2009 NÎMES FLAMENCO FESTIVAL. ALFREDO LAGOS •
ALICIA GIL
Another border
Silvia Calado. Nîmes, January 21st, 2009
Alfredo Lagos (guitar)
in concert, with percussion by José Carrasco and
clapping by Carlos Grilo and Luis Cantarote/ Alicia
Gil (cante), with guitar by Lito Espinosa. 19th
Nîmes Flamenco Festival. Odéon. Nîmes
(France), January 21st, 2009, 8 p.m.
The cantaor waiting in line to board the
flight from Madrid to Marseilles commented on it: “It
was about time”. All his life singing and for the
first time a flamenco festival wanted to listen to him solo,
or as they say in this business, ‘up front’.
Lately, you have to cross the border to witness these kinds
of ‘novelties’; you don’t know if it’s
because they’re freer of biases or because they have
their own and they’re different. The truth is that
thanks to this difference or flexibility of schemes, Jerez-born
guitarist Alfredo
Lagos offered a solo concert. Something unusual, since
to listen to him there, you have to attend a concert by
Israel Galván or Fernando Terremoto, or put on the
next-to-the-last album by the Morentes. And it happened
at the Odéon and on the radio, throughout France
(since it was broadcast live) that what used to be an open
secret stopped being one. The Jerez-born artist not only
had music of his own, but it was completely personal, and
to a certain extent, innovative. By means of destructuring
tradition sometimes, dodging it others and visiting it most
of the time, he achieves a previously-unseen lexicon.
He introduced a different construction
with a Galván-style destructuring, without losing
sight of the impressive roughness of the old-time flavor.
He reached the soleá down the road of dreaming, immediately
thereafter getting across the seriousness which is characteristic
of it. And the same with the seguiriya, although in that
toque he risked it from time to time. The crowd’s
silence seemed unyielding. Until the guitar did alegrías.
And it just as easily shot off sparks as it swayed. Then
with José Carrasco’s percussion backing him,
he reeled off a fandango full of life and fluency, able
to receive the most impetuous attack without losing musicality.
The tangos brought charm, sweetness. And the box drum solo,
which of course drew screams from the fickle crowd, could
therefore have been done without entirely. Just remaining,
then, was the ending por bulerías. And for it, he
had Carlos Grilo and El Lúa, that pair of clappers
able to lather up the toque, to feed the boiler non-stop
… and growing. Alfredo Lagos, the concert performer,
allowed himself a resounding finale, as if judging his future
… which is coming.
The second half is well-know, at least
by Madrid. Sevillian cantaora Alicia Gil left her little
bars for this cozy theater, in order to make a classical
cantaor journey. Accompanied on guitar by Lito Espinosa,
except in the initial saeta-style toná, she reeled
off a repertoire which had room for everything from tientos-tangos
to alegrías, with mineras and soleares in between.
A recital full of references to La Niña de los Peines,
Remedios
Amaya and Juana la del Revuelo, although it was stricken
with a certain monotony both in its register and in its
performance. She reserved her energies and vocal ripping
nearly entirely for the bulerías and final couplets,
which she performed standing and displaying her image. The
stage which had acted as a prologue to the festival since
Monday was closed with her. The first day was dedicated
to ‘Flamenco de aquí’, with performances
by bailaora La Rubia and by cantaor Luis de Almería.
The second night was shared by Jerez-born guitarist Antonio
Rey, capturing his album ‘A través de ti’
live, and ‘multi-artist’ Diego
Carrasco, who reviewed his greatest songs accompanied
by just his guitar. Now come the main attractions, until
Sunday, at the Théâtre.
