THIRTY-SEVENTH FESTIVAL FLAMENCO DE ALMERÍA

THIRTY-SEVENTH FESTIVAL FLAMENCO
DE ALMERÍA

Monday, August
25th, 2003

Last night, Monday, at the thirty-seventh
Festival de Almería, Niñó Josele combined
flamenco with Latin jazz in a magnificent concert.

Curro Piñana, Arcángel
and Mayte Martín repeatedly drew applause and cheers.

Those who attended the first night of the thirty-seventh
Festival Flamenco de Almería had to wait patiently
for Niño Josele, but it was well worth it. Three maestros
of cante performed before him: Curro Piñana, Arcángel
and Mayte Martín, repeatedly drawing applause and cheers.
But when Juan José Heredia, better-known as Niño
Josele, came on stage at the Plaza de la Constitución,
there was tremendous expectation to see what the artist would
present in his hometown after various months without performing
here.

Last night, thanks to the organization of the Concejalía
de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Almería, he was the
icing on the cake for a glorious evening. Four hours of great
flamenco, with nearly a thousand individuals in attendance,
between locals and the many foreign tourists who witnessed
the art of three singers as well as work from Almería
guitarist Niño Josele's new fusion-dominated recording.

Niño Josele started out with flamenco, making the
most of that way he has with the strings and that communion
he experiences with the guitar. At first only Piraña
was on stage with his cajón for a one-on-one that thrilled
the crowd. Shortly afterwards they were joined by Alain Pérez,
a Cuban bass-player, who gave the performance an added dimensión.
That was when Niño Josele took off in the direction
of Latin jazz, following the fusion path of styles he is so
fond of, always with a flamenco underpinning.

Niño Josele with Piraña and Alaín Pérez

«I really enjoy playing in Almería»,
declared Juan José Heredia shortly before going up
on stage, at the same time explaining «what we're
trying for is a musical release», following the outlines
that show the way and which are «rhythm, harmony and
melody». The guitarist from Almería adds,
«musical culture is like anything else in life, in
order to do it you have to have a kind of internal rhythm
and follow the steps that rhythm marks for you, which is all
part of your life». From that starting point, harmony
is «drawing inspiration from other kinds of music,
such as Latin American, jazz, etc. Harmony is everything.
It's the essence of life». On the other hand, melody
is «the result you obtain in the creative process.
If you manage to make harmony, you add rhythm, and it's very
nice, it's something you've created» explains Niño
Josele.

New record

Regarding his latest recording, called «Niño
Josele», the artist claims «I really like the
direction it takes» and insists that it follows that
basis of «rhythm, harmony and melody» he talks
about, but above all «the inherent rhythm».
It's no accident that he pays tribute to the very rhythmic
Paco de Lucía with «Sólo quiero caminar»
in this work.

The rest of the night, titled «El azul intenso de
los ecos hondos» ['The intense blue of dark sounds'],
had been a fiesta of pure flamenco. Curro Piñana took
care of breaking the ice, accompanied on the guitar by his
brother Carlos. He began with cartageneras, followed by taranta
and soleá which he said «is very close to my heart
because the verse is from a great poem by a great poet, Jorge
Luis Borges. Among his work there is a very small book titled
'Entre las seis cuerdas', where he tells the story of Alejo
Albornoz, a rich man who is stabbed to death». After
this came Arcángel, who was outstanding with fandangos
de Huelva among other things, and who dedicated his performance
to «my friends in Almería» among whom he
cited Tomatito who happened to be in the audience, and the
Peña el Taranto who awarded him a prize this year.

Arcángel with Juan Carlos Romero

When it came time for Mayte Martín, you could see the influence
of Pastora Pavón, La Niña de los Peines, «who I was listening
to since I was a little girl» according to the cantaora.
She interpreted, among other things, malagueñas and seguiriyas.
Antonio Sevillano was the master of ceremonies.