The Méndez. Jerez Cante Families (IV). Special Feature

The Méndez Clan

Carlos Sánchez. Jerez, May 2005

From Acebuche Street to Cerro Fuerte. From the Moneos to the Méndezes. The heart of La Plazuela. A flamenco neighborhood par excellence. The cradle of great artists. The seed of Manuel Torre and Antonio Chacón's cante. The resounding strength of the pharaoh, Lola Flores. The nest of several lineages. The bosom of a town's cantaor idiosyncrasy. The Méndez family comes from here. A long line of gypsy, fishmonger kin from La Plazuela which La Paquera de Jerez took to the top of cante flamenco.

	La Paquera de Jerez

We have already explained the Moneos' ties to the slaughterhouse. And the Sorderas' link to farms. Different ways of facing the misery which has afflicted the Andalusian people for so long. A Plazuela (square) with stands and forges. A budding, developing source of art. The Méndez family, direct heirs to a special sound and overwhelming personal strength with the name of Francisca Méndez Garrido, La Paquera de Jerez. Queen of the bulería. One-of-a-kind and unquestionable. Bearer of the mark of a special clan. Fundamental pillar of the “natural school” of cante.

On April 16, 2004, she gave up singing forever. La Paquera left behind her a legacy that will be long-lasting. The day after her death, she was named a ‘favorite daughter’ of Jerez. Months earlier, the Cruzcampo foundation awarded her the ‘Compás del Cante’ prize. An award which she was unable to pick up in person. Just like the posthumous Fine Arts Medal which the King and Queen of Spain awarded to her brother, José Méndez. Few are the tributes to one of the basic pillars of Jerez cante. “Spontaneous, vital, intuitive and gutsy. A tamed, irresistible, fierce, sweet storm all at once”, was how she was described by critic José María Castaño. “A boiling bud sprouting from the cante stock”, according to writer Manuel Ríos Ruiz.

A bunch of emotions. The flagship of Jerez's flamenco style par excellence. With huge vitality and strength. Fandanguera. A temperamental woman. A night owl, like any good flamenca. As festive as anybody else. La Paquera de Jerez used to slap herself twice on the chest and the columns of Solomon's Temple would tremble. She used to throw her left hand up to her forehead and people were speechless. Cantaor genius. A mark of authenticity. One of the greats in the history of the jondo genre.

Oh, Paquera de Jerez,
I'd like to be a youngster
in the San Miguel quarter! ...
To have a silver watch
that runs backwards,
and watch you come by tomorrow
and watch you come back yesterday.
I'll always wait for you
in the same old tavern,
with a glass of wine,
without sorrow,
crazy, but all right.
Yours are the bulerías
but mine is to wish
to have been born
in the San Miguel quarter.

Carlos Lencero
Spring /1994

Her loss is still being wept amidst those whitewashed walls of Cerro Fuerte Street. A neighborhood in dire need of a monument which is in the planning stages. A figure that will rest in the heart of this so thoroughly gypsy, flamenco enclave. Champion of the unlikely compás she took all over the world in shows such as ‘España por bulerías’, ‘Arte español’, ‘Alegrías de Andalucía’ and ‘Así se canta en Jerez’, among others. Remaining in the record library are those tientos ‘Maldigo tus ojos verdes’, produced by Jerez-born poet Antonio Gallardo. “Commanding strength in clapping and compás”, according to the writer from the land of wine.

La Paquera de Jerez with Parrilla de Jerez (Photo: Anahí Cármody)

“She sings bulerías with gypsy weeping, with that trembling and that quejido which only those of her race have, with that background of grief and emotion that goes hand in hand with pure cante flamenco and which even gives depth to a cante seemingly as fickle as bulerías”
Edgar Neville

La Paquera de Jerez has been the looking-glass through which an entire family of cantaores has been viewed. Because her legacy goes on there. There are her nieces Paca and Manuela. Two staunch followers of her cante. Kina Méndez, a very young cantaora who is making a way for herself on the flamenco track little by little. This very year she has won a prize for sevillanas which is going to earn her the chance to make a record with the label Pasarela. Her maturity as an artist is being forged in companies such as that of Salvador Távora.

Also standing out is José Méndez, another new cantaor from the family who struggles every day to find himself a place. And finally, Jesús Méndez, a diamond in the rough from the Jerez breeding ground. A pearl that slowly but surely begins to shine. A very young cantaor, but with an echo that sounds like old times. At the mere age of nineteen, he is able to feel the pain of a seguiriya and the majesty of the soleá, without ever forgetting the authentic start-up of his “Aunt Paquera”. Not in vain did he win the Young Performers in Bulerías ‘Paquera de Jerez’ First Prize last year. A real promise for a clan that goes on. At present, Jesús Méndez is making strides with the help of one of today's most important guitarists, Gerardo Núñez. A great maestro for a qualified pupil.

Jesús Méndez (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

‘La Paquera de Jerez’ is still amongst us. Luck has it that a young Sevillian anthropologist, Fernando González Caballos, immortalized her in a documentary film which is the living testimony of so personal an artist. ‘Por Oriente sale el sol. La Paquera de Jerez en Tokio’. (‘The Sun Rises in the East. La Paquera de Jerez in Tokyo.’) “A carom which fate made coincide for the enjoyment of all of us who took part in it”, according to the director. A tribute to the memory of one of the greats. To a myth. To an immortal voice.

Her appearance in the very famous film ‘Flamenco’ is also to be noted. There must have been some reason Carlos Saura chose her to open the film. And in Spanish copla productions such as ‘Teatro’ and ‘La copla andaluza’. Close-ups of a career full of recordings and appearances beside her inseparable Parrilla de Jerez. She is Paquera de Jerez, ambassador to the Méndez family.

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