XLV Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas

Estrella Morente & group

Saturday, August 6th, 2005. 10:45pm. La Unión (Murcia)

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Text: Estela Zatania

The evening of Saturday at La Union’s Festival Internacional de las Minas, the cultural activities included the presentation of the book “Una historia del flamenco” by its author José Manuel Gamboa, and a conference pertaining to the tribute to film director Carlos Saura, “Antonio Gades en el cine de Carlos Saura” given by Faustino Núñez with the presence of the distinguished director himself.

Carlos Saura with José Manuel Gamboa, Faustino Núñez (Photo: Rafael Manjavacas)

This third day of the festival, in the small town of La Unión a definite increase in the temporary population could be noticed. It’s the “Estrella Morente effect”. If the young performer has legions of fans, both Spanish and foreign, the daughter of the man who received the festival’s tribute last year enjoys even greater popularity in La Unión. This is the second time she takes the stage at the market converted into the “cathedral of cante” as the venue is known, and once again it’s a full house for the Granada singer.

Estrella Morente (Foto: Rafael Manjavacas)

Estrella (her name means “star”), radiantly beautiful, dressed in polkadots, Spanish comb and shawl, makes her appearance with guitarist Alfredo Lagos and the first cante is alegrías, Pastora Pavon style, taken at a healthy clip in “A” position giving a feeling of the past. Now and again the singer manages to place her voice in such a way as to sound like her idol, La Niña de los Peines, but an over-abundance of warbling, a technique she tends to overuse, doesn’t convince this critic’s ears. The soleá is daring, a quality you have to admire even when the result is not a complete success. There are flashes of classic styles for those fans who wish to find them, but more than “por soleá”, it’s cante “por Estrella”, doing it her way, sweet and gentle, making use of complex melisma and long, drawn-out notes that are the calling card of the lady’s father. Alfredo Lagos manages the accompaniment with good taste and alternative tuning not all guitarists use so efficiently.

If this is the cathedral of cante, these two are priest and altarboy delivering their personal mass

Others have their bottle of mineral water or whiskey glass handy – Estrella sips delicately from a white porcelain tea-cup, a gesture which complements the fascinating elegante of flamenco’s Audrey Hepburn. She dedicates tarantas to “the people of La Unión” offering a wide variety of styles and achieving some frankly superb moments, and others less superb. Lagos’ accompaniment continues to be impressive: sweet but not cloying, modern but not aggressive. Morente seems transported to another plane of consciousness, singing with her eyes half-open, gazing heavenward with the echo effect on full: if this is the cathedral of cante, these two are priest and altarboy delivering their personal mass. Estrella cools herself with an enormous white fan and moves on to granaína, the form she most convincingly carries off with her sweet voice and ethereal delivery.

Estrella Morente (Foto: Rafael Manjavacas)

Tientos which begin in a classic vein transform into mysterious melodies with sounds that recall parts of the caña. Four palmeros come on stage who later provide chorus and dance, two additional guitarists (the musicians’ name do not appear on the program) and a percussionist. A kind of bulería por soleá leads to a bulerías song, and with tangos, traditional and modern sounds continue to be blended. Morente announces “bamberas” to finish and sure enough, she interprets this nearly-forgotten form popularized by Pastora Pavón. The tempo picks up for further tribute to Pastora in the form of Anda Jaleo and the fiesta finale is in full gear. Estrella presents the youngest guitarist, a boy actually: “I present to you my little brother, Enrique Morente junior” and amidst dancing, shawl-twirling and the chorus of Anda Jaleo, the performance wraps up at half-past twelve.

Jerónimo (Foto: Estela Zatania)

The large audience hurriedly abandons the theater to get a place for late-night flamenco in the patio of the Maquinista de Levante with Madrid guitarist Jerónimo backed up by his brother Leo de Aurora on second guitar.