Luis el Zambo Lunes de Revolver. Curro Jerez guitar.

If Jerez de la Frontera is the “city of flamenco”,
Santiago is its most fertile breeding ground as far as flamenco singers
are concerned, and two current maestros, both veterans at the height
of their careers, passed through Spain’s capital in less than
one week. These weren’t high-flying concerts in luxurious theaters,
but it would be hard to ask for a higher artistic level. On Tuesday,
January 18th the Sala Juglar filled up to the rafters with flamenco
fans anxious to enjoy the very personal voice of Fernando de la Morena
with the guitar accompaniment of Curro de Jerez, and Deflamenco was
there. Six days later, Luis Fernández Soto “El Zambo”
offered the recital which is reviewed below.

Text : Norman Paul Kliman
Photo: Rafael Manjavacas

The Sala Revolver continues to pursue its renewed commitment to
flamenco every Monday. This night it was the sounds and ambience
of Jerez with the folksy Luis El Zambo, probably one of the most
accessible flamenco singers, mostly because of the way he projects.
It’s wonderful to feel what this man transmits, from his opening
“ay” all the way through to the enthusiastic “bien!”
with which he wraps up bulerías. He sounds of times past
and offers a repertoire of classic cante delivered with his entire
body. His is a warm voice, not lacking in dark overtones, but with
perhaps more pleasure than pain. You could almost describe his artistic
persona as optimistic rage.

The
club filled up with a mostly young audience, and Luis appeared with
guitarist Curro de Jerez. They began with bulería por soleá
and cantes of María la Moreno, a lengthy bulería set,
dynamic and innovative, and an impressive soleá to close
with the style of Joaquín el de La Paula the audience found
very moving. They then switched to more laidback items such as granaína
in preparation for the malagueña of Enrique el Mellizo sung
sweetly and with great concentration. The singer continued in low
gear with two cantes of Levante that recalled singers Juan Mojama
and Manuel Torre. To end the first part, more bulerías, and
the drops of sweat on the cantaor’s forehead as well as his
body language indicated he was getting into it.

After a short intermisión, el Zambo returned with some solid
martinetes sounding of times past, giving more voice and some high
tones that were very original. Immediately Curro pulled the tragic
sounds of siguiriyas from his strings. This cante was by far the
best Luis offered, with three outstanding letras. It seemed as if
these were the cantes he needed to give at that moment, and he delivered
them with a degree of focus and ease not matched throughout the
night. He did the short siguiriya of Manuel Torre with some wrenching
tones in the final lines, paving the way for the next cante of Francisco
La Perla with a Chocolate-like flourish. El Zambo ended with homegrown
cantes of Curro Durse giving a Jerez sound to El Nitri’s siguiriya.
With just these three cantes his capacity as a fresh, vital and
authentic flamenco singer was amply demonstrated.

The singer then announced fandangos and he raised his glance toward
the entrance…his concern was palpable. Curro accompanied with
wisdom and splendid taste. This is a guitarist who hangs on the
singer’s every note and accompanies respectfully making use
of a large musical vocabulary. The end came and brought the bulerías
we were all waiting for. Two ‘palmeros’ went up on stage
still wearing their overcoats and Luis commented that “his
people” had just arrived on the last train. No sooner did
they get under way than we all realized this was something else,
and the cante seemed transformed by the artful grace of the young
men. Perhaps they had actually just arrived and Luis had been missing
them for several cantes, as he was now on a different wave-length.
Whatever the cause was, the four produced some glorious bulerías
with self-momentum, blood heating up and pupils dilated. The audience
asked for more and we were treated to additional bulerías
in the same excellent vein.

Translated by: Anne Goodman