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Modern Guitar.
Flamenco Listening Guide
And then came the revolution
Martín Guijarro, May 2005
Little remains to be said about the revolution prompted
by Paco de Lucía on the flamenco guitar scene beginning
in the seventies. His entire discography - which with the
new ‘Cositas buenas’ now totals twenty-six records
- constitutes the bible guiding all those who put their hands
on a guitar. Together with the maestro from Algeciras, Manolo
Sanlúcar and Víctor Monge Serranito played a
more than active role in the modernization of toque. Not to
mention those continuing schools such as those of Jerez, the
Habichuelas in Granada, El Tomate in Almería and Melchor
de Marchena in Seville, represented by illustrious tocaores
such as Moraíto, Pepe Habichuela and Tomatito, among
others. An entire generation which marked a turning point
in flamenco guitar history... as the intense discography we
shall here review so demonstrates.
Paco de Lucía (Photo: Daniel
Muñoz)
Triumvirate
‘Entre dos aguas’ was the confirmation for the
general public that a genius had been born. It was the year
1973 when the young musician from Algeciras left previous
maestros such as Niño Ricardo, Sabicas, Mario Escudero...
light years behind, creating a new way of approaching flamenco
guitar which has traveled all over the world with twenty-six
albums and hundreds of concerts. You can get to know Paco
de Lucía several different ways. Through and through,
for the insatiable. From back to forwards, for the chronological.
Via Camarón,
why not? There are all the albums from the legendary cantaor's
first stage earmarked ‘with the special collaboration
of Paco de Lucía’. From ‘Cositas buenas’
backwards, for newcomers... we shall see if there are more
good things to come. They are all valid. Musts? ‘Fuente
y caudal’, ‘Almoraima’, ‘Sólo
quiero caminar’ and ‘Luzía’, summarizing
heavily. And the thing is that any one of the artist's records
is a world to plunge into and his work, as a whole, is a jewel
of flamenco music with little room for further praise than
that which has already been heaped upon it.
Manolo
Sanlúcar is not left behind. The success of ‘Entre
dos aguas’ coincided with that ‘Caballo negro’
by the Sanlúcar native. Both confronted the same time
and with the same weapons. Manolo Sanlúcar's discography
is not as carefully wrought as that of his comrade in the
revolution, for having been split between different labels.
And it is hard at times to find titles such as the triple
album ‘Mundo y formas de la guitarra flamenca’
(‘World and Forms of Flamenco Guitar’), where
he made clear his deep knowledge of the fundamentals back
in the early seventies. Coming afterwards would be, besides
‘Sanlúcar’ - the album which has the hit
rumba -, works for guitar and orchestra, the famous score
for baile ‘Medea’, the album dedicated to Miguel
Hernández and so on for a total of over twenty titles.
Currently available by catalogue from his early stages are
‘Recital flamenco’, ‘Candela’ (1981)
and ‘Al viento’ (1982). Standing out among his
more recent records are ‘Tauromagia’ (1988) and
‘Locura de brisa y trino’ (2000), each of which
is a beautiful, diverse world that is the fruit of unceasing
research work.
A worse fate has been suffered by the discography of Víctor
Monge Serranito, the first virtuoso of this brilliant generation.
The only one which has been recovered is ‘Virtuosismo
flamenco’, recently re-released in EMI's ‘Historia
del flamenco’ (‘Flamenco History’) collection.
Standing out on this recording from 1971 is ‘Sueños
de ida y vuelta’, a work for guitar and orchestra with
Caribbean overtones released in 2004 and currently on tour.
In between, a live performance was recorded on DVD, a review
of his repertoire entitled ‘Víctor Monge Serranito.
En concierto, 2002’ and in which you may not only hear
but also see his personal way of performing toque.
School of Jerez
At around the same time the triumvirate was budding, Paco
Cepero - who comes from the School of Jerez - had become
one of the most sought-after guitarists to accompany cante
by figures of the likes of La Perla, La Paquera and a young
Camarón de la Isla. In 1978, as a concert performer
he recorded the album ‘Amuleto’, of which not
a trace remains. From that period, his vibrant toque remains
on the albums of all the cantaores who he backed, especially
titles like ‘Encuentros’
by El Lebrijano and ‘Grandes del flamenco. Archivo Belter’
by Turronero, to name a couple. Then solo, you have to move
ahead to the year 2000, when he releases ‘De pura cepa’.
His latest record is ‘Corazón y bordón’
(2004), a new collection of scores with his own personal trademark,
as noted by the ‘Free Flamenco Guide’, “an
impressive, well-rounded sound, a dizzying alzapúa”.
Also from Jerez, occupying a noteworthy position in the top
ranks of toque from this golden age is Parrilla
de Jerez. The heir to the Tío Parrilla family has
been a solid accompanist for cantaores such as Enrique Morente,
José Menese, and especially La Paquera de Jerez. Many
are the records by the great Jerez-born cantaora on which
a young Parrillita de Jerez appears as a guitarist. As a concert
performer, he has made records such as ‘Jondura’
and ‘Nostalgia’, both recorded outside of Spain,
released in the nineties and currently unavailable.
Moraíto Chico (Photo: Daniel
Muñoz)
Taking over a few years later is Moraíto
Chico, continuer of a lineage graced with figures such
as Juan Morao and Manuel Morao. The tocaor displayed a tangible
Jerez flavor and coherence with the new times that came for
guitar on albums like ‘Morao y oro’ and ‘Morao,
morao’. As an accompanist for cante, he stands out in
José Mercé's recent discography, with titles
such as ‘Lío’ and ‘Confí
de fuá’.
Continues
>>
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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