José Mercé's recital at Seville?s Lope de Vega Theater

José Mercé
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Teatro Lope de Vega Sevilla

José Mercé’s recital at Seville’s Lope de Vega Theater

Cante: José Mercé; Guitars: Moraito, Keko; Cajón: Güito; Flute: Juan Parrilla; Bass: José Losada; Chorus: Marce y O´hara.

Text: Gonzalo Montaño Peña

With the announcement of José Mercé’s forthcoming record, two consecutive performances were scheduled at Seville’s Lope de Vega theater, but the recital included only songs from earlier work, as well as some traditional cante.

If there’s anything that annoys a flamenco musician, no matter how modern or commerical his records might be, it’s having his or her music described as “aflamencada”, ‘flamenco-ized’, and for this reason José Mercé divided his recital in two parts, in order to make it clear that he knows who he is and where he’s coming from (the first part of the recital), and then show what he’s become, a pop singer (in the second part).

In the first half he interpreted basic cante in a traditional format.  Malagueña del Mellizo to open, and already you could tell his voice was a little rough, perhaps due to the previous day’s performance.  This was followed by soleá, in which he showed off his rich flamenco voice, and Moraíto’s prodigious thumb beat the strings as if he were striking a bell.  There is no question this musician is unique thanks to his depth, and rhythmic sophistication.  Next, siguiriya and cabal, and although with only a few notes he was in intense communication with his audience, something was off.  The first part was closed with fandangos that got the audience right in the palm of his hand, without actually reaching the level of performance one expects from this artist.

In the second half we got his more commercial, superficial, fusioned or modern repertoire, where we assumed he’d serve up a preview of his most recent recording that is slated to come out in September, although in fact there was nothing new, just old standbys from previous records.

First, he did the alegrías titled “Lo Que No Se Da”, with traditional melodies, semi philosophical verses and outmoded arrangements.  This was followed by tangos, “Te Pintaré”, with his daughter O’hara Soto on chorus.  It’s not that instruments go out of style or their sound is anticuated, but rather the arrangements are at fault, the way the instruments are employed, in particular the flute, the cajón and the whispered choruses give that unmistakeable sound of the late 80’s and early 90’s which we thought was over and done with, but which José Mercé felt like revving up again for this live performance.

In the instrumentals, the musicians demonstrated a high level of solo playing, and special mention for Moraíto who always shines, no matter where you put him, who played the tangos “Rompeserones”.

Then, “Al Alba”, with the audience joining in on the chorus, and a bulerías closing with a wink to Paquera and Luis de la Pica, although it’s impossible to recreate the latter’s authentic sound.  A brief bit of José’s dance, and the audience jumped to their feet.  You can tell Mercé has gone up a notch: instead of flamenco followers, it’s “fans” who fill the theaters, and he knows how to give them what they want.  For an encore, he sang “Aire”, and everyone went home happy with an evening in which we neither heard anything new, nor did we get the best this singer has to offer.