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Cante: José Mercé. Guitarra: Manuel Moreno “Moraíto Chico”. Second guitar: Juan Diego Mateos, Diego del Morao. Bass: José Manuel Posada “Popo”. Keyboard: José María Cortina. Percussion: Israel Mera Luis de Periquín. Voice: Desiré Soto, Marcelino Fernández.

Text: Estela Zatania

His flamenco voice, his extraordinary knowledge, his compás and his Moraíto.

On Thursday March 3rd no one at the Festival de Jerez had to check what was on that evening. José Mercé and Moraíto would take care of filling up the Villamarta theater with admirers yearning to hear material from the famous pair’s latest record “Confí de Fuá” performed live.

And the boys from Santiago didn’t let their audience down – that sort of dedication, professionalism and of course artistic quality is the recipe that has made the dynamic duo into the superstars of flamenco when so many singers are playing dominoes down at the corner bar crying in their wine over the bad times traditional flamenco is going through these days. That’s how it goes, and if Mercé and Moraíto found a way to partially save the situation incorporating pop songs into their repertoire, they deserve all the admiration of flamenco fans. Thanks to these two, we can still hear high-quality interpretations of such basic cantes as tonás, malagueñas, siguiriyas and soleá, the cantes Mercé opened with. Make no mistake, a varied repertoire is not the same thing as the manipulation of forms that so many singers have resorted to in the name of “evolution”. If José Mercé wants to do an Elvis impersonation, so be it if that makes it possible for us to continue enjoying his flamenco voice, his extraordinary knowledge, his compás and his Moraíto.

After the flamenco portion of the show there were instrumental solos by Juan Diego and Diego del Morao. The singer began his pop music offering with “Confí de Fuá” from his most recent recording of the same name, which might indicate the relatively modest reaction the song had, and the uproar the verse caused. Chorus, bass and other musicians appeared to interpret some “temitas” or little themes, the term that sounded alarm bells for Juan Maya ‘Marote’ the late guitar genius from Granada (“there didn’t used to be ‘temitas’, we just played and sang”), but which establishes the important frontier between cante and song.

Moraíto interpreted his original tangos with its haunting chorus, and with his wall-to-wall smile, Mercé did several songs, not only from “Confí de Fuá”, but also earlier recordings such as “Aire” and “Lío”. It’s good music, no one has any doubts about that, and one of the best pieces is the title song from “Aire” recorded in 2000, cohesive and well-constructed, and which still sounds good after five years.

The important frontier between cante and song

For his curtain call, and at the audience’s insistence, José sang “Al Abla”, Eduardo Aute’s beautiful creation which in this cantaor’s voice acquires an irresistible flamenco warmth and texture. “Unas bulerías por Santiago”, and we come full circle, back to where the recital began and to the most traditional kind of flamenco to the delight of nearly everyone in the audience. A woman’s voice shouts “José, a little dance!”, because we all know both he and the guitarist will dance, both of them delightfully, and we leave the Villamarta feeling a lingering flamenco glow to head for the Pepe Alconchel peña to see Yessica Brea’s group.