51st Potaje Gitano de Utrera. Homenaje a Joaquín Cortes. Mercé & Moraito – Tomás de Perrate, Esperanza Fernández, Los Zambo

Text & photos: Estela Zatania

Cante: Los Zambos de Jerez and group.

The grand-daddy of all cante festivals, the Potaje Gitano de Utrera, has just celebrated its 51st edition, and lest anyone accuse them of being outdated, the honored figure this year was, as the announcer said, “the most universal gypsy of all time”: Joaquín Cortés.

Tomás de Perrate & Antonio Moya

“The first Potaje began when Pepe Méndez, the school cook, put some beans to soak overnight…”.Like a fairy-tale, that’s how the story starts, not only of a festival, but of an entire era. A half-century ago there was no intention of the event becoming a permanent fixture or setting a fashion that would take over Andalucía’s sultry summer nights, but here we are in 2007, with more than 3000 servings of bean stew cooked up in huge kettles for a like number of diners, and the members of the gypsy brotherhood that organizes the affair race importantly up and down the aisles between numbered tables and chairs decked out as if for a state dinner, cell phones glued to their ears.

Short documentaries of the “magnificent seven” as Manuel Curao calls them: Perrate, Fernanda de Utrera, María la Perrate, Manuel de Angustia, Turronero, Bambino, Enrique Montoya and other natural resources of Utrera, are projected onto the giant screens on either side of the stage. The damp country night air didn’t take over as in other years (probably because this time I remembered to bring a jacket), and the full moon looked on as the emcee said some words for José Vargas Jiménez, the nephew of Fernanda de Utrera who always accompanied her on stage, and who left us prematurely just a few days earlier.

Esperanza Fernández

That was the setting when Tomás de Perrate, son of legendary singer Perrate de Utrera, still trying to make a name for himself, opened the event.With maximum dignity, and the wise accompaniment of Antonio Moya, Tomás paid tribute to Fernanda singing the bulería song “Se Rompió el Amor” the lady so often interpreted.Next, “as is only fitting in Utrera, we’re going to do some soleá”. Then, cantiñas in C position with Pinini styes and romeras, and the powerful aroma of Utrera is rounded out with bulerías, with a nod to Gaspar de Utrera and other maestros from this town whose singers are so fond of a solid rolling beat.

Ana Peña

Esperanza Fernández, now a member of the flamenco jet-set, and very much in demand at cante festivals, this night has another show at the Festival de Alcalá.She dedicates her performance to the two individuals in everyone’s mind, “to my cousin José and my aunt Fernanda”, and starts out with an assortment of abandolao cante as she’s been inclined to do lately, following up with siguiriyas, while the eternal gypsy caravan that symbolizes the Potaje, looks on from above.Alegrías de Cádiz, bulerías with some interesting dance moments, and all the while the guitar of Esperanza’s brother Paco outshines the cante.

José Mercé & Moraíto

Jerez galore with José Mercé and Moraíto. With their extreme competence and commitment, they open the tap of good cante and guitar at will. It’s the domain of true professionals when the duende attends with no preambles of any kind. Malagueñas, a laidback soleá, alegrías, bulerías and Mercé brings down “the house” as always with his delightful dance. He ends this first part not without first summoning Joaquín Cortés to the stage and getting him to dance some bulerías.

Cuadro de los Zambos

The bean stew is served and dignitaries speak words of admiration for the guest of honor. Perhaps the most memorable line was the mayor’s: “today Joaquín Cortés has returned to the roots”. Next, with Pitín junior on guitar, Ana Peña takes over the stage.If the Utrera singer is underestimated in Jerez where she’s been living for years, her hometown fans gratefully received the freshness of her well-aged voice.A rough, savage delivery which decades after the fact continues to protest the subhuman conditions of field-work, an experience that gave her little cause for joy beyond this amazing way of singing. Soleá of Juaniquí and Paquirri, seeking out the most brilliant styles and registers, drenching everything with the strongest Utrera flavor. After some fandangos, the rest of her crew comes on to back up bulerías, and her style and repertoire reveal her admiration for Bernarda and Fernanda.

El eterno carro ya tiene 50 años

The Zambos of Jerez and their group were in charge of closing out this year’s Potaje.Tonás, tientos tangos, soleá, soleá por bulería and of course, bulerías.But somehow these place-specific groups, as happens with certain wines, are poor travelers. It was as if something was missing…. maybe that was it, the absence of the great Luis el Zambo, currently one of the most admired and beloved singers of Jerez, was sorely felt despite the great personality and capacity of his brothers Joaquín and Enrique.

More information:

Potaje de Utrera