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LA PAQUERA DE JEREZ. OBITUARY
Jerez's Ella Fitzgerald
Martín Guijarro, April 2004
Translation: Joseph Kopec
"Alialialialiiiiiiilialiaaaandaaaaa". La
Paquera de Jerez's war cry was one-of-a-kind, unmistakable. Torrents gushed
forth from her throat which she would cast towards the heavens, scarcely had she
come out on stage, scarcely had the guitar begun to warm up, without even a microphone.
She was standing; she always had to be standing. One hand would go over her chest,
the other would squeeze the rush-bottomed chair that shortly thereafter would
twirl up in the air, losing its bodily nature. At her side, with one foot resting
on the seat, Parrilla de Jerez would curl up over the bajañí, giving
it the right touch, the two of them composing the old-fashioned picture that is
now a memory. La Paquera de Jerez went in search of her voice in the place where
she was born.
La Paquera de Jerez in Carlos Saura's 'Flamenco'
It can't have been a coincidence that Carlos Saura should choose La Paquera
de Jerez to open the film 'Flamenco'
(1994). The artist's mighty presence, her telluric voice, as if primitive, summed
up everything passionate, irrational, historical that flamenco has. Fortunately,
it isn't the only visual proof that she was here. Algerian filmmaker Toni Gatlif
also noticed her overwhelming strength for the film 'Vengo'
(2000). Not long ago, moreover, she took her first trip to Japan, invited by Japanese
bailaora Yoko Komatsubara. And a camera followed her on this special tour, resulting
in the documentary 'Por oriente sale el sol' (2003), directed by Fernando González-Caballos.
Those who have been able to see it at any of the flamenco festivals and other
forums where it was shown were able to get to know the person Francisca Méndez
Garrido a little bit better. A person who, against all odds, proved natural, tender
and nearly defenseless in contrast with the urban monster which is the capital,
Tokyo.
Read
report. La Paquera triumphs in Japan. An art journey to Tokyo
Poking around a little further back in time, the collection 'Rito
y geografía del cante' ('Ritual and Geography of Cante') has a marvelous
episode in which La Paquera shares a story with La Piriñaca and El Borrico.
It was the early '70s, in black and white, with all her faculties (although who
said that she ever lost them?), La Paquera not only offered her cante in a café,
but a portrait of herself interviewed in her native Jerez, in La Plazuela, in
the very flamenco neighborhood of San Miguel. She was born there shortly before
the Spanish Civil War broke out, in the bosom of a family of fishermen who still
sell fish at the market there every day. When she was just a girl, she began singing
at parties of the rich, of the aristocracy, sharing the job with legendary cantaores.
She had La Niña de los Peines and Manolo Caracol as her guides. And since
she was from Jerez, she had to stand out through bulerías, as her nephew
Antonio Flores Méndez says: "There isn't nor will there ever be a
better cantaora through bulerías than her". Nor was she bad at all
at fandangos, no. She even flirted with verse. After appearing at tablaos in Madrid
such as El Corral de la Morería and Los Canasteros, she embarked upon troupes
like that of Rafael Farina, taking part - with colleagues such as Farruco, Chocolate
and Juanito Maravilla - in the theater shows 'España por bulerías',
'Arte español', 'Bronce y solera'...
In Jerez por bulerías |
La Paquera |
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With Parrilla de Jerez |
With Manolo Caracol |
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It wasn't long before she went to the recording studio, which she set foot
in for the first time in the '50s. Specifically, in 1957 she recorded 'Maldigo
tus ojos verdes', a song that boosted her to the peak of popularity, making her
a radio and theater star, receiving way back then tributes and awards within and
beyond the world of flamenco. As usually happens to the past flamenco catalogue,
La Paquera de Jerez's discography is not even close to being organized and available
in its entirety. Perhaps double value should therefore be given to the few records
that are currently at the reach of listeners, standing out among which is the
recent compilation from the Belter archives, with a varied summary of remastered
original recordings. Recently there's little; La Paquera de Jerez hadn't recorded
for years. You had to see her live in person. Though in the last few years she
missed events such as the 2001 Bulería Fest and the 2002 Jerez Festival,
she never stopped performing, albeit sporadically. And always accompanied by Parrilla
de Jerez, her faithful sidekick since 1969. Her appearances stand out at the 2003
Toulouse Festival, Seville's
2002 Bienal and above all, La
Unión's 2002 Las Minas Cante Festival, which dedicated that edition
to her. Flamenco-world.com's correspondent sent to the festival related that she
"stirred up the revolution".
And that's the way La Paquera de Jerez was; a huge artist, boundless, a phenomenon
of nature. But, why use more adjectives? Read, read the comments left by admirers
in Flamenco-world.com's Artists Encyclopedia. One enthusiast, apparently from
New Zealand, comments that she was flamenco's Ella Fitzgerald. And we'll end with
that simile.¡
La Paquera with Parrilla de Jerez (Photo: Anahí
Cármody)
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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