Silvia Calado, August 2009

Tomasito is necessary. He is to Spain’s music scene, to that crossborder jumble which is world music and he is, above all, to flamenco. Tomasito is flamenco, he represents everything this word means, including the roots, including the evolution, including all the impurities, including the grace, including the singing and dancing (he has people to play guitar for him), including the tremendous gift of compás... Tomasito is Tomasito. And few artists can say they are something that nobody else is.

That is why it is hard to understand that none of the record companies he has worked with so far has his albums on the catalogue, and they are not precisely independent labels. The one is which now lays stakes on his new record, Nuevos Medios, the label of new flamenco. And released with its backing is the disc ‘Y de lo mío, ¿qué?’, produced by his now inseparable Tino di Geraldo. Above all, the album is a full-fledged encounter between flamenco and rock. A mixture which is fruitful here because both Tomasito and his producer are completely at home in both. So wooden guitars and electric guitars are first cousins on this record, just like the basses and drums.

Upon this base, Tomasito contributes brilliant performances of a total of eleven songs, whether he has to speak to the beat, or if he must withdraw por fandangos de Huelva or throw a tantrum with the version of ‘Back in black’ by AC/DC. And he does it all with naturalness and energy which come transferred from his live shows, which is the habitat where you have to see this charismatic, original, untransferable artist. But as it has been said, this recording smacks of the stage. And that is why the disc is a breath of fresh air.

Flamencophile listeners, feast your ears on the aforementioned fandangos, with lyrics by Germán Coppini, the feeling the ‘cantaor’ puts into ‘Lola y Candela’, the fresh everyday nature of the verses (very much in line with the spirit of ‘Cositas de la realidad’), the rhythmics acquired in his throat by those words even when he reproduces a conversation in the street in ‘Y de lo mío, ¿qué?’, the flamenco jaleos and the poisonous air of ‘Rumba del revés’, and above all, the old-time alegrías which are concealed in the final track, ‘El olvido’. Rock listeners, what can I tell you… ask Angus Young at Myspace.

Further information

All the CDs reviews by Flamenco-world.com

Interview with Tomasito about ‘Y de lo mío, ¿qué?’ (June 2009)

Tomasito reactivates flamenco rock on the new album ‘Y de lo mío, ¿qué?’