Pepe Habichuela & Dave Holland 'Hands' Auditorio Nacional

Pepe Habichuela y Josemi Carmona: Guitarras. Dave Holland: Contrabajo. Juan Carmona y Bandolero: Percusiones.

“Pepe and Day”

Text:  Pablo San Nicasio Ramos
Photos: Rafael Manjavacas

Great musicians are those daring enough to turn any place into their own backyard, a place of friends and easy-going rehearsal…they have a way of bringing life to an auditorium that has little going for it.

That’s more or less what happened last Sunday night at the National Auditorium.  With all the pomp and frills of the symphonic hall, it’s no easy task to summon the flamenco muses.  People politely seated and silent (because the shouting so common in flamenco…well, it just doesn’t go down here), you observe all the angles and heights, plenty of light…the duendes are going to have a tough time here, even with the place nearly full.

But the two guys in charge of things were José Antonio Carmona and Dave Holland, or, “Pepe and Day”, two buddies delighted to have met each other four years ago, and who are like lifelong friends.

“Hands” or “jan” which is almost more flamenco, is the result of time spent together with lots of musical intuition and little speaking between the two old hands, each one in his own terrain.  Two superstars in this game of saying something with your instrument.  People whose curriculums include names like Chick Corea, Camarón, Miles Davis, Enrique Morente and Pat Matheny, and things like the National Prize, Grammy, etc.  So it comes as no surprise the whole thing would at least be promising.

The whole story began and ended well.  With plenty of rhythm.  First, it was bulerías, “Puente Quebrao” in minor key.  The, fandangos.  At this point the bass didn’t yet have as much importance as it would later on.  In these initial pieces only the genuine sound of the Carmona family was to be heard, and they ought to be putting in for a “denominación de origen”, like wines have.

It was in “Joyride” that the British bass-player appeared.  One notch above the usual level of virtuosity we are accustomed to seeing around here in flamenco combos.  More daring, more ingenuous and bold, always knowing what he’s doing.

In his dialogues, whether with Josemi or Pepe, Dave Holland took on two major roles: that of singer (especially in the taranta), and of central figure, with some galactic solos.  The Carmonas did their bit bringing out the heavy artillery from their most recent work (“Hands”, “Las Pequeñas Cosas” and “Yerbagüena”).

And nose to the grindstone, including percussion, nothing was going to go anywhere unless someone dug right in.

Beginning with the soleá “My Friend Dave”, Pepe’s sound began to get into that orbit that people familiar with this music refer to as unique and masterly.  Josemi did his part with “Tangroove”, and Dave with “The Whirling Dervish”.  Three high points of the night and in the lives of these musicians.

At this point there were shouts of “you’re gorgeous, Pepe!”  And of course, he couldn’t help but be touched, and he swore to us they were all delighted to be there.

The ten-minute siguiriya turned a temple of serenity into a madhouse, although it was the compás of rumba and tangos these masterly musicians used to give the final high-five to each other, with sounds that are today the bible of guitar and the contemporary feel.

In the end, they pulled off the miracle of making the venue seem small, inhabiting it as if it were a small back-room for connoisseurs, even though they didn’t speak each other’s languages.  Throughout all this, one must be a very good musician, and friend of the person who’s sitting in front of you.  Like those two guys, Pepe and Day.