Guillermo Cano & Ruben Levaniegos in Clamores

Text: Pablo San Martin
Photos: Rafael Manjavacas

YOUNG, BUT FLAMENCO-READY

The famous Clamores club in Madrid’s Chamberí is finishing out the month of September with the series “Flamenco a Chorro”.  Three sessions of real flamenco singing with no additives, and fine interpreters at a venue that combines intimacy, atmosphere and the sense of responsibility felt by the artists.

This Thursday it was Guillermo Cano to open the series.  A wonderful singer from Huelva who presented himself to the world of flamenco not that long ago, going from nobody to somebody in little over two years.  With some recordings, and a bunch of prizes, he arrived in Madrid’s autumn, this faithful follower of the best singers of his hometown, currently so in fashion.

The recital was divided in two parts, the first with greater depth than the second.  He started right off with more than a quarter hour of soleares where some wonderful Serneta styles were the high point.  No less worthwhile were the alegrías, and some powerful siguiriyas.

Before intermission, he closed with fandangos, short and sweet.  It was just the first shot at what is, without a doubt, his specialty, considering his extensive recorded tribute to this cante.  This young singer feels close to his Huelva roots.

Guillermo came with the heavy artillery.  The “Macarines” to provide choral voices and compás, and the brilliant Seville guitarist Rubén Levaniegos whom flamenco fans are familiar with despite his extreme youth.  He is an impressive creator of guitar variations (falsetas) with a very flamenco sound.  Take note of his name if you had committed the moral sin of not knowing it.

These men knew where they were, and the second part, when it had become clear Guillermo Cano has the capactiy to become someone important, took on the rhythmic repertoire.  Fandangos, an excellent assortment of tangos that left the audience exhausted but exhilarated, guajira and the song “Pena Penita Pena” with bulerías and some verses allusive to bullfighting.

An encore without amplification took the form of fandangos del Gloria, and by then we knew we’d seen a truly excellent recital, two hours of high level flamenco, enough to silence those who put down young flamenco artists.  The evidence shows this art has a future, as Guillermo’s tango verse said:

Enough said.