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And the people who
lived through all that assuaged the want with their religious faith and
the occasional flamenco moment in the streets that led to the old tobacco
factory down from the jail. Finally the moment has come for the poet who
one day decided to take the name of his neighborhood and convey that feeling
which sooner or later had to be recalled.
Because José Luis Figueroa Franco’s time has come. That
is the full name behind the nickname “El Barrio”, which identifies
the individual artist, not the group. Perhaps José Luis waited
until now to speak about his childhood because for the first time in his
artistic career, a work has been wholly conceived by himself alone, yielding
choice results with a flamenco essence detectable in every single verse.
The record opens with “Secretos de miel” wherein Selu (the
artist’s other nickname) employs his customary mix of verses inspired
in the desolation of lost love, with lively street music. Beatriz Figuereo
Rodríguez, just a few weeks old and possibly the youngest “recording
artist” ever, can be heard crying in the tanguillo “A mi manera”,
evoking with her sweet voice the concept of birth, the starting-point
from which one embarks on a journey in which we must learn to accept both
good and bad. The theme “Ángel malherido” recalls the
Andalusian rock of Medina Azahara with the keyboard of Manuel Ibáñez
and the brilliant guitar of Paco Ventura. The great Catalonian bass-player,
Carles Benavent, does his thing in a lovely bulería called “No
vale la pena” which speaks of loving an indifferent woman. “Ave
de paso” is the pure sound of neighborhood music, with the collaboration
of the very flamenco keyboard of Dorantes from Lebrija. This is followed
by the tango-rock fusion “Cuéntale”.
“Ella” is a catchy tango, followed by the story of a pretty
little girl who dresses up to look fifteen as told in “Poco a poco”,
a luxurious wealth of bulerías verses which becomes a poetic tribute
to Andalusia wherein Selu tries to explain to Cádiz why he so loves
this southernmost region of Spain. After the commercial “Quiéreme”,
a likely candidate for next summer’s hit, we have the moment Barrio’s
fans are waiting for. That magic moment that comes in all his concerts when
a tango medley pushes the envelope to collective madness triggering a bonding
which is conveyed on this record, quite a successful piece brimming with
compás, poetry and music. The record wraps up in Santa María
once again, in the central patio of that house… With this record that
has little in common with his previous work (although the common thread
of youthful dreams begun in his first record “Yo sueno flamenco”
is apparent), it’s clear that José Luis Figuereo continues
to mature and grow artistically, and it’s very possible his time to
become an international star has finally arrived…he has long since been
a star in Andalucia.
Jacinto González
'Jaci'
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