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Jueves Flamencos Cajasol Text: Gonzalo Montaño Peña. Cante: Jesús Méndez; Guitar: Manuel Valencia; Palmas: Carlos Grilo, Manuel Salado. Special collaboration in dance: Javier Barón. Jerez singer Jesús Méndez came to Seville prepared to demonstrate that young singers from his town do not only sing bulerías. And for the purpose, he came with a repertoire of cante worthy of a complete professional flamenco singer. He has the basic talent, but also takes care to seek out the richest sources in order to explore the possibilities of cante. That’s the way to do it.
He began delving into the past to the collective gypsy memory with an a capella romance reminiscent of the “puertos”, cantes handed down from José “El Negro”, Ramón Medrano and El Chozas. His voice found just the right shading and got the audience’s attention provoking shouts of “ole!”. The rhythmic concept of Manuel Valencia’s guitar pushes the tempo and gives life to cantiñas, the palmas are staccato sharp and Jesús goes from Cádiz to Utrera giving all the color of his rich low tones. I don’t need to praise the quality of the singing, because it shines through all by itself, such as in the malagueña. From top to bottom, wonderful low tones that give body, and little by little effortlessly seek out their high points, without shouting, and without haste. It goes without saying that the model he follows is that of his aunt Paquera, although he himself knows it could be counterproductive for anyone to be compared to such a singer, and it’s clear his other maestro is Antonio Mairena, present in his singing in any number of subtle ways. It’s strange young singers don’t draw on the musical treasure left to us by the maestro Mairena as much as they should. It’s possible that that line of investigation takes so much work, it could possibly reveal a young singer’s shortcomings in ability or attitude. Jesús Méndez has the voice and inclination to study the Mairena school, as was abundantly clear in the soleá de Charamusco where he drew on the great Antonio Cruz. Jesús relied on his Jerez backgraound to interpret some wonderful siguiriyas del Marruro with the cabal of Serna, and fandangos of his aunt “Paca” in which he sang without the amplification that had been giving him some problems, and he devoured the audience with his magnificent voice. To close the recital, and without it being the central theme of the evening, Méndez sang bulerías drawing on the essence of San Miguel as well as Santiago, and recalling El Torta, Fernando de la Morena and Paquera. He’s right on top of the “soniquete”, that energy that swings you whenever you hear it. The icing on the cake was the always exquisite dancing of Javier Barón to end this rich flamenco moment which, unfortunately, we aren’t used to enjoying in theaters any more.
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