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To talk of flamenco and traditional Latin
American music is almost the same thing. And it’s hardly
surprising: the styles whose origins lie in the marriage between
flamenco and Latin American styles constitute a branch of
their own within the genre: the 'cantes de ida y vuelta'.
We won't speak, then of the milongas, guajiras and habaneras
which made the 'round trip' their name describes, but rather
of the more recent bonds that have formed between musicians
from opposite shores of the ocean. The most celebrated was
that of cantaor Diego el Cigala and Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés,
who reinvented the traditional Cuban bolero with a flamenco
air on the acclaimed album ‘Lágrimas negras’.
Other projects in a similar vein were led by cantaora Mayte
Martín: ‘Free boleros’ with jazz artist
Tete Montoliú; and ‘Tiempo de amar’ featuring
Omara Portuondo. There are also allusions to a flamenco-bolero
fusion on albums such as ‘Flamenca’ by Ginesa
Ortega, with a version of ‘Dos gardenias’.
A new arrival on the scene, Son de la Frontera also set their
sights on the island of Cuba, but on the guajira styles, using
the Cuban tres guitar as their vehicle. And this, combined
with the legacy of guitarist Diego del Gastor, forms an explosive
cocktail, with a powerful live show acclaimed by audiences
and critics alike.
Chano Lobato's track record and his grasp of the Latin American-influenced
'ida y vuelta' palos make the album ‘Azúcar candé’
an attractive proposition, with tracks such as the bilongo
‘La negra Tomasa’, a salsa version of ‘Ay,
caray’ alongside Mayelín... An album with a flavor
all of its own.
Music isn't the only bridge between these cultures - poetry
has also played its part. Enrique Morente sets the lines of
Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén to the rhythms of
the Caribbean rumba on ‘Negra, si tú supieras’.
Incidentally fans are still waiting for the album ‘Africa-Cuba-Cai’
that the Granada-born cantaor presented live in July 2002
with guest artists such as Reynaldo Creagh, a troubadour from
the famed Vieja Trova Santiaguera, and pianist Pepesito Reyes.
A process similar to that of ‘Negra, si tú supieras’
occurs on the Miguel Poveda album ‘Rafael Alberti. Poemas
del exilio’. On his search for the poetry that the writer
penned in Buenos Aires, the cantaor stumbled across the Argentinean
tango. He already dabbled with Carlos Gardel on the collective
project ‘Territorio flamenco’, where he reinvented
the tango ‘Cuesta abajo’.
El Cabrero. 'Tango al Sur' (Photo:
www.el-cabrero.com)
And if there's one project that's linked flamenco with Argentinean
tango, that has to be ‘Tango al Sur’ by El Cabrero,
a glance at tango from Buenos Aires through the eyes of the
vocalist from Seville. Niño Josele toys with new Argentinean
music on his debut album, which includes the track written
and sung by Andrés Calamaro ‘La ranchada de los
paraguayos’. And let's not forget the snippets of bandoneón
added by Vicente Amigo to compositions like ‘Bolero
a Marcos’ from ‘Un momento en el sonido’.
When we speak of the Latin component in contemporary flamenco
music we have to mention Latin jazz. Although it was the subject
of another special report on flamenco jazz, we could mention
the contributions of jazz artists such as Puerto Rican trumpeter
Jerry González, the tête-à-tête
between guitarist Tomatito and Dominican pianist Michel Camilo
on the album ‘Spain’... The cultural exchanges
between the two shores never cease, above all, on stage.
Flamenco continues to strengthen its ties with other traditional
musical styles. And not just to explore possible common ground,
but also on many occasions to discover new angles, new sounds.
This is true, for example, with the beautiful use that Enrique
Morente makes of the Bulgarian choir voices on ‘Campanas
por el poeta’, one of the tracks included on the album
‘Lorca’. In a similar vein there's the participation
of a gospel choir on Juan Carlos Romero's album ‘Romero’.
Flamenco's even dared to tread the path of chanson française...
just listen to ‘Ana Salazar canta a Edith Piaf’.
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