18th FESTIVAL FLAMENCO POR TARANTOS
CHANO LOBATO, DIEGO CARRASCO AND MANUEL MOLINA...
High voltage
S.C. Madrid, April 19th, 2007
‘Desde el compás a lo
jondo’. First part. Chano Lobato
with Antonio Carrión. Alfonso Salmerón with
Rafael Andújar. María José Pérez
with Antonio Carrión. Second part. Diego Carrasco
(with Curro Carrasco, Quina Amaya, Juan Grande) + Manuel
Molina, ‘2 autores. 2 artistas’. 18th Festival
Flamenco por Tarantos, A Almería. Colegio Mayor
San Juan Evangelista. Madrid, April 19th, 2007. 9 p.m.
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Diego Carrasco (Photo
Daniel Muñoz) |
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When all had been said and done, and
it was past one o’clock in the morning, Diego
Carrasco walked down the hallways softly singing the
taranto he didn’t sing up on stage. He whispered
it to some friends, with his raspy voice piercing his
gray beard, marking how he was drawing it up to the malagueña,
the way El Serna used to. He got the hang of the stage.
“I’m sure Alfonso Salmerón has sung
tarantos for himself and for me”. And he devoted
himself to his repertoire, to his beat as an author, selecting
choice pieces off his albums. From “cristales de
luz negra” to “la mariposilla verde”,
from “mi momá no sabe” to “¡José
Monje Cruz!”, with the lullaby “la ea”
in between. Curro Carrasco, from Navajita Plateá,
accompanied him on toque; Juan Grande marked him on box
drum; and Quina Amaya, from Las Peligro, provided him
with the choruses and a vibrant cante por bulerías
at the end, in the fiesta he invited José
Soto ‘Sorderita’ to and “my girls”
(who perhaps unintentionally paid tribute with their lyrics
to the absent Lole). The electricity which was missing
in the sound checks was then generated on stage.
But electrons, neutrons and protons had
already been fired off the stage some time before, sprinkling
the seats of this modest music temple which is Colegio
Mayor San Juan Evangelista. The current started flowing
when maestro Chano
Lobato made his appearance, embraced by a thunderous
ovation. Eighty years old, which is something. And fit
as a fiddle. He sang delightfully por tangos, alegrías,
soleares, bulerías and tanguillos, delivering history
and truth to the faithful followers and young university
neophytes, whom he gave away a good handful of hilarious
anecdotes to. You already know what he sings and tells
with the same wit. The ‘tirititrán’
by Espeleta, the little dog Linda dancing por bulerías,
the mule at the tablao of Arcos de Cuchilleros... And
the crowd drooling. And Antonio Carrión at his
side, his delighted accomplice on toque. A real pleasure
to enjoy this flamenco which is nearly a century old.
Manuel Molina
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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And it isn’t that he’s up
in years, but Manuel
Molina is really in-the-know in old time matters.
He needs nothing else than his guitar, than nestling up
behind it, than letting it fly through the air, than closing
his eyes... and transforming into a timeless jondo troubadour.
Manuel, who used to team up with Lole, has verses of the
kind that capture the essence of folk wisdom, like the
good anonymous lyrics in the flamenco song book. An example:
“I started looking for a friend / And since
I didn’t find one / How well I get along with myself”.
And Manuel has an absolutely touching way of uttering
it, no matter how twisted the rules are. Of course, until
those moments of high tension arrived, the stage had to
be warmed up. And that was taken care of by two Almería-born
cantaores, doing honor to the festival’s name. The
seniority was provided by Salmerón, who indeed
sang not just tarantos, but also mineras, cartageneras
and tarantas, besides caracoles, soleá and fandangos.
Everything seemed to work out as scheduled, though lackluster
in the accompaniment. And freshness had to be contributed
by cantaora María José Pérez who,
once she’d overcome the initial impression up on
stage - it was here where Camarón sang for the
last time, imagine -, made a great effort in her performance
por levante, seguiriyas and fandangos. Almería
pressed the switch. The electricity came afterwards.
Click
the images to enlarge |
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| Diego
Carrasco
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz)
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Quina
Amaya
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
Curro
Carrasco y Juan Grande (Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
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| Chano
Lobato y Antonio Carrión
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz)
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María
José Péreza
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
Alfonso
Salmerón
(Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
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