Segundo Falcón presents his 'Un Segundo de Cante' at the Spanish Society of Authors

"You can draw from a certain school, and at the same time, open flamenco up without losing sight of the roots"

Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, May 20th, 2002

Soleá, seguiriya and soleá apolá. With a repertoire as brief and as jondo as that, Segundo Falcón more than filled out his first record, 'Un Segundo de Cante', at Madrid's Sociedad General de Autores (SGAE) the afternoon of May 20th, 2002. And it was presented with an introduction in which Borja Casani, director of the recording company El Europeo, journalist José Manuel Gamboa, guitarist and producer of the record Paco Jarana, and Segundo Falcón himself analyzed how the record came about. The singer from Seville presented his debut album as "a tribute to the schools of cante created by maestros who represented the roots of flamenco, such as Antonio Mairena, El Extremeño, Enrique Morente and Paco Toronjo"...and with three cantes, in a bit longer than a second, he demonstrated as much.

Segundo Falcón and Paco Jarana (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Borja Casani, director of the label El Europeo explained that 'Un Segundo de Cante' is the third flamenco record of the 52 PM company after Enrique Morente's 'Omega', and 'Chanson Flamenca' "which is an extension of those experiments that we leave for the author to freely elaborate upon" and that it is the first the company has co-produced with the Autor label of the SGAE.

José Manuel Gamboa, author of the accompanying booklet, explained that "Segundo is a young artist born in the Seville town of Mairena del Alcor, a place which the person of Antonio Mairena turned into a neuralgic point for flamenco and a prime source from which he drank". He went on to say that the singer had followed the natural formation process, singing first at peñas, festivals and contests, then tablaos and finally the most important dance companies. And that from Mairena he had taken discipline and seriousness, later enriching his experience (and this involves a word-play Gamboa is quite proud of) with Enrique Morente, Enrique Soto and Enrique el Extremeño. He also hastened to point out that, silencing those who predict the disappearance of flamenco, that Segundo belongs to a "generation that shows that flamenco is alive and well".

Gamboa presented Paco Jarana as a "a broad-minded guitarist, solid and stylized when he composes", who said "this is a record with no strange agenda, just devoted to doing flamenco". He also explained that "the cantes are there and one need only believe in them, that the idea was to take full advantage of Segundo's talents", and that his contribution was to "present his idea of a granaína or a soleá as applied to his way of singing, in order to reinforce the best that Segundo has to offer". And they are satisfied with the results: "Without straying too far from traditional harmonies, we've given a little freshness to the chosen cantes, never ignoring the precise tonalities".

Segundo Falcón (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Then Segundo Falcón said that he is "a person who likes to study and research, but above all, respecting the maestros who safeguard the roots of flamenco". One of them, Antonio Mairena, inspired the tonás livianas to pay tribute to the school of maestros like Tomás el Nitri: "I draw from my principles. I started out singing in my town's peña and there I had the honor and the good fortune of sharing many an evening with Antonio Mairena, I sang in his arms many times". Another of them is Enrique Morente, "a giant of our times whom I honor in the soleá apolá, not for his contribution to the new flamenco, but to the roots of flamenco". The singer explained that in the final bulerías he shows his "appreciation for other singers he has shared the stage with such as El Extremeño and Enrique Soto who, in spite of being singers for dancers, are no lesser figures than those who sing solo". And that in the fandangos he identifies with Paco Toronjo, "with whom I shared the stage in the Seville tablao La Trocha".

He also said "the mixture of the trilla worksong and toná worked up with Indian musicians I've worked with, is dedicated to Andalusian farmworkers", that the granaína is "a version based on orthodox flamenco, but with Paco Jarana's compositions and melodies, it ends up as a rondeña"; that the soleá pays homage to Pepe Marchena; that "the jaleos extremeños are a tribute to Porrina and El Extremeño, singers who have contributed originality and who demonstrate that you draw from a school at the same time that you open flamenco up without forgetting the roots, because it is fundamental that a school develop more than one line of singing". This said, Segundo Falcón peeled off his jacket, Paco Jarana picked up the guitar, and settling into their respective wicker chairs, offered those in attendance a sample of the this record brimming with tributes, wisdom and personality.

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