Cante: Arcángel. Guitarras: Miguel Ángel Cortés y Dani Méndez. Percussion : Chico Fargas. Guest artists: Pastora Galván (Baile) y David Peña Dorantes (Piano).

Text: Rubén Gutierrez
Photos: Málaga en Flamenco (Álvaro Cabrera)

RAILING AGAINST THE PURISTS

It was 1996 when José Luis Ortiz Nuevo took on the then current flamenco establishment. His book is an authentic flamenco lamentation, he complains about every little thing, but if ever there were an artist that united critics and criteria, investigators, flamenco fans and performers, without a doubt it was Manuel Ortega Jiménez. Huelva singer Arcángel has recuperated the figure of the maestro Caracol, who had wide appeal for general audiences, gypsy or otherwise, and was in his day a non-conformist who developed his own flamenco symbolized by zambras.

Just like his idol, Arcángel is gradually becoming a singer for all seasons and tastes. There have been years when he was the singer with more major gigs than any other, and he’s managed to build a fruitful career in a very short time. By the same token, this has allowed him to develop a wide repertoire, and for this reason he has decided to take on one of the mainstays of flamenco singing. The name of the show says it all, Zambra 5. 1, a play on words that reflects the labels Caracol gave his shows, acccording to the year of each tour, as well as the sound technology of Dolby Surround 5. 1.

Without a doubt, that was the best thing in the show, it’s been years since I attended a recital without sound problems. Well, not exactly, in France these things don’t happen and there are authentic professionals, sound engineers, who manage the mixer and control what we hear. This wraparound sound compensates high and low tones, and the absence of monitors on stage means none of the unpleasant frequencies, so common on Spanish stages, reached our ears.

Getting back to the show, Arcángel interpreted a repertoire that was pure Caracol. He began with cantes recorded in the 1922 Granada contest when the singer was a boy, siguiriya and soleá. In the latter, he is accompanied by the Cristo de la Buena Muerte projected onto the backdrop, with the typical sound of Holy Week. It may sound like a great novelty, but in 1927 Pastora Pavón did the same thing not far from the town of Mijas.

The second part of the show includes songs of the postwar period, around the 1940s, when Caracol was an idol in great demand in teaters and bullrings. Another audiovisual sets the scene. This time referring to Antonio Mairena who is represented as a madman in a psychiatric ward screaming about the purity of flamenco, which the production represents with four faces: Don Antonio Chacón, Pepe Marchena, Enrique Morente and Camarón de la Isla. Four great flamenco divas who were also revolutionaries. Although I don’t adhere to Mairena’s philosophy, I do have profound respect for this man and everything he did for flamenco, and therefore found this portion of the show objectionable. Arcángel has not yet proven himself a great singer worthy of Mairena’s league. He sings fandangos with pretty arabesques, and in alegrías he benefits from the dancing of Pastora Galván who does a fine job with the bata de cola. In bulerías, there are bullfighting references with verses about Frascuelo and Lagartijo, as well as the Ortega clan from Cádiz, including Caracol’s own grandfather. Images of bullfighter Javier Conde, Estrella Morente’s husband, are the visual accompaniment.

The zambras were still missing, the ones from the nineteen-fifties, and Dorantes accompanies on the piano. The repertoire was classic: “Compañera y Soberana” which included Pastora in an elegant white dress, “Carcelero” and “Azucena”, although the high point of the show was the malagueñas. At this point it seemed a cameo appearance was needed to represent the person of Lola Flores or Luisa Ortega who spent so much time working with him.

The close out the show, Arcángel gets out his toys for an original composition. A sampler where he records different voices and sounds, gives the compás of siguiriyas. This is nothing new however, Enrique Morente has been doing this for a long time. Then came the above-mentioned protest against Mairena, and Arcángel interpreted the following verse to the rhythm of Alosno fandangos:

Purism is comforting
A ray of memory
A concession from heaven
No point arguing if old or modern
Or what is lying just ahead.

As the title of the work suggests, if one person looks to the future, and another to the past, it’s all the easier to about-face and find one another. No past time was better than now, and no future time will ever be as good. The important thing is to live the moment and enjoy great works such as that of Arcángel.

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