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Obituary. Juan Santiago Maya
'Marote'
Adios, Juanillo...
Zata para Flamenco-world.com
The world of flamenco is going through a year of important losses. Naranjito
de Triana, Manuel Soto Sordera, Juan Morao… and in September 2002, the guitarist
from Granada, Juan Santiago Maya, 'Marote'. The generation of the golden festival
age is drawing to a close and the first fallen hurt most. One has to have been
born before 1955 in order to remember the reign, as short as it was absolute,
of Marote, with his easy flashing smile, jet-black hair sculped high with styling
gel, leather jacket with the biggest shoulder-pads known to man, that hoarse froggy
voice, and above all, that innate flamenconess.
| "He was a guitarist who contributed a great deal to the guitar, especially
in his way of strumming, we all copied him. On a personal level, his warmth and
congeniality. But what I always envied most, was that incredible head of hair".
Paco de Lucía |
Marote's direct influence upon modern guitar playing is undeniable, despite
the fact that the younger generation hardly knows his name. Around the end of
the sixties, the appearance of a young genius from Algeciras caused such an impact
that even Marote himself declared "this Paquito de Lucía is going
to wipe us all off the map…". Juan Maya had made the mistake of being
born too late, precisely in 1936 in the Granada neighborhood of Sacromonte in
the cave still maintained by his family. At an early age he was already taking
part in the 'zambras' or flamenco cuadros as a dancer. He tells the story of how
one morning, when the others had gone out shopping, a group of tourists arrived
wanting to see flamenco. The adolescent went to find a guitar and along with some
of his cousins offered a proper zambra, much to the surprise and delight of the
owner who decreed that from then on, Marote would be the official house guitarist.
He hadn't yet passed his fourteenth birthday.
Juan Maya "Marote". August, 2001
Soon, the promising young guitarist discovered that a congenital defect in
his hand prevented him from playing a round and prolonged strum, an essential
element in dance accompaniment. In order to compensate the physiological defect,
he developed a revolutionary and ingenious way of strumming. In the beginning
it was known as "Marote's strum", but nowadays it has become such a
basic and essential technique, that no one bothers to label it any more.
| "Marote was indispensable for all the great dancers and singers...
an exceptional guitarist and a great friend". Antonio Fernández,
Fosforito |
At fifteen Marote went to Madrid to make historic recordings with the groups
of María la Canastera and Manolo Amaya, the most important zambras of Sacromonte
in those days. Although the style of playing is not yet totally recognizable on
those records, the guitarist's identity is unmistakeable…again and again
there are shouts of: "Maroteeeee!". Just last year, Juan recalled those
hardscrabble days with the most profound nostalgia.
The career of the man from Granada proceeded rapidly. At eighteen he settled
in Madrid and went on to do time at some of the most important tablaos, particularly
Torres Bermejas and Los Canasteros, sharing stages with Paco de Antequera, Habichuela,
Manolo Domínguez 'El Rubio' and Paco del Gastor, a nucleus of guitarists
representative of the modern era before Paco de Lucía. He was one of the
first guitarists brave enough to travel to Japan, a virgin territory whose hunger
for flamenco was, and continues to be insatiable.
| "A guitarist of great strength, a phenomenal thumb, and a fine human
being". Juan Habichuela |
Sabicas arranged for Marote to join the legendary Carmen Amaya's company,
a dancer for whom he professed the most absolute adoration, and traveled throughout
North and South America with the group. He was also accompanist for such important
artists as Antonio Gades, Bambino, Chocolate, La Paquera, Rafael Farina and many
others.
When he joined the Manuela Vargas company and recorded the show along with
his Granada friend Juan Habichuela, an authentic revolution in dance and cante
accompaniment took place. Caña, cantiñas, taranto, petenera…
he applied his personal touch to every form, and his guitar variations became
the ones that dancers wanted to hear. It was then that his famous strum definitively
left its mark: in rehearsal studios and dance schools, young guitarists showed
each other how to do the Marote strum without which you were nobody.
Then came the recordings with Fernanda y Bernarda de Utrera, which for some
aficionados represent the best of the sisters. With a playing style that is very
flamenco and dynamic, at the same time as respectful of the subtleties of the
cante, that devastatingly flamenco sound has become a classic.
Well so it goes Juanillo, this time the tour will be somewhat longer, but what
a fiesta you're going to have with your Carmen…
revista@flamenco-world.com
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