Flamenco: Tradition and Innovation

Norberto Torres Cortés

Like tangos, flamenco is a historical genre and a stylistic universe whose influence has spread far beyond its original boundaries. This study of tradition and innovation in flamenco originally appeared in French in issue number 37 of the magazine published by the Cité de la Musique de París, stemming from the series of concerts organized by this institution in March 2002. The artists appearing in said concerts were Manolo Sanlúcar, Isidro Sanlúcar, Carmen Linares, Tino di Gerardo in "Locura de Brisa y Trino", Esperanza Fernández and Miguel Angel Cortés, Gerardo Nuñez and Carmen Cortés, Marina Heredia and her group, Montse Cortés and El Viejín, Chano Lobato and Antonio Soto, and Carmen Ledesma. The many different approaches to flamenco in use today make it necessary to reconsider the definition of the art form. While some of its exponents exhibit a certain degree of nostalgia, others contribute with increasingly varied musical forms.

La Niña de los Peines

Until recently, a single model prevailed, the result of the combined efforts to recover, maintain, divulge and dignify artistic forms and expressions that were considered "authentic" or closely associated with a somewhat idealized past. Flamenco represented the consensus of what aficionados, artists, critics and investigators thought flamenco should be. There was a small amount of debate, but this was limited to local contention among specialists. In this context, the role and nature of the artists were predetermined: He or she had to be born in Andalusia (or in a family of long-standing flamenco tradition) and had to carry on with that tradition to become a professional, after having achieved official recognition in prestigious singing contests. After passing through these stages, the artist was to sign up with Pulpón, a Seville business man with whom artists had to cooperate in order to work in festivals in the summer, in peñas in the winter, and in tablaos during the rest of the year. Few artists were able to escape this fate. Even Camarón de la Isla -today considered a paradigm of the "rebellious" and "revolutionary" artist -had to go this route, and was the star performer at festivals; an idol within this Andalusian form of mass culture.

An artist's experience was another determining characteristic of this period of flamenco. The value placed upon an artist's interpretation was directly proportional to his or her age and experience. Things have changed with the tremendous consumer appetite of today's Spanish society. Conservation is currently interpreted in a negative light, and is seen as the tiresome repetition of the same forms. A more creative approach is in much higher esteem. The appeal of older forms, interpreted as a source of substance and wisdom, has given way to the exaltation of youth and its contribution of new ideas.

How, then, can we define a flamenco artist? In classic terms, by the desire for innovation, by maturity through experience, or by youthful experimentalism?

Here we run into another dilemma: Critics normally help one to acquire the capacity of discriminating taste, and flamenco critics are offering confusing messages. In this regard, we can clearly see a generation of journalists with experience in different forms of artistic expression, that interpret flamenco as if it were a popular art form like rock, pop or easy-listening music. Internet is another factor to take into consideration, with the communication that it provides among aficionados through specialized message boards and chat rooms where flamenco and its definition is the subject of hot debate. In parallel with this, we can see that flamenco enthusiasts tend to fragment and to disassociate flamenco with the aforementioned types of music. This new phenomenon may be alarming to some, but I think this is leading to a fascinating situation. What will be the effects brought on by the thousands of enthusiasts spread all over the globe, whose profile is in constant flux? Will their preferences and demand change the art form?

Classic or contemporary?

Faced with the difficulty of defining the present state of the art, let us first establish dualistic categories that will make it possible to form a rough idea of each artist. The bulk of current written and spoken commentary on flamenco boils down to two extremes: classic and contemporary flamenco.

In order to summarize an oft-repeated topic, we might say that "classic" flamenco corresponds to styles created with the appearance of the art form in Andalusia in the 19th century, essentially in the Western part of this Spanish region. Flamenco is tonal and modal music influenced by both Western and Eastern cultures, half-way between Gypsy music and Andalusian traditions. It is an expression of both the pain and the joy produced by the contradictory feelings of the Andalusian lower class. The "golden age" of flamenco took place in the second half of the 19th century. The traditional forms are still practiced today with great respect, and seek to conserve the heritage of "time-honored master artists". Although some aficionados -particularly those associated with the Seville singer Antonio Mairena- have proclaimed that the evolution of flamenco has reached its apogee, classic flamenco continues to change, following a gradual process of adaptation responding to public demand. The practitioners of classic flamenco generally concentrate on the renewal of verse: the poetic content of flamenco singing.

As Falla and Lorca, these artists seek to further dignify and increase the recognition of the art form, substituting traditional and anonymous verse with fragments of poetry (Lorca, Gerardo Diego, Antonio and Manuel Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Fernando Villalón, Rafael Alberti, Bécquer, etc.) Vicente Soto "Sordera", a member of one of the most important gypsy families in Jerez, even sang verse of Pessoa to traditional flamenco forms, and the young singer from Levante Curro Piñana sang verse of Ibn Al-Arabí, an Arabic-Murcian poet and mystic from the 12th century. This interest in classic culture can also be seen in the work of the guitarist Manolo Sanlúcar, with several concerts written for flamenco guitar and orchestra, or in the productions of the Ballet Nacional de España, or the Compañía Andaluza de Danza, with flamenco choreography adapted to classical dance.

Antonio Canales (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

The renovators

As we have seen, the classic approach cultivates references from the past, striving to conserve, to transmit and to dignify. In contrast, another interpretation of the role of the artist has become popular, in which creation, recreation, evolution and personalization are the defining factors. Over the last 30 years, two artists have come to symbolize this new approach: Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía. Both are exalted by their admirers and are now the idols of contemporary flamenco. Mention should also be made of Enrique Morente, Manolo Sanlúcar, Antonio Gades or Mario Maya as members of a generation that has renewed tradition by adapting the art form to contemporary artistic tendencies. Their work has clearly inspired the current generation of musicians and choreographers whom we can define as "contemporary flamenco artists." This tremendous change can be traced back to the mid-70s, coinciding with the end of the fascist dictatorship of Franco, as if the desire for artistic freedom had appeared hand in hand with the desire for political freedom.

The most significant of the contributions of this new generation seems to be the transition from the "singer-guitarist-duo" format to that of the "flamenco group." This new configuration favors contact with other musical cultures, giving rise to a cross-cut sample of a conglomerate of styles. This combination, or fusion -to use a fashionable expression- blends flamenco with other styles, resulting in flamenco-blues, flamenco-pop, flamenco-rock, flamenco-jazz, flamenco-salsa, flamenco-rap, flamenco-son, flamenco-bossa, or flamenco-tinged folk singers. In this intense activity of encounters, combinations, influences and experiments, Claude Worms has established a preliminary division between vocal-oriented groups and instrument-oriented groups (with the guitar as the central figure). A record label and a sociological phenomenon accompanied the birth of this new tendency that has upset the tranquil evolution of classic flamenco, both elements based in Madrid: Nuevos Medios and the Spanish counterculture movement known as "la movida." Pata Negra, Ketama, la Barbería del Sur, Niña Pastori, José Mercé, Vicente Amigo, Gerardo Nuñez, Tomatito, Chano Domínguez, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Diego Carrasco, Tomasito, Joaquín Cortés, Antonio Canales, Sara Baras, etc. The list is practically endless and encompasses a wide range of styles.

We can see, then, that the development of flamenco has gone through different periods: a "golden age" in the second half of the 19th century, a somewhat "decadent" tendency known as "ópera flamenca" that took place between the 1920s and 1950s, a period of renewed interest in traditional forms (approaching a neoclassic mentality), and -the most recent- the popularity of innovative and avant-garde creativity (fueled by the contact with other cultures).

These periods have led to the present state of clear dichotomy of tradition and innovation (although we do not know whether or not the latter will benefit flamenco). We might rephrase this as tradition vs. innovation, as this dichotomy -the age-old dispute between old- and new-school advocates- has always existed, and seems to form a part of the very identity of flamenco. Artists and aficionados have always taken sides to favor "pure flamenco" or "artistic flamenco". Some examples: El Planeta and El Fillo, Antonio Chacón and Manuel Torre, Tomás Pavón and Pepe Marchena, La Niña de los Peines and Tía Anica la Periñaca, Antonio Mairena and Manolo Caracol, Javier Molina and Ramón Montoya, Antonio and Farruco, Canales and El Pipa, Matilde Coral and Sara Baras. The history of flamenco is composed of these figures, and, although they may seem to be diametrically opposed, they actually have points in common. We can even see interaction between the two tendencies, which clearly confirms the artistic dimension of flamenco. Like a river, flamenco is in a constant process of renewal, adapting to the different periods it crosses, confirming its role as one of the points of access to Andalusian and Spanish art.

Translation: Norman Paul Kliman

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