Martín Guijarro, February 2009

‘Jerez sin Fronteras’ is a first album, but it is endowed with unusual maturity. Young Jerez-born cantaor Jesús Méndez makes his début with a disc on which he displays his jondo credentials, as if wishing to say “this is what I know”. Now. And what he knows is totally influenced by his city, and more specifically, by his bloodline; that of Los Méndez. And even more specifically, by his aunt La Paquera de Jerez.

In fact, he opens the record with one of the zambras which the ‘Queen of the Bulería’ made popular, ‘Soleá de mis pesares’. And he sings it confidently and clearly, with good taste in the vocal sketches and in the play on intensities. He does honor to his heritage here, but he takes it to his time out of consideration for Diego del Morao’s reinterpretation on guitar.

He also preserves that Paquera-style trademark in the lelele leading into the soleá por bulerías which is so brilliantly played for him by Moraíto. It thus seems easy to maintain the moderation and the attitude necessary in cante... although nobody said that it was. Then that legacy, which he upholds with such dignity, is displayed in all of its splendor in the bulerías ‘Si te llamas Dolores’. And the thing is that it is endowed with that vigor, that burst of faculties and the rhythmics so typical of Francisca Méndez, to the sound of the fundamental aforementioned guitar (by the way, olé to the initial falseta).

The guitarists of his generation take his cante to a fresher tessitura, although he doesn’t end up getting away from the old register. That’s what happens in the cantiñas ‘Tres días después’, which is provided for him by Algeciras-born guitarist José Manuel León; and in the soleá ‘Qué corta es la vida’ by Jerez-born guitarist Santiago Lara. That knowing how to share with his peers is also appreciated in the toná. This really old-time cante has the innovation of having been written by fellow cantaor (and composer) David Lagos, which is not at all usual. And that makes the message of this work, which is only adorned with toque, clapping and percussion, even clearer: ‘May the cantes not be lost’. The performance, by the way, makes your hair stand up on end.

Almost as a bonus track, the disc closes with a bulería consisting of bits and pieces. ‘Sueño el barrio’ has two touches of guitar by Gerardo Núñez, the cantaor’s mentor and producer of the album, but not accompanying his voice, but rather as a brief prologue and epilogue for the track. The rest are cantes with the simple accompaniment of clapping by some kids from Jerez, Grupo Soniquete, and the natural voice of Jesús Méndez himself, as if opening up the doors to his house.

Further information

Reviews index

Interview with Jesús Méndez, flamenco cantaor (January 2009)