Tomás de Perrate “Perraterías”
Sunday, October 1st, 2006. 9:00pm. Teatro Central

Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. Reviews, programa, photos...

Text: Estela Zatania

Voz: Tomás de Perrate. Dance: Pepe Torres. Flamenco guitar: Antonio Moya. Electric guitar: Ricardo Moreno. Bajo: Javier Vargas. Drums: Ricardo Pachón Jr. Chorus and palmas Vicente Peña, Gaspar Fernández Soto. Director: Ricardo Pachón.

The town of Utrera occupies a special place in the history of flamenco. Along with only a few other towns, it was one of the hot-spots of flamenco activity during the dynamic formative era of cante. Just as is happening in other places, the inevitable passing of classic singers, most recently and notably Fernanda de Utrera, is depleting the supply and we now look to the next generation for new interpreters. Tomás de Perrate, youngest son of legendary singer Perrate de Utrera, nephew of Perrata, grandson of Manuel Torre, has surfaced as heir apparent to the Utrera school of singing.

So Tomás’ new recording, “Perraterías”, presented last night at the Teatro Central within the Bienal de Sevilla, is weighty business. This serious and intense man, who has never sought fame or even a career in singing, now carries the hopes of an entire town that sees in him the continuity of their long tradition. With this backdrop, and the sincere desire to be worthy of so much responsibility, Tomás de Perrate laid out his concept of cante as he’s known it since childhood, and as he lives in from day to day in the twenty-first century.

The show opens with the dry masculine dancing of Pepe Torres, from Son de la Frontera, doing everything in his power to dance tonás to the compás of siguiriya with indiscreet (read, annoying) drums that lead rather than follow – when a dancer is relieved of command, it’s only possible to represent an evocation of the forms. Tomás, dressed with an attractive bohemian look is in excellent voice, more confident and experienced than just a couple of years ago.

The hopes of an entire town that sees in him the continuity of their long tradition

The singers of Utrera have a special way with popular song, or “cuplé” set to bulerías, and an irresistibly laid-back rhythm that lends a dimension which is diametrically opposed to the adrenalin-soaked pace of Jerez, closer in fact to the compás of Lebrija, a town with close ties to Utrera. The “Cuplé por bulerías de Utrera”, with the knowledgeable guitar-playing of Antonio Moya with his authentic sound inspired in Pedro Bacán and Diego del Gastor, is pure delight. Snippets of popular song are transformed and passed through the Utrera sieve to complement traditional styles in a perfectly natural way.

“In Utrera we worship at the altar of soleares” declares Tomás, who then goes on to give his own particular offering of Lebrija and Utrera styles. Now is when his voice, rich in dark sounds, takes on the sound and power of his father’s. It’s an irresistible sound, the feeling of the interior, echoes of Juan Talega and, inevitably, Fernanda’s influence is always between the lines. Nowadays when cante is becoming standardized and homogenized, it’s a welcome change to hearing such clearly defined style.

There’s a brusque, almost awkward change when they begin the tangos del Piyayo. Years ago this cante from Málaga made its way inland to Utrera thanks to Perrate’s fondness for it. He transformed it, made it more flamenco, and Tomás has often remembered it as something his father sang just for a lark. But the reggae arrangement applied here sacrifices the nostalgic bitter-sweet character of the original, and what’s worse, the annoying drums refuse to concede “rubato”, the rushing and then holding back so characteristic of this form.

“In Utrera we worship at the altar of soleares”

More bulerías, this time with a contemporary sound, and Tomás as Andalusian rock musician almost pulls it off despite the innate seriousness of his character. Moya gets going with siguiriyas and the singer summons up the exquisitely dark sounds his family is so good at. Pepe Torres returns with his sober elegant dancing, struggling with the metallic sound of the stage, and once again the unfortunate percussion precludes all phrasing, and cante turns into“canción”, flamenco into pop. The delicate equilibrium between guitar, cante and baile is so easily disrupted. Blinking psychodelic lights, in this day and age – what could they possibly have been thinking of? – gives a certain circus feeling.

Following this, Tomás stands alone on stage. He serves himself a drink, and in his sincerely humble manner, toasts to the memory of Fernanda de Utrera, Manuel de Angustias, Turronero, Perrata, Perrate...and on comes the rest of the numerous family to fire up the bulerías machine. A family fiesta ensues with dancing and singing by many of Tomás’ brothers and sisters, María Peña, her brother Jesús... The spontaneous party of a town where the fiesta never stops, and furthermore, is taken very seiously.

Tomás de Perrate 'Perraterías'

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Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco. Program, reviews, photos