MÁLAGA EN FLAMENCO 2007. RUBEM
DANTAS, ‘FESTEJO’
Party of the impure
Silvia Calado. Málaga, August 31st, 2007
‘Festejo’. Rubem
Dantas: percussion, vocals, directing. Rubem
Dantas Group. Israel Sandoval: guitar. Yrvis Méndez:
bass, vocals. Eduardo Dorda: piano. Joaquín Galindo:
saxes. Ove Larsson: trombone. Irapoan Freire: trumpet.
José Luis Calandra: drums. Paquito Baeza: percussion/
Quintet of flamenco vocals. La Nitra: cante. Diego Guerrero:
guitar, vocals. El Pirata: guitar, vocals. Sergio el Colorao:
cante. Alex Oliveira: vocals. Dan Ben Lior: guitar. Benjamín
el Moreno: baile. Málaga en Flamenco 2007. Playa
del Palo (Málaga), August 31st, 2007. 8 p.m.
Eduardo Dorda and Rubem Dantas
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
They say his relationship with flamenco
is like that of the good guy with the girl. He puts on
his mask and doesn’t hesitate to defend her when
he senses she’s in a tight spot. Flamenco and its
fantasies, “which have been coming for many years
now, but remain in few people... thanks to the work which
was done in maestro Paco de Lucía’s band”.
Rubem
Dantas came to “clear up certain points in flamenco
that needed clearing up”. And the weapon was the
box drum, which appeared to stay in a tour of Peru, “when
I was still pure. But I jumped into flamenco and lost
my purity”. Blessed impurity. The Brazilian percussionist
is an authentic example of miscegenation. He has flamenco,
but many other kinds of music. And to him, music is the
best way to unite people.
All you have to do is glance at his group
to appreciate that it’s absolutely true. First,
he brought up nine musicians of the most diverse nationalities
(from Brazil to Venezuela, with Scandinavian countries,
Uruguay and Spain in between) onto the seaside stage of
Málaga en Flamenco. He previewed with them several
songs off his new album, ‘Festejo’, about
to be released. In the second part, the group was completed
by up to seventeen members to pay tribute to Paco de Lucía
and, indissociably, Camarón. And in both parts,
he managed to make music a celebration shared and ready
to share, crossborder, free and broad like the very sea
which acted as the backdrop (although so many instruments
and mikes covered it up) for the last time in this edition
of the Málaga festival.
For the first segment, he chose four
songs off ‘Festejo’. The first one fit like
a glove; the verdiales piece ‘Canelo’. Rubem
defined himself as an orchestra director, marking tempos,
turns and intensities with his bare feet and the palms
of his hands. His voice also rang out, but above all,
his sound. By the way, we mustn’t forget that we
find ourselves before one of the best percussionists in
the world. Everything played by the hands of this sort
of jungle musician is simply marvelous, however modest
the instrument may be. Like a sorcerer who knows how to
invoke the best from all those approaching him. ‘Al
sur de tu cintura’, ‘Pixinguinha’ and
‘Nasdrovie’ were the spells, tunes from a
sort of world jazz with too wide energy.
La Nitra (Foto Daniel Muñoz)
‘Su homenaje’ took shape
in the second part. First he did a rumba with the initial
group. The tributee could be made out, but not necessarily.
A free version. Free music. Next, Falla. And the thing
is that Dantas’s first contact with De Lucía
was on the album ‘Paco de Lucía interpreta
a Manuel de Falla’. And they played an exquisite
variation of ‘El amor brujo’, full of magic,
subtlety and nomadism. The master of ceremonies then brought
up cantaores, vocalists, bailaor and more guitarists for
them all to enjoy De La Isla’s cantes as well as
‘bibles’ like ‘Ziryab’. The cantes
weren’t typical, since several outside voices harmonized
them, giving them new colors. Nor was the visit orthodox
to the great score by the Algeciras-born guitarist. Here
is the gift of this worldly “sonero”, who
takes music as music. In the end, ‘Ziryab’
joined ‘Canastera’ and the celebration reached
its peak. The audience was very small, but just as devoted
as if the place had been brimming over. And those who
were there knew just how lucky they were. Blessed impurity.
Blessed fantasy.
By the way, the festival must already
reflect upon and find solutions to the lack of audience,
now that it has just begun. It’s noticeable that
Málaga still hasn’t made this hyperbolic
flamenco event its own and it might still be possible
to correct the considerable lack of communication between
the festival and the people. Every night the musicians
give the best of themselves. And they still have a lot
more to give until September 30th, preferably to the largest
audiences possible.
