<<
Previous
Chano
Domínguez and other pianists
Although his early days are with the
Andalusian rock of the group Cai, he draws up to jazz
little by little. Chano
Domínguez changed from keyboards to pianos
and defined a way of his own for jazz flamenco to sound
on the black and white keys. He formed a trio with Guillermo
McGill and Javier Colina in 1992 with which he recorded
his first album a year later, entitled ‘Chano’,
where Jorge Pardo and Carles Benavent also collaborated.
Coming later were records such as ‘Hecho a mano’
and ‘Imán’. And though some of them
are now hard to find, a double compilation is available
with a selection of his most outstanding pieces since
1993. He also looks back over his work in the live double
album ‘En directo’ in 1997.
Chano Domínguez. New
Flamenco Sound
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
Fernando Trueba’s film about latin
jazz ‘Calle 54’ supposes a milestone in Chano
Domínguez’s career. In the feature film,
the Cádiz-born pianist performs jazz flamenco with
‘Oye cómo viene’. The song would provide
the title for his next album and would inspire that of
the related DVD, accompanied by a band highlighted by
Tomasito,
Joaquín Grilo, Blas Córdoba, Piraña
and Pablo Martín, among others.
Next comes a recording by assignment
for RTVE in 2006, ‘Acércate más’,
which appears shortly before his new musical project ‘New
Flamenco Sound’ comes out on the market. He then
allied with new names of the Spanish jazz world (Mario
Rossy, Marc Miralta, Llibert Fortuny...), without ever
leaving the flamenco code aside.
Besides collaborations with flamenco
musicians (Potito, Cañizares, Tomatito...) and
flamenco jazz players, he also made a way for himself
based on the Spanish copla, allied with the extravagant
Martirio.
‘Coplas de madrugá’ (1997) and ‘Acoplados’
(2004) are fruit of that relationship.
The list of pianists following flamenco
has increased considerably in recent years, but none of
them with an attitude decidedly towards flamenco jazz.
Perhaps those who have drawn up the closest, though each
in his own way, are Sevillian Diego
Amador with ‘Piano jondo’; Juan Cortés
with ‘Jurepén’, where Jorge Pardo and
Guillermo McGill collaborate, among others; and Pedro
Ojesto with ‘Quiero’.
Jam
sessions
Flamencos and jazz players thus intersect
all over the world... now with a common language. And
the collaborations, encounters and sessions are happening
both on stages and at the recording studios. One of the
first ones was the one held in 1992, with the Big Band
WDR led by Vince Mendoza, Al di Meola, Michael Brecker,
Cañizares, Jorge Pardo, Ramón
el Portugués... a big happening. And it had
a succession in 2000, with a change of members, being
joined by Gerardo Núñez, Esperanza Fernández
and Perico Sambeat, among others.
Gerardo Núñez
and Perico Sambeat (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
In 2000, drummer Marc Miralta brought
together a group of musicians and inspirations from both
genres to record ‘New York Flamenco Reunion’
with Javier Colina, Perico Sambeat, Guillermo McGill and
George Colligan. That same year and along the same lines,
within the Jazz Viene del Sur Series at Seville’s
Teatro Central, ‘Cruce de caminos’ is recorded
live. Taking part are Gerardo Núñez, Miralta,
Sambeat, Colligan, and as an extra, cantaora Esperanza
Fernández and Armenian percussionist and vocalist
Arto Tuncboyaciyan. With the band enlarged, they relapse
into an encounter between jazz, flamenco and something
else on the same stage two years later, this time on the
occasion of the Jazz and Flamenco Seminar. The title,
‘Passages’.
The two face-offs so far between flamenco
guitarist Tomatito
and Dominican pianist Michel Camilo have been really talked-about
on the international music circuit. ‘Spain’
and ‘Spain again’ start off with Chick Corea’s
standard to share styles and take a step forward in the
union of flamenco with latin jazz. Moreover, the second
album pays tribute to Argentinean composer Astor Piazzola.
Following the path of latin jazz, Jerry
González appears. Following several collaborations
with flamencos, the Puerto Rican trumpet player and percussionist
recorded the album ‘Jerry González y los
piratas del flamenco’, on which Diego el Cigala,
Paquete, Niño Josele and Piraña took part,
among others.
And to close the tour, a curiosity. In
1996, cantaora Mayte
Martín recorded the live show ‘Free boleros’
with Barcelona-born pianist Tete Montoliú, one
of the top names in Spanish jazz. He isn’t a flamenco,
but...
Compilations
For comfort-lovers, there are several
compilations which can orient them, although the selections
aren’t entirely strict with the double genre. The
two installments of ‘Flamenco Jazz’ include,
among others, songs by Chano Domínguez, Juan Cortés
and Guillermo McGill, besides pieces by tocaores with
a certain attitude similar to jazz. It’s not bad
to start out with.
Further
experiments
Solo, many of the Spanish jazz musicians
who have conversed with flamenco have already recorded
their work, sprinkled to a greater or lesser extent with
jondura. That’s the case of saxophonist Perico Sambeat
with the album ‘Ademuz’; and percussionist
Guillermo McGill with ‘Los sueños y el tiempo’
and ‘Cielo’, on which flamenco collaborations
stand out such as those of Juan
Diego and Eva Durán.
Nacho Arimany (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
The exchanges which have followed one
after another for so many decades have ended up watering
down the borders between genres. And an example of that
is a record like ‘Doméstica’ by contrabass
player Pablo
Martín, a musician with experience in the Gerardo
Núñez Trio. Also going along these free
roads is ‘Silence light’ by percussionist
Nacho
Arimany, who has names from today’s jazz such
as guitarist Lionel Loueke in his septet. The doors are
wider open than ever...
To
learn
Since it is a current which happens live,
its teaching still isn’t systematized. But there
is already some help. Guillermo McGill has compiled the
sheet music for 65 emblematic songs of flamenco jazz,
by musicians such as Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Perico
Sambeat..., with explanations in four languages: Spanish,
English, French and Japanese. Also published is the sheet
music book for piano by Chano Domínguez ‘Flamenco
jazz’, which includes a CD with the music analyzed.
As complementary information, the essay ‘De Jerez
a Nueva Orleans. Una historia de la música popular’,
which examines the ties between both genres in depth,
can be useful. Nor is it a bad idea to have a look at
the few audiovisuals where the brotherly union appears,
for example, ‘Francisco Sánchez-Paco de Lucía’.
The music, as you know, is played live.
<<
Previous
