Text: Rubén Gutierrez
Photos: Málaga en Flamenco

“UNA ESTRELLA”
SERIES: SÓLO APTO PARA MENORES

Thursday, August 30th, 2007. 8:00pm. Playa del Palo, Málaga

Cante: Estrella Morente. Guitar: Montoyita and Montoya. Chorus and Compás: Soleá Morente, Victoria Carbonell, Remedios Heredia, Angel Gabarre, Antonio Carbonell, Enrique Morente Jr. Percussion: Pedro Gabarre.

LIKE A TIDAL WAVE

Granada singer Estrella Morente kicked off the series that brought together artists born after January 1st, 1980. In other words, under 27 years old. This new generation of flamencos is seeking its personality in this artform; they’ve got technique and knowledge, but it’s sometimes hard to tell them apart, not because of what they copy, but because of what they create.

With Estrella it’s hard to pin a label on her. She tries to see herself as a flamenco singer, but all that comes out are copies of others and other styles. She definitely feels right at home on stage, but there’s more theatrics than feeling, and she doesn’t choose her musicians well, which says little in her favor. A woman with such a high price-tag can’t affored to have guitarists who are constantly making mistakes; if only Alfredo Lagos were here. The Jerez guitarist combines tradition with a modern feeling, and his playing is the ideal accompaniment for the girl from Granada, as we saw in the recording “Mujeres”.

Precisely from that record we were able to hear several songs, such as “Nostalgia” and “Oye”, and that might have been the best thing in the show, except for the fiesta finale, which makes you wonder. Artists of the stature of Rocío Jurado or Isabel Pantoja could have had careers as flamenco singers, but they choose Spanish lyrical song instead, and made the big time. Estrella seems more at home interpreting this type of pseudo flamenco.

A fiesta in the Morente style, between Cuban music and the Negra Tomasa

Family members backed her up with palmas and chorus. It was the first time we’d seen Enrique’s other daugher, Soledad, on stage. As beautiful, or more so, than her sister. Kiki Morente was also present. The group did a poor job of backing up Estrella, their compás was shaky, as were the choruses, and it was a recital of traditional flamenco. Bulerías, alegrías and tangos gitanos, would lead to taranto and malagueña.

After intermission, Estrella began to shine with the tangos that bear her name, and part of the audience sang along. Themes from her last record closed out the performance, and the audience, which filled the area of the beach at Palo that we’re enjoying so much, gratefully received the song “Volver”. Despite a strange blues introduction, harmonies from the mouth of the river gently rocked to the beat of the waves. The end of the show was the best thing of the night. First, the song of Niño de las Moras, an old Málaga piece, which she did alone, and then a fiesta in the Morente style, between Cuban music and the Negra Tomasa. There was no time for more, la Repompa was waiting.

Thursday, August 30th, 2007. 11:00pm. Castillo de Gibralfaro, Málaga

Cante and dance: Rafaela Reyes. Cante: Amparo Heredia, Raquel Gómez and Raúl Molina. Dance: Raquel Heredia and José Maya. Guitar: Curro de María and Rafael Santiago. Percussion. El Moreno. Compás: Juan Santiago “El Laiker”.

AQUELLOS MARAVILLOSOS AÑOS

In 1956 a young Málaga woman called Enriqueta Reyes Porras debuted under the auspices of Pastora Imperio. That same day, on the Madrid stage, Paquera de Jerez and Fosforito also made their first appearances in the capital. With colleages like that in a flamenco cuadro, it was only logical La Repompa would become a symbol of flamenco for the nineteen-fifties. Many people have sung her songs, in particular, the tangos she made famous, although the truth is those tangos were being sung by La Pirula in Granada when Enriqueta set out for the city of the Alhambra.

In the beautiful setting of the Giibralfaro Fortress, the family of this chubby dark-skinned child, who would spend the day dancing in the Perchel neighborhood, paid a heartfelt tribute on the 70th anniversary of her birth. Enriqueta died at just over 20, leaving a vacuum that has not been filled. All this information is what we see in the documentary that opens the show. Paco Fernández and Paco Roji, two Málaga aficionados and authors of the film, thanked Málaga en Flamenco for making the event possible. Although the documentary isn’t going to get them an Oscar, it’s an interesting ethnographic piece of work as it shows an era few people have known. That glorious age of the tablaos when major figures got together night after night.

A symbol of flamenco for the nineteen-fifties

This was followed by a recital of cante, guitar and dance where the verses of La Repompa set the mood. The show went from more to less, all that compás became tiring. Noteworthy was the presence of La Repompilla, Rafaela Reyes, worthy heiress to her sister’s art. Also interesting was José Maya’s dance of soleá, and the fiesta finale whose highlight was Miguel Poveda’s “Alfileres de Colores”, and then a rumba danced by Rosi, Repompa’s daughter.

More information:

Special MÁLAGA EN FLAMENCO