Tribute to Pedro Bacán en Lebrija. Bernarda de Utrera, José Mercé, Moraíto Chico, José Valencia

Text and photos: Estela Zatania

Guitarist Pedro Bacán Peña was born in Lebrija
in 1951 and died tragically in an automobile accident in 1996 at
the peak of his professional career at the age of 45. Last Thursday,
April 14th, a benefit concert was held in his honor to collect funds
for a monument to be erected in his honor.

Pedro Bacán, of the Peña Pinini flamenco family,
was the great grandson of Pinini himself, the son of Bastián
Bacán, nephew of Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera, cousin
of Lebrijano and Pedro Peña and brother of Inés Bacán.
His numerous admirers remember him for his impressive knowledge
of cante, his great command of the guitar and his inconditional
love for flamenco. The following words of his have even greater
relevance now than when Pedro spoke them a decade ago:

«The truth of flamenco is in the past. The natural evolution
of flamenco is not in making a new record every year. There are
old recordings of Tomás Pavón where he makes something
new of a soleá de Cádiz in a completely natural way,
it's not an intellectual evolution. Everyone's crazy for the latest
fad, without even considering the wealth there is in flamenco, and
that what makes it different from all the other music in the world
is the feeling. The richness is in the depth of emotion. The families
have conserved this music over the years. New artists are more removed
than ever from the foundations, the cante, and the families of flamenco
singing that have been the basis of everything in flamenco».

Pedro
made a solo recording in 1990 and shortly before his death was responsible
for a series of four records, «Noches gitanas en Lebrjia»,
where he gave the spotlight to artists from his town and family,
particularly his sister Inés who had never before sung professionally
and went on to become a cult figure for many flamenco fans.

With the Seville fair in full swing, some artists who would have
wanted to participate were unable to make it, but the program presented
by José María Castaño and Manuel Curado was
quite complete all the same. With the Julián Bernarbé
theater nearly full, we were able to enjoy the performances of singers
Juana Vargas, Antonio Reyes, Miguel Funi, Manuel Orta, El Polaco
and José Galán, as well as guitarists Fernando Moreno
and Manuel Herrera.

The undisputed stars of the evening were José Mercé
and Moraíto who interpreted a strictly traditional repertoire
that included soleá, fandangos and bulerías. Moraíto
was kind enough to accompany Miguel Funi and the very promising
young singer from Lebrija, Jose Valéncia, who did a magnificent
job with siguiriyas provoking the heartfelt cheers of the audience.