We lost the compás – Manuel Soler 1943 – 2003

Ah, yeah… One of those boxes that makes so much
noise at just the wrong moments. No palmas backup, no one else on stage
at all: just Manolo Soler and his cajón. What could this man possibly
have done with that gadget and that compás that flowed through
his flamenco veins that one review after another, year after year, would
highlight him as «surprising», «the best thing in the show»,
«the most original flamenco»? The only individual who could
have answered that question took his leave from this planet the night
of June 6, 2003, and the world of flamenco is in mourning.

Manolo Soler in a workshop in Grenoble 2002

For many years Soler was a dancer. He began his career at the age of
fifteen, and in 1960, when he was 17, made his own group. Seeing him for
the first time was to discover a world of compás, even for the
most jaded flamenco fans. It wasn't that he danced, played or sang in
compás. Manuel Soler was compás itself. His dancing was
tight and clean, original, dry, intelligent, minimalist long before minimalism
became fashionable, and extraordinarily flamenco. Despite his seriousness
and unyielding respect for the art, a keen sense of humor was always very
close to the surface ready to bubble up. He was one of the very few who
knew how to renew and refresh flamenco without losing the essence.

Soler danced for U.S. president Lyndon Johnson, and at the height of
Madrid's tablao era offered his art at Corral de la Pacheca, la Venta
del Gato and Torres Bermejas. In 1996 his original work «Por aquí
te quiero ver» was voted the best show of Seville's Bienal de Flamenco,
and in the 2002 edition of the same festival he was awarded the Giraldillo
for Best Accompaniment. His collaborations with other artists were numerous.
In addition to a decade with Paco de Lucía, he also performed with
Antonio Ruiz, Manuela Vargas, Juana Amaya, María Pagés,
Israel Galván, Manolete, Lola Flores, Farruco, Matilde Coral, Camarón
de la Isla, Manolo Sanlúcar and Enrique Morente among others, and
he dances in one episode of the historic series Rito y Geografía
del Baile. Over the last ten years he was in great demand at international
festivals where he offered his intensive workshops in compás and
percussion. The last great success was his participation in dancer Javier
Barón's delightful work «Dime» where once again he had
the audience wrapped around his little finger thanks to an amusing hand
trick as well as ingenious percussion carried out on this occasion with
a giant earthenware vessel….from the inside!

Manolo Soler with El Torta – Grenoble 2002.

He wasn't the first person to introduce the Peruvian cajón into
flamenco, but beyond any doubt was the one who popularized it, and now,
twenty years later, few flamenco groups do without the cajón. No
one has used it with greater taste and wisdom than him, and in the end
he will be remembered for this facet which was just one of many of Manuel
Soler.

Text & Photos: Estela
Zatania