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SPECIAL FEATURE. FLAMENCO READING GUIDE
Reading flamenco books
Martín Guijarro, August 2006
Flamenco isn’t just listened to or pondered. Flamenco
is also read. Since the first texts written by romantic travelers
saw the light nearly two centuries ago, a lot of ink has been
poured out trying to describe and explain this cultural expression.
Generalist books about the history and creators of this artform;
essays from sociology, anthropology or musicology; biographies
of the most renowned personages; books of cante lyrics; travel
guides, photo books and even comics. Flamenco’s bibliography
is vast; therefore take note of a few observations which will
help you solve the thousands of curiosities arising when you
experience flamenco and get the itch to read about it
*A piece of advice: take advantage to buy when you see
the books catalogued, because it’s usual – due
to the low reading index of these so specialized titles –
for the editions to run out and take a long time to be reprinted...
or they’re not reprinted at all..
The first thing is to get your bearings. And what could be
better to do so than to get your hands on generalist books
which, if possible in a single volume, collect the basic information:
history, artists and styles. A couple of synthetic works,
ideal for beginners, are ‘El Flamenco. Contado con sencillez’
by Carlos Arbelos and ‘Conocer el flamenco. Sus estilos,
su historia’ and ‘Las rutas del flamenco en Andalucía’
by Juan Vergillos. Those in search of more details but related
freshly may resort to the volume ‘Una historia del flamenco’
by José Manuel Gamboa, a book which tells the history
of flamenco sprinkled with a thousand anecdotes and in reverse
fashion: from present to past. More formalistic is the proposal
by Manuel Ríos Ruiz, ‘El gran libro del flamenco’,
a pair of deluxe-edition volumes presented in a box set, which
include all sorts of information: history, glossaries, discographies...
Now seeing the light once more is one of the first written
testimonies about flamenco, that of romantic traveler Irving
Brown. A bit of first-hand history.
| Baile,
cante, guitar books |
Once situated, it’s time for specialization, since
there are books oriented to reveal the secrets of the three
varieties of flamenco: baile, cante and guitar. There are
generalist titles (with history and biographies) on baile
with the same title ‘El
baile flamenco’, one written by reputed journalist
Ángel Álvarez Caballero (illustrated and hardcover),
which has been a reference for years; and another by researchers
José Luis Navarro and Eulalia de Pablo. Navarro has
also published a volume focusing only on today’s baile
scene: ‘Tradición y vanguardia’. Another
approach to baile, including history and biographies, is ‘Antología
del baile flamenco’ by writer Manuel Ríos Vargas.
There are also specialized titles on the history of cante
and its stars. The one most widely followed so far is ‘El
cante flamenco’ by Ángel Álvarez Caballero,
along the same informative lines as his works on baile and
guitar. A recent arrival is ‘El cante flamenco. La voz
jonda y libre’, a more synthetic book which lingers
more in the origins and classification of cantes.
As far as guitar goes, besides ‘El toque flamenco’
by Ángel Álvarez Caballero, readers have other
works at their reach such as those by musicologist Norberto
Torres Cortés. He’s published three volumes;
one on history and the other two, essays on the past and present
of this flamenco category. For the in-depth knowledge of the
history and development of toque, a summary of the studies
carried out by guitar professor Manuel Cano came out in a
deluxe edition with illustrations, hardcover and complementary
sheet music. And to satisfy curiosity about the process of
building a flamenco guitar, there’s also something to
read: ‘Guitarreros de Andalucía. Artistas para
la sonanta’, with profiles of the most important Andalusian
workshops in a deluxe, large-format edition; and ‘En
torno a la guitarra’, published by prestigious guitar
maker José Ramírez.
Another interesting and perhaps more pleasant way to get
to know flamenco is through the biographies of its most illustrious
personages. Camarón
is, and most likely will be, the flamenco artist who has inspired
the most literature. Available aside from all the mythology
is the book ‘Camarón. Vida y obra’ by José
Manuel Gamboa, a very complete volume which combines a detailed
biography with a listening guide to his entire discography,
all of it illustrated with the best photos taken of the cantaor;
the ones by Lamarca. A more personal and literary approach
to the figure of Camarón is the one left by lyricist
Carlos Lencero months before his death: ‘Camarón.
La leyenda del cantaor solitario’. And completing Camarón’s
bibliography is a book more focused on the myth, ‘Camarón,
biografía de un mito’ by Fernández Zaurín
and José Candado, also published in pocket edition.
Also very eye-catching are the stories of flamenco’s
first maestros, especially those of cante. The most sought-after
one is that of ‘La Niña de los Peines en la Casa
de los Pavón’ by Manuel Bohórquez, in
a well-wrought edition with photographs and numerous graphic
documents. A more than interesting book is ‘Recuerdos
y confesiones del cantaor Rafael Pareja de Triana’,
direct testimonies of a cantaor, lyricist and colleague of
Antonio Chacón published for the first time in 1951.
The library on old-time cantaores is completed by the book
devoted to ‘Manuel Vallejo. Vida y obra de una leyenda
del flamenco’.
About flamenco artists from the classical era, there are
biographies published of cantaores Manuel Soto Sordera and
Antonio Piñana; a compilation of writings paying tribute
to Chano Lobato; and that of bailaora Matilde Coral, the latter
exquisitely printed including a treatise on the bata de cola
illustrated with drawings by Juan Valdés. And printed
as more of a compilation of memories than a biography is the
book of writings by cantaor Luis Caballero, with mentions
of the maestros of the past century and plenty of black-and-white
photos.
On active artists, Enrique
Morente’s biography written by Balbino Gutiérrez
stands out. Moreover, it has just been revised and extended
in June 2006. The volume includes interviews, press quotations,
discography, lyrics and black-and-white photos, among other
contents. And there is also a journalistic book which compiles
interviews of artists from today’s flamenco scene carried
out by Antonio Arco between 1999 and 2003, among them, Sara
Baras and La Paquera de Jerez.
Continues
>>
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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