And local styles aren't on their way out either. The new wave of cantaores from Jerez, from Utrera, from Lebrija or from Triana, passionately defend the flamenco idiosyncrasies of the region, some strictly by the book, others with an open-minded approach. Jerez is undoubtedly the most fertile of these hot-spots. In terms of recording output and stage appearances La Macanita, Fernando Terremoto and Antonio Malena are all big names here. La Macanita, providing continuity for the school of La Paquera de Jerez, cultivated the styles that form the very identity of Jerez cante ever since she was a girl: bulerías, soleares and seguiriyas, as well as popular Spanish cuplés. And she's shown her ability here in solid recording projects like ‘Jerez-Xères-Sherry’ and ‘La luna de Tomasa’, among others. Video evidence of the premature start to her career is to be found on volume 22 of the DVD series ‘Rito y geografía del cante’ (Rites and geography of flamenco vocals). This same volume, dedicated to child cantaores, also features a nine-year-old Antonio Malena performing seguiriyas accompanied by Moraíto Chico on guitar. Although he's better known for his work on stage than in the recording studio, his cante can be found on discs such as ‘Yo soy así, así soy yo’ (I'm like that, that's how I am).

Another blue-blooded cantaor is Fernando Terremoto, faithful disciple of his father's school - the legendary Terremoto de Jerez. His albums ‘La herencia de la sangre’ (Blood inheritance) and ‘Cosa natural’ (Natural thing) are a good showcase of what he has to offer. More standard-bearers for Jerez cante are to be found in the Agujetas clan, the younger generation represented by Antonio Agujetas and Dolores Agujetas, whose respective offerings can be found on the albums ‘Así lo siento’ (That's how I feel it) and ‘Dolores’. Younger still is another cantaor who doesn't come from any particular lineage, but upholds the traditions of his homeland: Juan Zarzuela. In fact, he even released a double anthology CD, where he shows respect for schools and a deep knowledge of the roots, while bringing the lyrics up-to-date: ‘Pura verdad’ (The plain truth).

Esperanza Fernández

La Macanita

On the road from Jerez to Seville, there are more flamenco hot-spots whose legacy of cante is defended by more young cantaores. Esperanza Fernández is a special case, as her family tree brings together the traditions of Lebrija, Alcalá de Guadaira and Triana. This shining star of the current cante flamenco scene is also completely open to dabbling in other musical styles such as jazz and classical. The album ‘Esperanza Fernández’ shows all of her facets as a fully-rounded artist fully aware of the foundations of her artform and of the times in which we live.

Somewhat more locally-oriented is the work of Tomás de Perrate, whose cante is based on the Utrera tradition and, more specifically, that of his family: Tomás de Perrate and María la Perrata, from whom El Lebrijano, Pedro Peña and Dorantes are also descended... For the time being, he has one album on the shelves, where he shares the limelight with other family members: ‘Utrera flamenca’.

There is also a new batch of cantaores coming out of Huelva, many of them still in their childhood, who follow the path of fandangos trodden by great cantaores like Paco Toronjo and Antonio Rengel before them. A double CD put together by El Raya was released in 2003 which brought together the most outstanding voices of this flourishing local trend, entitled ‘Fandango joven’.

From the Eastern corners of the flamenco map there are also promising newcomers emerging, whose mission is to carry on the local cante heritage. Good examples include Curro Piñana, grandson of Antonio Piñana, the patriarch of the miners' songs that have taken their place in flamenco history. The young cantaor from Murcia, awarded the 1998 Lámpara Minera at the Festival de La Unión, has two albums on the market: ‘De lo humano y lo divino’ (Of the human and the divine), ‘Saetas’ (Holy songs for Easter) and ‘De la vigilia al alba’ (From the vigil until daybreak).

	Niña Pastori

To round off the scene of young flamenco cantaores, we have the group who may have a thorough knowledge of the traditional repertoire, but have chosen more light-hearted 'festera' approaches in their recording projects. Tangos and bulerías tinged with pop are these vocalists' forte, with a huge following among the Spanish youth. For the huge impact her CDs made on the market, the first name on this list has to be Niña Pastori. The cantaora from San Fernando, whose albums sell by the thousand in Spain, already has five albums on the market. The latest, ‘No hay quinto malo’, went straight in at number one on the Spanish sales charts. The artist combines the vocal talent of a professional cantaora (this is someone Camarón de la Isla took an interest in even when she was a young girl) with a refined sense of today's music scene and a firm grasp of rhythmical styles. Nonetheless, she's quite capable of sitting down to sing martinetes, mineras, soleares or malagueñas, as she demonstrated at the 2003 Festival de Verano at Madrid's Teatro Real.

Other cantaoras with the same vibe include Chonchi Heredia who, besides working with flamenco-jazz figures like Jorge Pardo, has released solo albums such as ‘Daray’. And from Granada another artist who's made a name for herself on the female cante circuit is Marina Heredia. As an orthodox cantaora she gives shining performances in every style, but she also shines with a 'fiesta' repertoire, as evidenced by her upbeat album ‘Me duele, me duele’ (It hurts me, it hurts me), produced by Pepe de Lucía. Tangos, bulerías and traditional popular canción Española with a catchy chorus is the makeup of this first offering by this artist, who just showed her versatility singing a version of ‘El amor brujo’ for ballerina Blanca Li. From Seville we have La Tobala, a cantaora related to artists like Manuela Carrasco and Enrique el Extremeño, whose career combines singing accompaniment to dance or guitar with her solo albums with a large dose of up-tempo rhythms. Her most important recordings include ‘Rincones de sueños puros’ (Corners of pure dreams) and the latest ‘Azul’ (Blue).

It's difficult to tie cantaora Ginesa Ortega down to one particular group. In limbo between the orthodox and the experimental, this fully-rounded cantaora from Catalonia has embarked on the most disparate artistic projects, even performing with cutting-edge theater group La Fura dels Baus. Her albums combine pop songs with a flamenco twist and traditional flamenco cantes. Her CDs ‘Siento’ and ‘Oscuriá’ contain up-tempo 'festero' tracks, but also fandangos, seguiriyas and tarantos, while her latest album ‘Por los espejos del agua’ (Through the mirrors of the water), contains only flamenco-style versions of well-known songs such as Bob Marley's ‘No woman no cry’ or Billie Holiday's ‘I’m a fool to want you’.

'Camaronero', neo-classical, locally-based, ‘festera’, traditional... you name it. The young cante flamenco scene presents high-quality, varied offerings. And bear in mind that this guide contains no more than a selection of names and albums, to organize things a little into broad categories. Apart from what's available in stores (because recording an album obviously isn't a viable option for all artists), there's a long list of young cantaores on the circuit. Festivals, peñas and contests are full every year of artists with a good chance of making it, a good sign in an artform whose cantes show no signs of dying out.