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2006 JEREZ FLAMENCO FESTIVAL. ANTONIO EL PIPA / DIEGO CARRASCO
Sure footing
Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 10th, 2006
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
‘De Tablao’. Antonio el Pipa:
baile, direction, choreography. Juana la del Pipa, Mariana
Cornejo, Concha Vargas: guest artists. María José
Franco: lead bailaora. Alejandra Gudí, Marta Fernández
de Córdoba, Gloria Pérez. Manuel Tañé,
David Carpio: cante. Pascual de Lorca, Pepe del Morao: guitars.
Joaquín Flores: clapping. 10th Jerez Festival 2006.
Teatro Villamarta. Jerez (Cádiz, Spain), March 10th,
2006. 9 p.m.
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Antonio el Pipa
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
Antonio
el Pipa's stakes on simplicity continue to pay off. ‘De
tablao’ commands standing ovations at theaters wherever
it goes. Madrid,
London, New York... and of course, Jerez. Facing his hometown,
he had the battle won beforehand. And the thing is, besides
the following the bailaor in himself awakens, he stays on
sure footing. Nearly two hours of gapless flamenco scenes
in which not even the child prodigy is missing. Three guests
with character and weight strengthened the show. The deep
echo of Juana la del Pipa. The raw baile of Concha Vargas.
The amusing wit of Cádiz-born Mariana Cornejo. And
a square of pretty bailaoras led by María José
Franco, an Apollonian touch in the Dionysian ceremony.
Amidst so much stimulation, the star's appearances are really
measured-out. A touch of alegrías, a collective number
between batas de cola to the beat of soleá through
bulerías and the final soleá which is extended
to the guests. Though they are so intense and baroque that
the audience is completely filled. Each raising of his arms,
each swagger, each finish, each bit of cockiness... goes hand
in hand with a trail of olés and compliments from a
crowd that holds him as the quintessence of gypsy baile. In
the back, cante, guitar and clapping in tune with the whole,
which is dressed up in simple Persian blinds with flamenco-motif
graffiti of low artistic and esthetic quality. It's unworthy
of the show's artistic substance, which has painstaking details
such as the choreographed pictures of the prologue and epilogue.
The grand finale took on more meaning in Jerez territory,
was even more festive... as was reckoned. And the thing is
there's nothing like knowing how to please the audience, even
if to do so you have to sacrifice depth and swim in shallow
water.
| Diego Carrasco's solemn
party
Diego Carrasco: cante, guitar.
Moraíto, Diego del Morao, Manuel Parrilla,
Curro from Navajita Plateá: guest guitarists.
Felipa la del Moreno: guest cantaora. Javier Barón:
guest bailaor. Juan Grande, Maloko: clapping,
choruses. Bernardo Parrilla: violin. Ignacio Cintado:
electric bass. Fernando de la Morena (Jr.): guitar.
Bodega de Los Apóstoles, March 10th, 2006.
Midnight
Diego Carrasco and
Diego del Morao (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
He'd said it. The concert at
Bodega de Los Apóstoles was going to be
special. Diego
Carrasco had in mind a tribute to forty years
of professional career by Jerez's top guitarists.
And it was. But crossing his path was the death
of a neighborhood friend, El Nene, lyricist and
scholar of Gypsy dialect. And the concert was
dedicated to him. As a requiem it might not have
been the most meticulous concert, but as a Diego
Carrasco concert it was a solemn requiem. He chose
a few pearls from his entire discography and slowly
simmered them, seated together with impressive
guitarists of the land. He started off with ‘El
Cachorro’, pure trembling. “El Cachorro
told me when he was leaving, I can't cope with
my agony this year, if you don't believe me, if
you think I'm lying, wait for me at the bridge,
I'm coming back dead”. He continued with
‘Vida y gloria de un gitano’, reciting
in Gypsy dialect. And he went on with ‘La
mariposilla verde’. The guitar, that of
Manuel Parrilla. The concert has a different tone
from the usual concerts led by a ‘flamenco
rock’ band. It calls on the deep. The feeling
is more heart-felt. ‘La nana de colores’
with Felipa la del Moreno on voice.
“Another fabulous guitarist”:
Diego del Morao. Black light crystals. And then
suddenly Javier
Barón comes in to give away a little
spin of his skillful baile. Now the group remembers...
José Monge Cruz! But besides Camarón,
“one of the pillars is missing, of a saga
of colors, old-fashioned, avant-garde and family”.
Manuel Moreno Junquera, Moraíto Chico.
And together, they play ‘La ea’. What
guitars. What music. There's no choice but to
stand, with guest guitarist Curro from the group
Navajita Plateá. “My mother doesn't
know what I need; I whisper little white lies
in her ear” (see
online video). The ambience is now ripe, ready
for ‘Química’. The lyrics by
Diego Carrasco and the way of uttering them are
the ingeniousness, the grace, the angel, the beat.
And back to sobriety with ‘Cinco toreros’
with the entire family up on stage, as crammed
as the wine bar, which was jam-packed tonight.
Diego Carrasco, Moraíto
Chico and Javier Barón embraced in
a little kick through bulerías, a picture
to remember on a night when emotions tasted like
emotions.
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