ANTONIO REY / MERCEDES RUIZ. 2004 FESTIVAL DE MONT DE MARSAN

Ripening fruit

Silvia Calado. Mont de Marsan, 6th July 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

Part one. ‘La guitarra’. Guitar: Antonio Rey. Vocals: José Álvarez. Vocals and dance: Mara Rey. Piano: Pablo Suárez. Second guitar: Daniel Jurado. Palmas: Toni Rey. Percussion: Diego el Negro. Part two. ‘Dibujos en el aire’. Dance: Mercedes Ruiz. Vocals: Londro, El Pulga, Mercedes Cortés. Guitar: Santiago Lara, Daniel Méndez. Percussion: Paco González. Café Cantante (Place Saint Roch. Mont de Marsan (France), 6th July 2004. 7:30pm.

Antonio Rey

Mont de Marsan's second date with flamenco was in a more “intimate” corner of town: Café Cantante on Place Saint Roch. This venue, by day a market, has played host to established veterans of cante, baile and toque flamenco. Tonight, though, it's the turn of two promising newcomers to take the limelight: guitarist Antonio Rey and bailaora Mercedes Ruiz, each presenting their début solo offerings. With ‘La guitarra’, Rey offered a show based around a guitar concert format, enhanced by a careful choice of instruments and decorated with vocals and flamenco dance. He began the recital alone with a taranta, a style that afforded him ample freedom to show off his fine technique. His guitarwork is accessible, carefully studied, still a little expansive. And he continues, moving into the space between flamenco and Spanish folk music that is denominated 'canciones de ida y vuelta'. He signals to the cajón and the percussion begins, soon joined by the backing voices, and the ‘fandango acancionado’ begins. Guitar, piano and cajón wander into latino territory, moving into tanguillos which gave an open, airy feeling, rounding off the first part of the recital. A rondeña brought another solemn, minimalist moment of peace - the calm before the storm. Straight away, the group burst into bulerías, with a wild performance by dancer (and cantaora) Mara Rey. Without slowing the pace, the group struck up a rumba and, as a closing number, a ballad in the form of a bulería. With high hopes and, he confessed, his fair share of nerves, Antonio Rey managed to show the French audience that a new generation is on its way, bringing strength and quality, and with plenty yet to be revealed.

Tortilla española, paella, gazpacho, jamón serrano... Spain's staple gastronomic offerings gave the interval a rich flavor, maintaining the buzz already established in the audience, who gave a warm welcome to the next young artist from Jerez. Mercedes Ruiz brought along her first solo production ‘Dibujos en el aire’, already showcased at events such as the 2003 Festival de Jerez. Robust, serious, composed, she appeared on stage in trousers, performing a furious foot-stomping zapateado dedicated to Antonio Gades. She still had a little way to go to get warmed up. The group took care of filling in the interval while she changed her costume, playing tangos, with two of the three vocalists giving a shining performance. Clothed in a traditional black and white flamenco dancer's bata de cola dress, Mercedes Ruiz took the stage once more, this time ‘por alegrías’. The bailaora showed her feminine side, curvaceous, carefully-measured, brimming with the wisdom of one of her teachers, Eva Yerbabuena, who looked on from the front rows. Her twisting hands, she crouches, pauses, plays... and threw a defiant stare directly at the audience, doubtless dazzled by the performance. The high point came, though, with the seguiriya, with a prelude in the form of a vidalita sung divinely by Londro, accompanied on guitar by Daniel Méndez, two more names to watch on the flamenco scene. The bailaora stepped out on stage dressed in black, with a close-cut skirt and blouse, mature and self-assured. Her forcefulness, clean movements and the music that flowed from her footwork, her ability to leave the crowd awestruck, her intuitive sense of when to leave them wanting more, the aesthetics of her movements... all these won over the audience. She was breathtaking and, at the same time, exhilirating. The café cantante gave her its seal of approval in the form of a standing ovation. And together with her group she showed her gratitude with an up-tempo bulería.

The day had been a long one. From the morning on the rooms of the Ecole de Musique et de Danse were overflowing with students seeking to absorb the teachings of the staff of Taller Flamenco, including bailaoras Pepa Montes, Mercedes Ruiz, Manuela Vargas and Lidia Chamero, and bailaor Juan Paredes. But the one teacher everyone's talking about is Gamba de Jerez, with a course on compás and palmas, injecting rhythm and delight into his students. Best to start at the beginning... This same seat of learning, located beside the town's bullring, was the venue for a talk in the afternoon. Carlos Lencero, one of flamenco's key lyricists, gave a sneak preview of the book he'll publish this coming September: ‘Camarón: la leyenda del cantaor solitario’. The writer from Extremadura painted a very personal portrait of this 'solitary vocalist' from San Fernando - la Isla. A man who defined an era “with whom I shared a generation, shared tastes, interests and a table once in a while”, a gypsy cantaor who “made a profound impact on flamenco in the final part of the last century and whose name will live on”. He drew excerpts from the book, slipping in personal comments, reflections, and an incisive wit, leaving all present hungry for the new addition to the swelling number of biographies of Camarón de la Isla. Until then, he left us with “the only worthwhile soleá Camarón performed” and with a Bukowski poem musing on the subject of death.

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