'The cante of Utrera, yesterday and today' Speaker, singer and guitarist: Tomas de Perrate

You can only speak of what you understand and are familiar with.
Needless to say, we have no recordings from the times of Serneta
which would reveal how she sang, in order to illustrate these points,
but we do have information about those children who grew up during
the first decades of the twentieth century and who, in my humble
opinion, certainly knew how to do justice to that body of cante
which was handed down from their elders, orally and spiritually,
with loving care.

«Bit by bit they constructed
the temple
of beauty the art demanded of them».

These youngsters grew into young adults of working age in wartime
and postwar Spain, and they had to adapt as best they could, doing
what they knew best, in other words, singing for meager salaries
in fiestas for rich landowners, living on the edge with barely enough
to eat, but taking every opportunity to sing in public which gave
them leverage to construct the temple of beauty the art demanded
of them. In this way Fernanda, Bernarda, Perrate, Perrata, Manuel
de Angustias, Enrique Montoya, Curro de Utrera, Gaspar, Bambino,
Pepa de Benito and many others of less renown, but no lesser importance,
make up what we now understand to be the modern era of cante de
Utrera.

Of
these people, I would like to mention individuals who in my opinion
acquire a greater relevance and who rounded out what I consider
to be the 'denominación de origen' of Utrera cante. I am
referring to the trio made up of Fernanda, Perrate and Diego del
Gastor. Although the latter was not from Utrera, but from Morón,
he felt this cante as his own, as if created by him. And there was
definitely an affinity in his unique and stylized way of playing
with these singers as he was the regular guitarist in a long list
of performances.

Poster from Perrate tribute

«Fernanda, Bernarda, Perrate,
Perrata,
Manuel de Angustias, Enrique Montoya,
Curro de Utrera, Gaspar, Bambino, Pepa de Benito…»

As far as Fernanda and Perrate, what can I tell you that you don't
already know? Well, I always speak of the era they lived through,
because I realize that an individual is surrounded and bound by
a certain social and cultural ambience, and what is astonishing,
in view of the hostile environment of those times, is the capacity
of these geniuses to transport us, with their exquisite taste and
creative capacity, to a higher dimension.

Once when I was listening to Perrate I was inspired to write the
following:

Upon
overall detailed and intellectual analysis, and always taking those
apostles of flamenco as reference, I have come to understand that
Fernanda has been the receiver and repository of an entire cultural
heritage, via music and bloodline, and that she has known how to
love, preserve, defend and enrich this heritage like a guardian
angel keeping Eden free of sin.

«A creative capacity
that
transports us to
another dimension.»

Tomás sings for Pepa de Benito at the Bienal

About Perrate himself, and with firsthand knowledge, I could spend
several days talking. Aside from being his son and honoring the
memory of his genius, perhaps we ought to spend a bit more time
and do him a little more justice, because although he's considered
a classic in all flamenco literature, and a legendary reference
for the most knowledgeable flamenco-lovers, it is also true that
he is a little-known personality due to the paucity of his recorded
material and his forced retirement, just when flamenco was beginning
to open up and become public domain.

Ever since childhood he felt compelled to learn all the musical
forms of flamenco. He drank of the nectar of the old gypsies of
Utrera and Juaniquí (from Las Cabezas de San Juan), of Joaquín
el de la Paula (from Alcalá) and Juan Talega with whom he
spent a great deal of time and of whom he was a great admirer. All
flamenco singers from towns near Utrera who responded to the same
regional calling and doctrine deep within what later came to be
called «La Ruta de Tres por Cuatro» made up of cantes
that were developed around the edges of the lower Guadalquivir river
basin.

With Juan del Gastor in the Peña El Gallo

Perrate learned the basic melodies to perfection, but he wasn't
content to stop at that, he had to play, and in playing the way
maestros do, he improved the classic melodic paths and developed
personal styles in all the cantes he interpreted.

«Perrate learned
the basic
melodies to perfection,
but he wasn't content to
stop at that, he had to play.»

In any case, and aside from intellectual musing and specific study
within a musical framework, I believe the most important contributions
Fernanda and Perrate made to the world of flamenco have more to
do with the spiritual side of cante. When we talk about «duende»,
mystery, gooseflesh, when we come face to face with flamenco, then
I realize we are talking about that illusion that hides behind lyrical
flamenco music, the magic that envelops us and that always harks
back to reason based on faith which in my town is expressed in the
most tangible way. You might think that in speaking of Utrera we
wish to exclude anything that is not ours, but far from it, I want
to sing for anyone who understands the authentic pleasure and ecstasy
of its essence and beauty, and I've reached the conclusion that
anyone who can simply capture this feeling, even without knowing
what it is, is a native of Utrera.

It is with the greatest humility, with the enthusiasm of someone
who is just beginning, and with all my heart I wish to illustrate
and demonstrate through my singing the foundations upon which my
people's cante is built, and what makes them different.

In order to demonstrate the magic that emanated from the tandem
of Diego el del Gastor – Perrate, I can think of no better example
than the tangos of Málaga, or Piyayo, very melodious and
light by nature, almost a folksong, easily interpreted, and which
they knew how to adapt to their personalities to create a profound
cante which is at the same time pleasant to listen to and has a
characteristic flavor.

The
cante of fandangos as understood in Utrera, oddly enough is expressed
through the rhythm of soleá, perhaps because in these parts
it's somehow unacceptable that a cante or musical form be understood
in the absence of a steady rhythm.

Regarding the cante of bulerías, it would seem that any
group turns it into a fiesta with a certain tendency to accelerate
the rhythm, but in Utrera however the rhythm takes on a certain
solemnity, resisting the roller-coaster effect and enjoying a laidback,
easy acceleration.

With Matilde Coral at the Feria del Flamenco

When it comes to soleá, the opposite is true. Although projecting
solemnity because of the profound spirituality and emotional charge,
the cante is nevertheless interpreted with a somewhat livelier tempo
than in other flamenco latitudes. In order to carry on and wind
up I would now like to request the collaboration of my great friend
and 'brother' Antonio Moya..

Cover photos and collage: Antonio Torres
Other photos: Estela Zatania

More information:
Gallery of images by
Antonio Torres