Interview with Josemi Carmona. Disco 'Sumando' con Carles Benavent.

Interview
with

JOSEMI
CARMONA.

Alter the parenthesis with Ketama, Josemi Carmona,
the youngest member of the group, is striking
out on his own with a record called “Sumando”
along with the man who created the flamenco bass,
Carles Benavent. Together they have made a record
of flamenco and jazz, a musicians’ record,
made without pressure or pretense, “music
made for flamenco people who want to have a good
time”. Involved in a number of projects,
we take time out to get to learn about “Sumando”.
Carles is on tour with Chick Corea and is unable
to be present. Josemi, on tour with Niña
Pastori as guest artist, is into the production
of several records that have come to his studio
and are in preparation, in addition to other projects.

Text and photos: Rafael Manjavacas

How would you label
“Sumando”?
I can’t really say, it’s not your
standard guitar recording. Maybe flamenco-jazz
is the most accurate.

Is the pretext for
the title “Sumando” the “sum”
of Josemi Carmona and Carles Benavent, or the
“sum” of flamenco plus jazz?
We were thinking of calling it “Dedos”
(fingers) because it’s music you make with
your hands. For me, it’s the sum of two
musicians who share a common perspective, each
one with his own heart and soul and manner of
expression, the sum of two elements and two kinds
of music.

How did the idea for
the project come about?
It was kicking around for a long time, we’d
see each other during recording sessions with
Remedios Amaya, Potito… Very often with Carles
Benavent, but it was in Mojácar in a bar
called Titos where they often go to play. I went
to see them and we made a promise that we were
going to make a record – two months later
we spoke on the phone and got to work. Benavent
is one of my favorite musicians, the inventor
of the flamenco bass.

“It’s
a record we made the way we wanted, without pretense,
just having a good time and learning as much as
possible”

Is it a record for
musicians?
You might say that…for musicians and for artists.
People who have a certain life-style and for whom
art is a fundamental necessity, these people are
going to understand it, normally musicians will
be more interested in it than the general public.

So it’s not really
a commercial record…
It’s a record we made the way we wanted,
without pretense, just having a good time and
learning as much as possible, I learned a lot
from Carles, a very wise man, and we had a great
time making music.

Making a non-commercial
record of flamenco-jazz is almost like starting
all over again, not from square one, but almost.
It’s a sort of reunion. With Ketama we were
under a lot of popular pressure, I don’t
have any complaints, but making a record of this
nature brought me down to earth and it inspires
me to do different things. The music of Nuevos
Medios, the independent companies, I don’t
think it’s any less worthwhile than what
the multinationales make.

You’re still
with Universal but you returned to Nuevos Medios.
Yes, we took a break to make this record, but
now I’m returning to Universal for the next
recording.

Tell
me something about the record.
“Galleta” (cookie) is a piece dedicated
to my little boy because he always seems to smell
like cookies and milk. Then there’s an anecdote
about the bulería “Dama” which
Cigala sings. He ran into my technician who played
the music for him. Diego sang and I knew nothing
about it, he told the technician to listen to
it and if he liked it fine, and if not, to discard
it. I took advantage of the opportunity, Cigala
is fantastic and it’s a wonderful gift from
him, someone contributing like that on the spur
of the moment.

It’s an instrumental
record with some vocals.
A little bit of Cigala and another bit with Paquete
who sings “El Galleta”, I really like
the way he sings and plays and dances and walks,
a well-rounded artist with a special sixth sense.
Camborio wrote the lyrics for El Galleta which
Paquete sings. Chick Corea is also there with
Carlos por soleá.

«Maybe it will
be better understood in a few years”

Ketama was the big
group that first championed “nuevo flamenco”.
Has that label become a cliché?
I think “nuevo flamenco” is the title
of a work, I’m more interested in works
than titles and in a certain sense I think there’s
a dividing line between generations, the current
generation is more open to other kinds of music
without leaving flamenco behind. In fact, a lot
of the so-called “nuevo flamenco”
artists used to do traditional flamenco.

In hindsight, Ketama
opened many doors. Does your new record open any
doors?
Only time will tell, it wasn’t our goal,
we just did what came naturally, that’s
the difference between this record and others,
we weren’t in a hurry, no deadline, we did
it because we wanted to, maybe it will be better
understood in a few years.

You’re an instrumentalist…the
sabbatical you took from Ketama, was that in order
to be able to do things like this?
Right now I’m working on a project for Universal,
a record with many collaboratiobns. I collaborated
with a lot of people and now I want to bring singers
and cantaores together…Jorge Drexler, Cigala,
Estrella Morente… We don’t have all the
names yet, but it’s a project where you
see my two musical paths, the pop personality
and the flamenco, I do the music and they sing.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot
of good people, and I’ve also got my father’s
record in the works (Pepe Habichuela), something
else I really enjoy. I’m also doing gigs
with him, we’ve got Galapagar and Algeria,
and we’re preparing several dates with the
Madrid network of theaters. The truth is, after
leaving Ketama I didn’t think I’d
get wrapped up with something else so quickly.
After 20 years you feel a little lost, but I’m
happy with how things are going.

What are you working
on now in your studio?
I’m involved in producing a record by Tatiana
with Parrita, and I’m also working on a
record for Pitingo which is coming out very soon,
and I’m also working on my next record and
on my father’s.

Are you also working
with Niña Pastori?
I’m touring with Pastori as guest artist,
I’ve always had a good relationship with
them, I produced one of their records, gave them
some material and now we’re touring.

Your
father, Pepe Habichuela, is one of the most open
guitarists of the Habichuela dynasty. Does that
have anything to do with you?, the Bollywood Strings
project, Flamencos en la Frontera?
No, not at all, I consider myself my father’s
disciple, he’s the force behind everything.
Speaking of young flamencos, if I were to suggest
an example it would be my father, he lives like
a young flamenco, he knows traditional flamenco,
but he likes to mess around too, like Enrique
Morente, another good example, they’re forever
young, people who are eager to learn…wise men…

Pepe also collaborated
with Ojos de Brujo…
Yes, of course, but it was their idea, they called
him because they wanted him to participate, they
admire him very much and they wanted him with
them.

In the Habichuela dynasty,
how would you describe your spot?
I’d say I’m the new generation, and
the other generation is my father, my uncle Juan,
my uncle Luis and my uncle Carlos. Carmonas are
Habichuelas, and I’m very proud to carry
the family name responsibly.

“I’m very
proud to carry the family name responsibly”

What musicians do you
especially admire?
I like Diego del Morao, Paquete, Manuel Parrilla,
that’s the guitarists. For singing, my cousin
Pepe Luis Carmona, El Cigala, Potito, Montse,
Estrella…

Do you think singers
have a harder time to record than guitarists?
The record industry is going through a crisis,
and until they change the format, anyone who hadn’t
already made their name or doesn’t have
a benefactor is going to have a very hard time,
no one wants to take any risks. Now they’re
placing their bets on Pitingo and really backing
him hard.

You’ve also accompanied
cante…
Yes, I accompanied Cigala at Patas years ago,
I was also with Flamenco Puro in the U.S., with
Farruco, I played for Enrique Morente live, for
Guadiana, but later on, when Ketama became important,
there were only record collaborations, but I like
it and enjoy doing it.

When can we expect
to see you and Carles in a live concert with this
record?
The presentation of “Sumando” is set
for May 4th at the Palau in Barcelona, and May
17th at Estudio 54, a concert that’s going
to be televised by Spanish TV. We’re also
trying to get it to some jazz festivals, in Valencia
at the Heineken venue. We aren’t trying
to be featured at flamenco festivals, but there’s
always a spot for specialty music and that’s
where we can fit right in.