It has taken six decades for Joaquín el Canastero to mature his singing on the banks of the rivers somewhere in the mountains that lie between Cádiz and Málaga. Camarón de la Isla and the birds were perhaps the only beings that knew what was being created by the shepher from Málaga. In ‘Se busca’ El Canastero embarks upon a journey that passes through the deepest emotions of cante jondo to the lightness of the rhythms of the Caribbean. A journey that has been enriched by the narrative skills of the singer, a rare bird indeed, amongst such a vast flock of performers. And the shepherd’s efforts at writing have certainly not been in vain. Joaquín Carmona’s unique manner of expressing himself and the philosophical messages contained within his lyrics form the foundation of his work... and provide more than enough reason to listen to his debut album.

The record remains faithful to the basic tenets of flamenco. Evidence of El Canastero’s deep understanding of the cante grande are the soleá, fandangos and the taranto which are included in the ten tracks on the album. The creative skills of the singer reach their peak with a soleá which he calls "del Canastero". ‘Son lugares de silencio’ is a deeply personal work in which the singer is only accompanied by the guitar strings of Juani de la Isla and the violin of David Moreiras. An austere and withdrawn mood also characterise the fandangos ‘De loco siempre me han tratado’, where only the toque accompanies the rough velvety voice of the singer. The search for inner-most feelings concludes with the taranto ‘Cuando yo era minero’. Almost alone with the merest accompaniment from the guitar, it displays the vocal skills of a voice as rough as it is old.

The other side of Joaquín Carmona’s first record is his flirtation with lighter rhythms although the majority of the coplas on the album remain filled with deep emotion. Evidence of this is the forceful pro Camarón plea entitled ‘Nuestro sueño y despertar’ that opens the album. Choruses, cante dicho and little else embellish these tangos in which phrases such as: "Que no se moleste nadie si digo del Camarón que él fue la llave del cante" (No one should be upset if I say that Camarón was the key to the cante). Other Camaronesque style tangos are ‘Camina mi alma’, where -against a backdrop of palmas, percussion, violin and guitar- he sings of solitude, liberty, peace and the passing of time. The tone lightens with ‘Loco, loquito, loco’, a romantic rumba with a catchy rhythm, and with the bulería ‘Ya hasta el almendro lloraba’ which includes a forceful violin accompaniment and brings the record to an end. Infidelity is dealt with in ‘Rumbita cubana’, a bright rumba which oozes Caribbean sounds and in the sweet piano bolero with Diego Magallanes ‘Tú no te vayas de mí’.

Not in any particular category, but taking its own special place within the flamenco repertoire, is ‘La rosa y el ruiseñor’. This little jewel is a poem with cante interwoven with soleá and bulerías: "¡Qué alegría, terminar por soleá y empezar por bulerías! ¡Tin, tin! ¿Quién soy yo? Que todos los pajarillos que hay en el río, soy el que canto mejor y alegro más el sentío" (What joy, to end with soleá and start bulerías! Tin, tin! Who am I? Of all the little birds that live by the river, I am the one that sings best and most delights the senses).