Enrique Morente releases his flamenco cante live for the first time

The Granada-born cantaor gathers a selection of cantes recorded live together with the guitars of Juan and Pepe Habichuela, Rafael Riqueni and David Cerreduela

Flamenco-world.com, November 2009

Enrique Morente isn’t always the same cantaor, nor are his cantes always the same cantes. In each live show, the Granada-born maestro displays previously unseen nuances, unexpected turns. And that tickling sensation is finally captured on an album. ‘Morente Flamenco’ brings together ten cantes recorded on different stages, together with the guitars of Juan and Pepe Habichuela, Rafael Riqueni and David Cerreduela. The soleares, tangos, tientos, fandangos, serranas and malagueñas are joined by a previously unreleased song recorded at the studio together with his daughters Estrella and Soleá: ‘Nana de Oriente’.

Enrique Morente (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

After a record career spanning four decades, ‘Morente Flamenco’ is the first live album by the Granada-born maestro. The ten cantes included on the disc have different origins and different guitar accompaniments. They come from performances covering the period from 1992 to 2008, some with the toque of Pepe Habichuela (together with whom he kicked off his career with albums such as ‘Despegando’), others with that of patriarch Juan Habichuela, those with the guitar of Sevillian Rafael Riqueni and others with that of Madrilenian - from Cañorroto - David Cerreduela.

The repertoire performed in this selection of concerts covers a wide range of traditional cantes, with his unmistakable trademark and some tribute or another to his maestros. ‘Tangos de la vida’, ‘Soleá de los cañaverales’, ‘Fandangos naturales’, ‘Granaína rosa’, ‘Alegrías grande locura’, ‘Serrana del maestro Matrona’, ‘Tientos a Sernita de Jerez’, ‘Malagueña, como que sale de mí’ and ‘Soleá de Pilarico’ are the cantes performed on this peculiar album by the artist from Albaicín.

These excerpts from his performances are joined by a previously unreleased studio-recorded song as a bonus track, which is related to ‘Guern-Irak’ off his previous album ‘Pablo de Málaga’. Together with his daughters Estrella and Soleá, he offers ‘Nanas de Oriente’ in two versions; an opening one and a closing one. And it is a score which commits itself against violence and calls for peace and freedom. As flamencologist José Manuel Gamboa writes in the booklet, “we are therefore before the coveted first release by Morente which comes straight from the stage (…) For the occasion, Enrique has tried to seek out his most jondo profile, without safety pins in his ear, resorting to the wealth of great cante with deluxe guitar”.

‘Morente Flamenco’, which comes out on sale on November 30th, 2009, completes the varied, risky discography created for over four decades by the Granada-born cantaor. Standing out from his early discs are the traditional-style ones ‘Homenaje a D. Antonio Chacón’ with Pepe Habichuela and ‘Nueva York/ Granada’ with Sabicas; but also brave proposals like ‘Despegando’, among other titles. Albums with a creative regard would come later on such as ‘Negra, si tú supieras’, ‘Lorca’, the fundamental ‘Omega’ and ‘El pequeño reloj’. His most recent releases are ‘Morente sueña La Alhambra’ (a disc arising from the documentary of the same name) and ‘Pablo de Málaga’.

Enrique Morente and Pepe Habichuela (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

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