independently of this ‘school’,
bursting upon stages with a flash was Antonio Álvarez,
alias Pitingo
Born in the Huelva-area town of Ayamonte in 1981, he has
coined a new formula for flamenco, soulería (soul
+ bulería), with which he has managed to top the
charts, fill stadiums and become one of the most popular
singers in Spain. But those turns imported from genres such
as gospel don’t stop him from sitting down to sing
por soleá or seguiriyas beside his allied guitars,
those of the Habichuela family.
Cádiz, alegrías and
surroundings
Cádiz, the city, which has always
been a land of cante, was fearing lately for its descendants.
It had Chano Lobato still active, now veteran Juan Villar
and Mariana Cornejo… but the generational takeover
wasn’t clear. Niña Pastori - born, like Camarón,
in San Fernando - initially opted for a successful formula
of flamenco-style pop. And then Encarna
Anillo, appeared, determined to be a cantaora. Rather,
she confirmed what she had been announcing on stages since
she was a little girl. She jotted down all the experience
precociously built-up solo and accompanying baile in her
“personal notebook” and poured it out on her
début album ‘Barcas
de plata’, with executive producer Miguel Poveda
and released by FWM. La Perla, La Trini, Carmen Montoya
and Carmen Linares inspire her on this album, on which fresh
air is provided by the guitarists’ scores and her
own voice, a voice rich in nuances, flamenco flavor, feeling
and… demand, since in her opinion “in flamenco
cante you can’t settle for the gift you’ve been
given”.
Also nonconformist, or at least restless,
is David
Palomar (Cádiz 1977), who is one of those of
the previous decade who didn’t release an album until
very recently. ‘Trimilenaria’ came out last
year, paying tribute precisely to the flamenco nature of
his hometown. Austere seven-minute-long seguiriyas contrast
with songs tinted with more current arrangements and formulas.
From his same age group is another Cádiz native,
but from the province, who has also just made his album
début: Antonio Reyes (Chiclana 1976). The cantaor,
a relative of Jarrito and Panseco, presented at Festival
de Jerez 2009 his ‘Viento Sur’, his first album
recorded old-style which stresses traditional cante, just
accompanied by guitars like those of Moraíto and
Alfredo Lagos. There are other Cádiz-born artists
who have yet to premiere at the studio, but they are very
busy backing bailaores, as is the case of José Anillo
(Cádiz 1978), Laura Vital (Sanlúcar 1980)
and Antonio Núñez ‘El Pulga’ (Chiclana
1982). And if a family with a future need be mentioned,
it is that of the Núñez… Orillos: Rancapino’s
descendants are calling for a place for themselves. Alonso.
Antonio. Ana.
Zeroing in on Jerez
But of course, in this matter of the future
of flamenco cante, you always have to keep an eye on Jerez,
the city considered to be its cradle and breeding ground.
And indeed, coming from there is one of this generation’s
most solid voices with one of the clearest futures. The
mighty old-time echo of
Jesús Méndez (Jerez 1984), who shares
La Paquera’s family tree, came out in public a few
years ago as a member of guitarist Gerardo Núñez’s
group. And he’s been going non-stop… at high
speed. While still taking part in baile shows such as ‘Mujeres’,
he brought out his first album with El Gallo Azul (Gerardo’s
label). On calling it ‘Jerez sin Fronteras’
(‘Jerez Without Borders’), he wanted to remark
on the dual nature of his native land: “Jerez is a
city open to the world in every sense, but in flamenco we’ve
never been affected by crazes; we’ve respected true
cante”. And that respect for cante is what guides
him on this album on which the only concession outside of
the basic styles is the zambra ‘Soleá de mis
pesares’.
Ezequiel Benítez is outside of the
decade by one year, but he has also just released his first
album. ‘Sobrellevé’ combines traditional
styles of Jerez cante with flirtations with ballad and latin
song. He is also one of the young cantaores who took part
on the collective album ‘Nueva
Frontera del Cante de Jerez 2008’,a disc which
emulated a different now mythical one which thirty-five
years earlier ‘discovered’ Jerez cante talents
such as Manuel Moneo, Rubichi and El Torta. Just like back
then, just guitar to the sound of basic cantes accompanies
new voices like those of Moneíto, Mijita, Juanillorro
and El Quini. A female installment is in the planning stages,
nourished by a breeding ground in which names ring out such
as those of Tamara Tañé, Sara Salado and Macarena
de Jerez, enlarging a troupe already crowned by predecessors
like La Macanita, Melchora Ortega and Elu de Jerez. And
this entire generation is fermenting while one of the most
developed realities of Jerez cante is putting the final
touches on his first disc. In autumn, David
Lagos (Jerez 1973)) will release ‘El espejo en
que me miro’, a tribute to the sources he draws upon
and a wager on his personal ability for creation. And Londro
(Jerez 1976) is also at it, with one of the most personal
voices on today’s scene.
Seville, Tremenda and Triana
Huelva’s highway and Cádiz’s
are going to lead to Seville. But the city of myths such
as La Niña de los Peines and Manolo Caracol is currently
more exhaustive in baile than in any other branch of flamenco.
Even so, there are fresh voices to bear in mind like that
of Rosario
la Tremendita (Sevilla 1984), La Gandinga’s great-granddaughter
and José el Tremendo’s daughter. Although she
hasn’t recorded anything yet, the Triana-born artist
has been racking up experience solo for years, at the same
time as she collaborates with bailaoras of the likes of
Belén Maya, Rafaela Carrasco and Rocío Molina.
She is preceded by other voices from Seville of very different
styles. On the one hand, a very powerful La Tana (Seville
1976) who, besides joining the Paco de Lucía Company,
made her début just at the end of the boom years
for the record industry with Virgin… and unfortunately,
that album ‘Tú, ven a mí’ is now
off the catalogue.
With a milder register, Alicia Gil (Seville
1974) appeared a couple of seasons ago with ‘Cantaora
de bareto’, following the footsteps of other cantaoras
from the ’70s like Sonia Miranda (Isla Mayor 1974).
She made her début in 2005 with that ‘Garabato’
produced and composed for her by guitarist Miguel Ángel
Cortés. Nearly all the voices which stand out in
the province are from that decade… and which still
don’t have records out. From Lebrija is José
Valencia (1975), who is getting his début album ready
even though he is a very consolidated cantaor. From Utrera,
Rafael (1972), currently Vicente Amigo’s lead voice.
From Los Palacios, Miguel Ortega (1975), also a collaborator
of Vicente’s and of a great many elegant bailaores.
From Morón are El Galli and Moi de Morón,
voices that take part in the project Son de la Frontera.
Of course, there as a banner of the decade are two die-hard
Camarón-style artists: Potito (Seville 1976), at
recording studios since he was fourteen; and Diego Amador
(Seville 1973), who, as he has just demonstrated on ‘Río
de los Canasteros’, is as much a pianist… as
he is a cantaor.
Beauties of Granada, Eastern Andalusia
Eastern Andalusia has two of the best voices
born in the ’80s. Just in that first year of the decade,
two great beauties came into the world in Granada: Estrella
Morente and Marina Heredia, both an advance of that cantaor
boom of 2000 and deserving of a chapter apart. Estrella
Morente and Marina
Heredia. Estrella Morente climbed the charts with an
old-time cante album, ‘Mi cante y un poema’,
shortly thereafter she revisited Granada folklore with ‘Calle
del aire’, and several years later she revalidated
her position, becoming an ‘Almodóvar girl’
with her ‘Mujeres’. The daughter of revolutionary
Enrique is a phenomenon of the masses to highlight not on
the flamenco scene, but rather that of today’s Spanish
music, capable of filling stadiums side by side with famous
fado singer Dulce Pontes. Marina Heredia, also of the albaicinera
school and with a father who is a cantaor - Jaime el Parrón
-, premiered under Pepe de Lucía’s formerly
successful mark and multinational company with ‘Me
duele, me duele’. And now, far away from refrain-laden
flamenco, she is concentrating on taking the reins of her
career by self-producing her albums. She did so two years
ago with ‘La voz del agua’, and she will do
so next autumn with her following disc. And there are also
cantaores of the land born a few years earlier with a lot
to say. Antonio Campos (Granada 1972) is about to bring
out his first album, a live performance recorded at the
Corral del Carbón in Granada together with guitarist
Daniel Méndez. Although we have now lost track of
her, at the start of this decade the voice appeared of Carmen
Carmona (Granada 1977), who made her album début
with ‘Calivinacá’. You know that the
takeover is being forged because we are now witness to the
professional beginnings of Enrique Morente Jr., for example.
The reviews of his first gigs say that he is 18 years old,
so go figure… apparently, he was born in the ’90s.
Following the geographic route, for the
time being Málaga has not revealed any offspring
from the ’80s record-wise. Simón Román
(Marbella 1982) has a hoarse echo which, for now, is only
heard accompanying Los Farruco’s baile or Tomatito’s
toque, which is no small thing. Málaga-born, although
established in Barcelona, is Alba Carmona (Málaga
1984), a cantaora who desires to say something different:
at the 2009 Ciutat Vella Festival, she had her cantes accompanied
with a psaltery. Standing out on the Costa del Sol some
years ago was Rocío Bazán (Estepona 1977),
boosted by her award at Seville’s Bienal; she still
doesn’t have an album, but she does have extensive
experience in live performances.
Halfway between Córdoba and Almería
lies a cantaora with renewing ways who does belong to the
decade in question. India Martínez, born in Córdoba
in 1985 but raised in Almería, has just released
her second disc - with one of the big companies and a renowned
producer -, and with an innovative proposal. ‘Despertar’
intertwines flamenco cante with ethnic sounds, knocking
styles up a notch such as guajiras, romances, trillas and
alboreás.
María
José Pérez (Almería 1985). has
appeared this very season. With her album ‘Cante flamenco’,
she puts herself to the test with a broad selection of classical
cantes nearly all of which are accompanied by Granada-born
guitarist Miguel Ochando and some by Gerardo Núñez,
although she sticks in changes like the opening alegría-soleá
‘Siete colores del cielo’ with lyrics by poet
José Luis Ortiz Nuevo. And she makes her aspirations
known: “I know that in time I’ll become more
and more personal”. Also of a classical tendency is
Rocío Segura (Almería 1979), winner of La
Unión’s 2000 Lámpara Minera, the same
award won by Jaén-born Gema Jiménez (Jódar
1985) five years later. Oh, and without forgetting Ángeles
Fernández (Almería 1986) who, besides being
a vocalist in her father Tomatito’s group, has been
gaining experience solo for several seasons now.
North of Sierra Morena
From Despeñaperros upwards, the
revelation voice this year has been that of Piculabe with
his first album ‘Camino y tiempo’. At the age
of 26, the Madrilenian cantaor has been an unexpected wager
of the record company Universal, since this Camarón-style
artist is hardly backed by a professional résumé,
but rather by the endorsement of a heavyweight producer
in today’s flamenco, Juan José Suárez
‘Paquete’. Still younger is Israel Fernández
(Madrid 1989), a very young cantaor from the guitar neighborhood
of Cañorroto who made his début with the album
‘Naranjas sobre la nieve’, produced by flamenco
jazz pianist Pedro Ojesto. From the same place is Saúl
Quirós (Madrid 1980), member over the past few years
of the Sara Baras Company, and a present emblematic voice
of the Court, although still without any known record projects.
And a little bit earlier came Israel Paz ‘Moñi’
(Madrid 1977), whose latest disc was ‘Corazón
flamenco’, and Paco del Pozo (Madrid 1975), who was
inspired by the bullfighting world for his ‘Vestido
de luces’. Near the capital lies Toledo, a city which
gives María Rodríguez (Toledo 1983) her stage
surname, who after intense roaming around contests and festivals,
makes her début with a romantic-edge flamenco-style
song album with vocals and piano. And Barcelona continues
to sharpen up its breeding ground, as is demonstrated by
Joaquín Gómez ‘El Duende’, Mónica
Navarro ‘La Chicuela’ and the very sweet Silvia
Pérez, among others.
Yeah, yeah. Of course there must be some
omission or another in this report, since the breeding ground
- fortunately - keeps on growing festival after festival.
But, well then, the intention of this text is to act as
a general panorama and guide to the names and styles for
those seeking to revalidate their liking for cante, for
those who are fed up with hearing that business about cante
slowing down or for those who are approaching this for the
first time and who logically want to start with today…
and anticipate tomorrow a little bit. And if that happens
and they want to go back to the roots, then these young
cantaores will take care of guiding them to the sources
they have been drawing upon in order to be themselves and
to contribute to flamenco feeding the evolution which is
innate to it. Cante also rides this valuable bandwagon…
with the permission of the record industry, please.
