FESTIVAL VAIVENES FLAMENCOS 2008. JAVIER
BARÓN, BELÉN MAYA, EL TRÍO, GERARDO
NÚÑEZ, ROCÍO MOLINA, ENRIQUE MORENTE...
Round-trip avant-garde
Carmen Macedo. Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville),
July 5th to 12th, 2008
Festival Vaivenes Flamencos 2008
premieres as witness to a varied display of contemporary
flamenco. Cante, jazz, baile, theater, circus, guitar…
flamenco’s most avant-garde side has been seen one
week long, making clear its purest essence in the end.
Today’s stuff and the age-old went hand-in-hand
in concerts such as those offered by Enrique
Morente, Son de la Frontera and Belén Maya,
recalling the past and seeking the way towards the future.
And all of it on a magical stage; that of the medieval
fortress in the mythical flamenco town of Alcalá
de los Panaderos.
Javier Barón on 'Dos
voces para un baile'
(Photo Vaivenes Flamencos 08)
With flamenco at its purest, and somewhat
delayed, Festival Vaivenes Flamenco 2008 was inaugurated
on July 5th - scheduled within the setting of the 1st
Riberas del Guadaíra International Performing Arts
Festival - by the hand of the Javier
Barón Company. Alcalá’s Castle
was nearly full on the first night of the event to welcome
its fellow native to his land and his origins, after having
been applauded halfway around the world. And it was worth
the wait. His voice is heard to recall his early days
and his life and to remember the deceased in the flood
of Alcalá. ‘Dos voces para un baile’
is a reflection on stage. The bailaor himself explains
how he uses cante, clapping and guitar to get there with
his baile. A simplification and a display of knowledge
by Barón, who combines a great variety of styles
in a show with painstaking care in the way of coming out
on stage. “Let’s go up, maestro!”, his
guitarist tells him, and Barón once again displays
the cleanness of his baile and his way of getting along
with the crowd.
And from Javier Barón’s
essence to Belén
Maya’s contemporaneity and her show, ‘La
voz de su amo’. Accompanied by Juan Carlos Lérida
as guest artist, these two bailaores make an effort to
show flamenco as a part of contemporary dance. The fusion
of genres, the ‘performance’ or the barefoot
dancer on stage are some of the innovative details they
present. Rosario
la Tremendita’s voice, the DJ’s electronic
music effects and the drama part by David Montero, a young
Sevillian actor, complete a show which dazzled the audience,
despite the unexpectedly cold night.
Belén Maya with La
Tremendita on 'La voz de su amo'
(Photo Vaivenes Flamencos 08)
From jazz flamenco to the circus
with compás
Following two nights of baile at the
festival, it was time for instrumentalization. The trio
consisting of Carles
Benavent, Tino
di Geraldo and Jorge
Pardo drew a younger crowd that enjoyed the performance
by these experienced musicians. After having shared his
career with Paco de Lucía and Camarón de
la Isla, Benavent, who praised the magic of the castle
as a setting for the festival, once again showed why he
is considered to be one of the ones responsible for the
revolution of flamenco and a creator of flamenco jazz.
And the thing is that his incorporation of electric bass
and that of sax and flute by Jorge Pardo are some of the
main contributions to contemporary flamenco. With influence
from jazz and Mediterranean music, ‘Sin precedentes’
(title of the band’s long-awaited second album)
is a real recital by these three musicians, who also captivated
the audience with their metal solos and percussion by
Di Geraldo.
Jorge Pardo, Tino di Geraldo
and Carles Benavent at Medieval fortress
(Photo Vaivenes Flamencos 08)
The children’s audience had its
place on Tuesday the 8th with the arrival of the flamenco
circus Varuma. With this show, the festival, and with
it flamenco, became not just suitable, but also enticing
to all audiences. And the thing is that, as it usually
happens, ‘Malgama’ amused the little ones
but also fascinated the grown-ups. Clowns, tightrope walkers,
trapeze artists, jugglers… an entire circus accompanying
Asunción Pérez ‘Choni’, the
bailaora. In the show she is kept company by the contemporary
dance of clown Sergio Domínguez, Raúl Cantizano’s
guitar and Alicia Acuña’s cante. A good story
with room for flamenco dancing accompanied by touches
of humor which drew laughter. Among the most eye-catching
details, Choni’s dress with a train, which turns
into a weapon for the trapeze artist, and the polka dots
of her dress, which become balls to mark the rhythm with.
“A juggling compás”, in the words of
Alicia Acuña.
Son de la Frontera at Medieval
fortress
(Photo Vaivenes Flamencos 08)
“A very flamenco night”.
That was the wish of Paco de Amparo, Son
de la Frontera’s guitarist, at the start of
their performance on Wednesday, July 9th. And so it was.
The Cuban sound of the Best European Group as chosen by
BBC Radio did not disappoint their audience, which traveled
to Alcalá to see them once again do rumbas, bulerías,
tanguillos and even sevillanas with the peculiar sound
of Raúl Rodríguez’s Cuban tres. On
this occasion, to display their second album, ‘Cal’,
they had the collaboration of cantaor David el Galli as
guest artist. His voice shared applause with Moi de Morón,
highly praised by the crowd, who did a cante with no microphone
as an appetizer. Although Son de la Frontera tried to
bid farewell with ‘Bulería de la cal’,
the title cut of their new album, their audience didn’t
allow it and they delighted those attending with flamenco
partying to close their performance.
Guitar with the family
Carmen Cortés
and Gerardo Núñez (Photo Vaivenes
Flamencos 08) |
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Faithful to the festival’s subheading,
“avant-garde as a return to the origin”, Gerardo
Núñez’s guitar arrived. And the
thing is that, after having traveled the world and having
experienced the most diverse formulas, he uses avant-garde
recipes to rediscover the past on his album ‘Andando
el tiempo’. He was expected solo, accompanied exclusively
by the box drum of El Cepillo, his inseparable percussionist
and friend, but he turned up surrounded by his people.
“They were in Sanlúcar and in the end everybody’s
come. So we aren’t going to be a duo; we’re
going to be here with the family”. He thus explained
it, and so baile, cante and Pablo Martín’s
contrabass, which he gets along with so well, accompanied
the maestro. His guitar was brimming over with rhythms
and melodies. The contrabass became a string and percussion
instrument at the same time, played by four hands with
the help of Cepillo. Jerez-born Jesús Méndez’s
cante and the baile of Carmen
Cortés completed a show which was enjoyed on
and off stage alike.
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Rocío Molina
on 'Turquesa como el limón' (Photo Vaivenes
Flamencos 08) |
Then in the final stretch of the festival,
baile returned to the castle. On this occasion, it was
the company of young bailaora Rocío
Molina presenting ‘Turquesa como el limón’.
Two sides of flamenco are displayed by a show in which
there is theater, contemporary dance and flamenco at its
purest and which, more than criticizing some of the ills
of society, laughs at them. “Free love”, “too
short”, “go on a diet”… so read
the signs up on stage. A show which needed no introduction,
because it introduced itself. And the thing is that Rocío,
the bailaora, passed out hors d’oeuvres among the
audience before the show got started. A voice develops
the plot and interacts with the artist. On cante, Emilio
Florido, with age-old classics which accompany the baile
of Rocío and Laura Rozalén, each representing
a trend; that of the age-old and that of the future, and
which fuse together at the end of the show. A show with
contagious energy in which Rocío Molina especially
stood out and managed to bring the crowd to their feet.
Back to ‘Omega’
After having welcomed great artists with
a really varied program, the festival bade farewell on
the night of July 12th with a main attraction. The “sold
out” sign had been hung out days earlier for the
return of Enrique
Morente and Lagartija Nick with ‘Omega’.
There will only be three more opportunities in 2008 to
enjoy the performance of the album which marked a turning
point, not just in flamenco, but in Spanish music in general.
And so, jam-packed, Alcalá’s Castle welcomed
one of the greatest exponents of fusion in flamenco. The
great cantaor Enrique Morente appeared surrounded by an
abundant flamenco group, including percussionist Bandolero
and his son, Enrique Morente Jr. Alegrías, tanguillos,
bulerías… opened a night which would soon
be imbued with the alternative rock of Lagartija Nick,
who also drew a good number of followers among the crowd.
Guitarists David Cerreduela and Juan José Suárez
‘Paquete’, of La Barbería del Sur,
and the vocals of Las Negri also accompanied Enrique with
their choruses. So as many as twenty people had gathered
on stage when Estrella
Morente, the cantaor’s daughter, appeared to
perform ‘Manhattan’.
The night of flamenco rock, that of the
return of Enrique Morente and Lagartija Nick, showed that
‘Omega’
continues to be a reference in the evolution of flamenco,
and that it still surprises the audience like the first
day after over ten years. It became the longest night
and the successful close of a festival which had a great
bill in its first edition and a great response on behalf
of the public in a setting ripe for magic.
Enrique Morente and Estrella
Morente with Lagartija Nick
(Photo Vaivenes Flamencos 08)
