Cádiz renewed its homage to the cantaor from Cádiz in the presentation of his biography 'Chano Lobato. Memorias de Cádiz'

Fermín Lobatón. Cádiz, July 2003
Translation: Joseph Kopec
Photos: Diputación de Cádiz

A living portrait. A July evening in Cádiz. A sunset fresco. The courtyard of the County Council Palace, with a packed audience, is bustling in undisguised expectation. At a given moment a door is opened and the ceremony's presidency begins to come in. The book 'Chano Lobato. Memorias de Cádiz' is presented, and as soon as a glimpse is caught of the cantaor amidst the entourage consisting of the guest authors and artists, that whole crowd rises to its feet in a warm ovation that goes on for quite a few minutes.

Chano Lobato

That is how Chano Lobato is loved in Cádiz, disproportionately and almost fervently, with the special love felt for one's own things; nobody like he embodies values native to the city and which need not be named. Chano's memories are the memoirs of Cádiz. It is a primary identification; it is not only what he represents, but also the way he has of expressing it, of saying things, of capturing a way of being and a lifestyle in a thousand stories. Armed with wit and genius to face things and, above all, problems. Thus it is logical that the people have the need to listen to him, to know from his fellow countryman from the same region Juan Ramírez Sarabia about his ancestors and neighbors, to listen to the telling of so many stories "in Cádiz dialect", a sort of added flavoring which is usual in all his performances and which could not linger much longer enchanted in the night air. It was therefore necessary to draw up those memoirs, and for their enjoyment to spread beyond his privileged presence, for that which he likes to call "personal experiences" to be at everyone's reach.

That is the purpose of this biography which, after over three years of work, has been concluded by journalists Juan José Téllez and Juan Manuel Marqués for the Publications Service of Cádiz County Council. A book written with live material which manages to fill in the gap of a necessity, at the same time becoming an act of justice for the cantaor and also for an entire generation of cante day laborers, of the kind who used to depend on their ship to come in or on a rich man calling on their services. Because Chano is a survivor of a generation of many troubles, of the kind which are not easily forgotten. "The book has more lies than that of Pericón", jokes the cantaor, immediately thereafter going back on his words and exclaiming "I wouldn't go that far... the thing is that in Cádiz everything is carried with that harmony and with that sense of humor, but it's true about those troubled times. We cover it up with that silver lining, but the troubles are real".

A multitudinous opera

Juan José Téllez emphasizes that the book is a multitudinous work, with so many voices that speak within Chano through his mouth, and that the authors have been "simple scribes of a story and memoirs in danger of dying out, the history of the flamencos of Cádiz". Téllez also points out that to create the book, a countless number of hours of conversation with the artist was necessary, "over three hundred, to give you an idea". The work supposed by putting in order so much material recorded for Chano to be permanently located within his long vital and artistic career is thus to be appreciated. Nor should it be forgotten that Chano is connected to the primitive cantaores of Cádiz - even though he did not meet Mellizo, he was able to listen to those who had heard him -, and that he has shared his career with all the great flamenco artists of the 20th century. His stories are just as easily situated in his neighborhood of Santa María as in Australia, Japan or New York, wherever his many years of work in dance companies took him.

This book of anecdotes and events is therefore a living chronicle which, besides its testimonial value, treats the reader to a good handful of laughs and smiles. Wit sprinkles the pages the same way the numerous pictorial testimonies do. Chano has dusted off his family album and has put it at the disposition of the publishers. But there is something more: although the authors' effort to transcribe Chano's peculiar way of speaking is important, the way he has of telling his stories, listening to them from his live voice will always be something else. The book is thus completed with a record including seven cantes with a pronounced accent from the Americas. There is a guajira, colombiana and bilongo, but in the rest of the cuts - tangos, alegrías, tanguillos and bulerías - that accent caught from overseas also prevails. And following those seven cuts, an eighth of nearly fifty minutes in which Chano constantly revives an endless string of anecdotes. Another gift which will have readers screaming with laughter.

Wealthy in friends and affection

A good example of just how much Chano is loved was the ceremony presenting his biography, which was also quite multitudinous, multitudinous and spontaneous, without a precise order and with completely unexpected participation. Hardly had the authors begun to narrate their adventure - "If the County Council hadn't had this book written, it could have been subsidized by the employers' association of hotels and bars which we've visited", Chano intervened here and there to provide a detailed account, and entered conversations with everyone. "If you go on telling more, you're going to ruin the book for us", Téllez told him. Coming down to Cádiz was his former partner in hard times Matilde Coral, nor were other of the city's glories missing: Bendito, Cascarilla and Conchita, "Los Gitanillos de Cádiz" ("The Gypsies of Cádiz"). Nor his admired, beloved Alonso Nuñez: "When I don't know what to do with a contract, I think about what Rancapino would do; he is the most intelligent flamenco, he has African culture". He spoke to all of them, and he even sang to some of them. Because Chano was accompanied by a young artist from his neighborhood of Santa María whom he sponsored after a warm soleá. He did tangos and bulerías and between the lyrics, first Matilde Coral started up and later on, Conchita Aranda. An old-fashioned flavor and neighborhood flavor, the pataíta (little kick) to the beat in just the right measure. "I'm wealthy in friends and affection", the cantaor would say, "but singing, I deserve a punch in the mouth". He is thus as humble and generous when talking about others. As exaggerated as truthful when telling things.

Téllez's final message justifies everything said and discussed: "To vindicate Chano is to vindicate an entire generation that did not have a showcase to display themselves; they simply found a way of life in flamenco".