JOSÉ MERCÉ PRESENTS 'LÍO'

Superstar of cante

Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, October 21, 2002

'Lío'. Cante: José Mercé. Guitar: Moraíto, Diego de Morao. Bass: Manolo Nieto. Keyboard: José María Cortina. Chorus: Merce, Antonio, Rafa. Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos. Madrid, October 21st, 2002. 9:00 p.m.

José Mercé (Photo: Leandro Betancourt)

Just a few minutes shy of nine p.m., the line of fans was already winding past Miró's mural and fighting off the autumn chill. Will they fit? They did. In exchange for twenty minutes of waiting and just as much booing and angry whistling that was all swept away in an instant with the overwhelming presence of José Mercé. Only after the opening ovation died down, did the singer from Jerez take a seat to attack the most flamenco of 'Lío' to get warmed up. The recital was structured in a way that promised a big build-up. Blinded by the flashing cameras of the line of reporters gathered in front of the platform, the singer from Jerez started with malagueñas. 'Bajo un jazmín de verano' ['beneath the summer jasmine'], using the keyboard to make up for the church organ used on the recording, he was measured and cautious. Manuel Torre and El Mellizo came along to rev up the gentle sound a notch...until the audience, all at once broke in with the first cheers. Moraíto handed over the reigns to his son Diego de Morao to accompany the seguiriya 'La libertad'. The cante got going now, the cante was under control. The throat widening, the space filled with that torrential echo, Tío José de Paula and El Manijero letting the roots show. A brilliant prologue by Moraíto leads the way to soleá with the flavor of Cádiz announcing the arrival of the José Mercé that the young crowd is waiting for.

In one hand he's got 'María Discordia', and in the other the music stand which is a giveaway. Taking no chances he dedicates it "to my people". Alegrías. "Viva la Caleta! Viva Cai!" Cautiousness amongst the group, strength in the cante, the continual forgetting of the verses looks bad. Oh dear, Isidro Muñóz. José Mercé leaves the stage, leaving Diego de Morao, the percussionist and the chorus in charge...with bulerías. The star's absence goes on longer than wisdom would dictate. Tangos by his people manages to break the mode of the recital for good. Mercé and Morao reappear dressed in black and ready to take on the tribute to Victor Jara. 'Te recuerdo Amanda' is almost as beautiful live as on the recording (in detriment to the unfortunate percussion). The auditorium's sensitivity is in full view. And realizing this circumstance and the power of the version, the singer lets the music hold things together while he silently walks to the rear. The audience is his. And the bow is reverently returned to Madrid, which he declares to be the capital of flamenco. Without taking a breath he goes from the spoken to the sung word, with surprise included. Tangos with an Extremaduran essence and a tedious keyboard. "You're gorgeous", "you're the real thing"...That's the gist of the compliments. Without blushing, he shows his thanks singing some jaleos. "which are as compatible as the folklore we've always had in Spain". 'Entre estrellas y olivares' harks back to choral work from previous recordings. Once again the glance at the music stand diminishes, and again the cante. If the audience knows the words, how come José doesn't? Not even 'Al alba', which he sings after 'Lío' (which in turn comes after another anticlimactic number of Moraíto's), by popular request. 'Aire' is the curtain call, in an interactive version in rock-concert style. Second curtain call, 'La Filarmoney de Santiago'...or at least that's what it was meant to be - more than half the words got stuck on the road from Jerez to Madrid. But little did it matter to the star Mercé who tired of dancing his little bulerías to the sound of his unamplified singing. José Mercé's cante, the voice of José Mercé...for that alone the recital was worth it.

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