Special Feature. Loose impressions by
Enrique Morente about ‘Pablo de Málaga’
And the avant-garde and Cubist
way of singing
S.C. Madrid, June 10th, 2008
Enrique Morente (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
GuernIrak
“This song doesn’t aim to be pretty or approachable;
it’s a statement against the bombings of civilian
populations we have to see every day. At the end, there’s
an old woman’s voice singing a saeta, representing
those weeping mothers”.
First, the
sketches
“The reason leading me to Picasso are the sketches
of Guernika. Afterwards the texts came, in which he marks
his condition as a Spaniard, as an Andalusian, as an inhabitant
of Málaga”.
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Enrique Morente
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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The musicians
“The guitars of Rafael
Riqueni, Niño
Josele, Pepe
Habichuela, a drummer, a bass player... and some electronic
arrangements. There are a lot of musicians”.
Preambles
and doubts
“The first attempt was two songs I was assigned
by the Picasso Museum of Málaga. I took it back
up last year and it took me a year’s work. Then
comes what you erase, what you put, what you don’t
put, how you make mistakes... There’s continuous
revision. I do it fast, but then you take longer with
the doubts than in making the album”.
Cubist lyrics
“The first surprise was finding out that he had
written. The texts were revealed to me by Rafael Inglada.
My attention was drawn by the childhood memories, the
memories of exile, the flavors and smells of his mother’s
meals... And the feeling of freedom. And the avant-garde
and Cubist way of expressing himself in writing”.
Credibility
“The complication always exists... and the obstacles.
Conceptual work causes trouble because you have to create
it, produce it, wrap it up... until you get there, it’s
a lot of work, but that doesn’t matter. What matters
is doing something with artistic credibility”.
Being timeless
“I’m surprised that he’s an artist from
last century, but it doesn’t seem like he was born
in eighteen hundred; you think you’re dealing with
one of today’s artists”.
Enrique Morente
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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Tenderness
and toughness
“I’m impressed by the tenderness he begins
with and afterwards he conceals it with a sense of humor
and toughness, I think due to the melancholy of exile”.
... then
he writes
“Picasso’s magic is in his painting. Above
all, it’s a tribute to a painter. Later on, I find
out about what he writes...”.
The best
part isn’t there
“I regret not having included a song which ended
up off the album, but which I’ll recover in a future
re-release. It’s the one I like most. Also ‘Compases
y silencios’, which I’ll sing at the Reina
Sofía Museum”.
Picasso
of the mountains of Málaga
“Picasso liked flamenco and that’s what encouraged
me to make this album. He was Málaga-born, he liked
folklore, the music of his native land. And I think the
style which goes best with Picasso is the malagueñas
and the verdiales of the mountains of Málaga, which
are wonderful”.
And some
Picasso verses...
“I’ll no longer paint the arrow
that is seen in the drop of water
which trembles in the morning
when it whistles in the wind”
