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Sordera's offspring

Seven children were born from his marriage to Rafaela Barea Antúnez ‘Lela’: Enrique, Vicente, Gabriela, Manuel, Juana, Leli and José. The sons are all artists. Enrique Soto currently works in the Eva Yerbabuena Company. His echo is overwhelmingly resounding. He stands out in the bulería and seguiriya. Vicente Soto ‘Sordera’, with eleven albums out on the market on which he has recorded sixty cante classes, is one of the most important cantaores at the moment. His vast experience and awards such as the National Prize of Cordova, Niña de los Peines Prize and Mairena del Alcor Prize so certify him. He sings tangos sublimely.

Manuel Soto ‘El Bo’ is an inborn heir to the rhythm and tapping of the land he was born on. His clapping is present in numerous recordings and live performances of many artists on the current flamenco scene. His son and nephew of Diego Carrasco, Manuel Soto Carrasco ‘Maloco’, is already showing promise.

The family's youngest son, José Soto ‘Sorderita’, is considered by his uncle Enrique Soto Monge to be the family's greatest artist. He was a forerunner of the group Ketama - together with Antonio Carmona, Josemi Carmona and El Camborio - and has released half a dozen solo albums, among them, ‘Siete ríos celestes’ and ‘Mi secreto pirata’. Moreover, he collaborates regularly as a special guest on albums by other artists, from Miguel Poveda to Cathy Claret. All of them had the chance to live the flamenco of their father Manuel's time and that other golden age of flamenco from the sixties to the eighties, at the height of creativity. They are artists heirs to the legacy left by their father.

Other branches

But this family of artists does not stop there. The tree has grown out between Manuel Soto Monge's siblings. His sister, María Soto Monge, better known as María Bala, performs cante through soleá masterfully. She gets up on stage from time to time to show her huge potential. From his brother Juan Soto Monge was born Tía Curra, an exceptional bailaora who, at over sixty years of age, goes on appearing on stage with that art and charm that characterize her. And her son, Curro Carrasco, is one of the members of the group Navajita Plateá.

Another lineage of Jerez cantaores has been born from Eduarda Soto Monge, the ‘Zambos’; a branch of the Fernández family known as Los Rincones and which relates them to Sernita, Terremoto, El Borrico, the Parrillas...; and the Juanichi el Manigero family. And if that weren't enough, the union of Francisco Soto Monge and Josefa Soto Flores has led to the birth of the cantaor who has sold the most flamenco records in the past few years: José Soto Soto, better known as José Mercé. For the time being, he is one of the greatest cantaores that flamenco offers. And the thing is that far from dying out, the Sordera family continues to make its presence felt in the flamenco world. The legacy which Manuel Soto ‘Sordera’ left to his children, nephews and nieces resounds powerfully in every corner.

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