Twelfth Fiestas de Otoño – Thirty-sixth Fiesta de la Bulería

Twelfth
Fiestas de Otoño
Thirty-sixth Fiesta
de la Bulería

Jerez, September 2003

In Jerez de la Frontera any pretext is good for enjoying
some flamenco. From the Festival de Jerez that each year shakes
us out of the winter doldrums, right through to the Fiestas
de Otoño and the Fiesta de la Bulería, a series of recitals,
concerts, informal gatherings and other activities contributes
to making sure Jerez lives up to its fame as flamenco capital
of the world.

In Jerez de la Frontera any pretext
is good for enjoying some flamenco.

This year the twelfth Fiestas de Otoño offers a very interesting
selection of both contemporary and traditional flamenco divided
into several series. On September 7 within «Nuevo flamenco»
a series of daily performances kicked off with Rosario Lazo
«la Reina Gitana» followed by Candié, La Nueva Tropa Santiaguera,
Presagio and Ismael Casado. From the 14th to the 17th in the
Plaza de la Asunción, «Las Guitarras Cantaoras» with Gerardo
Núñez, Vicente Soto and Carmen Cortés, Diego del Morao with
Diego Carrasco, Paco Cepero with Manolo Ortas and Moraíto
with José Mercé. And for good measure, in the same plaza,
from the 12th to the 20th, the cuadros of Santiago with Juana
la del Pipa, Fernando de la Morena and Enrique Soto, of the
Peña la Bulería de Jerez with Manuel Moneo, of Fernando Terremoto
with el Capullo de Jerez and of the «venerables» (old-timers)
with none other than Antonio Núñez el Chocolate.

(click para ampliar las fotos)

Alfonso Carpio & Antonio Carrasco	Cuadro de Santiago con Juana la del Pipa

On Friday September 12th at 9:30pm we attended the performance
of the Santiago cuadro that made a good appetite-opener for
the happening which is the Fiesta de la Bulería on
the following day. After a crisp guitar solo by Niño
Jero Periquín, singers Enrique Soto, Lorenzo Gálvez,
Juana la del Pipa and Fernando de la Morena took turns up
front with an assortment of traditional cante that filled
the balmy night air with the sound of Jerez and Santiago.
After that tasty hors-d'oeuvre we strolled over to the peña
Tío José de Paula to take in the cante of Abraham
el Zambo, Joaquín el Zambo and the dancing of young
Fernando de Bastiana. And since we were in training for the
Fiesta de la Bulería we also made a beeline for the
peña la Bulería so as not to miss the recital
of singer el Barullo, son of Manuel Moneo.

The Fiesta de la Bulería has been going on for thirty-six
years making it one of the longest-running cante festivals.
We lack data as to whether it's the best-attended nowadays,
but let's just say that a small sea of beer and a river of
sherry, a heroic amount of fried fish and other middle-class
delicacies and several thousand people keeping compás
for more than six hours of flamenco singing, nearly all of
the festive variety, isn't something you see every day of
the week, not even in Jerez.

Fernando de la Morena & Niño Jero	José Vargas 'El Mono'

The kickoff was strong with «nearly the whole neighborhood
of Santiago» as emcee José María Castaño said. Over thirty
people from the Manuel Soto Sordera Asociación Cultural Flamenco
with Diego del Morao playing for three quarters of an hour
of festive cante and dance. With the collective palate so
generously primed, it was time for José Vargas el Mono with
Parrilla de Jerez on the guitar. Veterans without being elderly,
both men lived through those years before anyone ever heard
of «new flamenco», when Terremoto, Borrico, Serna, Tío Parrilla
and so many others strolled through the neighborhood and the
sound of fiesta was the rhythm of daily life. El Mono doesn't
like to be labeled a «festero», but if we remove any trace
of negative connotation, that's just what he is, and undisputed
number one at the specialty which combines singing, dancing,
wit, grace, compás and more compás in one single individual.
No one should ever feel offended at being called a «festero».
Nevertheless, wishing to demonstrate greater diversity, José
started out with soleá por bulería and even dared to sing
the only siguiriya of the night…»dared», not because of
any lack of ability, but because the bulerías ambience in
the plaza was cooking constantly…with two basic Triana styles
delivered with aplomb and dignity. But el Mono's bulerías
was what they all wanted, and that's what they got. That delightfully
stylized dance, that clever stepping around the stage, those
cantes oozing the flavor of decades of flamenco experiences.
«Festero» por excelencia.

The Carpio family, all males, was up next. A different sound
but the same flavor, that's how it goes with the neighborhoods
and families of Jerez. With Antonio Jero and his lethal weapon
in the shape of a guitar, one by one the singers, young and
old alike, offered their respective cantes. Alegrías,
soleá, the malagueña del Mellizo which is so
cultivated around Jerez and Cádiz, soleá por
bulería and fandangos.

Mercedes Ruíz	Remedios Amaya

At one there was a brief intermission and people were still
arriving with their picnic baskets and coolers, great ambience
down in the ring and up in the stands… The second part opened
with dance. Mercedes Ruiz from Jerez, winner of the Antonio
Gades award at the sixteenth Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco
de Córdoba and of the dance prize at Seville's twelfth
Bienal de Flamenco, is one of the most interesting female
flamenco dancers of the new crop. While others her age are
getting bogged down in avant-gardism and confuse minimalism
with a lack of expression, Mercedes projects an original combination
of influences. Yerbabuena's contorsions, flashes of Canales,
details from Antonio el Pipa, el Güito and Manolete,
temperamental and coquettish, a face from Picasso and an aesthetic
reminiscent of Carmen Amaya. She danced siguiriyas in basic
black and classic alegrías in a white bata de cola.

Capullo de Jerez

The charismatic Capullo de Jerez came to stand in for el
Torta, but «on his own merits» as José María
Castaño reminded us, and in fact, he is probably the
only individual able to fill the empty space left by Torta's
last-minute absence. Jerez adores him and the feeling is mutual.
Miguel Flores likes to play the clown, but he knows what he's
doing. His cante is full of personality and compás
and the singer revels in his completely original phrasing
and delivery, few others are as inspired por bulerías.
Tango rumba from his record to satisfy a certain type of fan,
and once again bulerías, with a side-trip through fandangos.
Niño Jero on the guitar stuck to him like glue, following
every nuance and answering each surprise with another surprise,
and they were two children with flamenco their plaything.

The long night was about idols and their fans and Remedios
Amaya was the one in charge of ending the fiesta por fiesta.
Dressed in black the handsome gypsy woman with her flashy
family group started out with her particular version of cartageneras
but soon swung back to her Extremedura roots with the bulería
chorus song «A la feria de Zafra». Bulerías,
tangos, cante, dance, good solid flamenco, racial elegance
and a complete festive repertoire to delight her old fans,
harvest some new ones and place the final icing on this delightful
flamenco night.

Related links

Mercedes
Ruiz photo gallery
Interview
with Capullo de Jerez