XIII Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. Niño de Pura 'Mi Camino'

Doing his thing

Six strings were all it took to fill a large patio. Six
strings and a great number of people. Daniel Navarro “Niño
de Pura” attracted a crowd for his “Mi Camino”
show, a concert which displays his career as accompanist for cante
and dance, as well as soloist.

Six strings and ten fingers that sounded like twenty-four: his
lightning picado runs escape the average ear unaccustomed to such
feats. But always with clean sound. We could criticize a certain
excess, but it was more than compensated by the quality of the actual
music which warrants only the highest praise. Contemporary flamenco
guitar is evolving at a dizzying pace and it is difficult to outdo
the level of current guitarists, not in the sense of music or composition,
but sheer technical virtuosity.

“Tocando el cielo”, a taranta to start, then a soleá.
Melancholy and weeping seem always to be present in the playing
of Daniel. Just as phrasing in cante, the guitar sings and it’s
difficult to follow at times – one wishes there were more
use of the bass strings and more strums to give a framework. No
problem whatsoever with the compás.

Niño de Pura – Foto: Paco Sánchez

Alegrías picks up with percussion and palmas and the playing
is diluted with all the ruckus. Rafael de Utrera appears and Niño
de Pura accompanies his cante beginning with soleá apolá.
Rafael seems not to fit the first cante but the rest fall right
into place and he’s even taking risks. With a level comparable
to that of singers whose echoes still seem to reverberate within
the walls of this patio, Rafael de Utrera acceptably manages these
cantes which are tricky in the first place. His siguiriya is less
noteworthy, but his alegrías de Córdoba, cantiñas
de Pinini paying homage to the town from which he takes his name,
and cantes of Cádiz come together nicely. Niño de
Pura accompanies with a clipped style alternating brief silences
with sudden powerful bursts of energy, supporting with silence,
making the singer feel comfortable without upstaging and knowing
just when to insert variations and embellishments.

Bulerías por soleá, tangos and Juan de Juan appears
on stage. Only two feet, hard to believe. He comes on strong seeming
to leave a wake in his path. The powerful outbursts occur so rapidly
it’s not possible to decipher what he’s doing, incredible
speed, but very, very flamenco. The young dancer has suggestive
moves, elegant stylized poses, charisma, strength, no doubt about
this. But when he dances with less urgency, relaxing in the choreography,
it’s much more enjoyable because he does know how to tone
it down. He was the only artist of the night that got the audience
to its feet. Daniel is pleased and it shows in his face.

The guajira is charming. Sweet, languid, flirtatious. A striking
and pleasant composition which reaches a yet higher lever with Daniel’s
playing and the show winds up with bulería, fandangos de
Huelva and bulerías once again. For the curtain call, Juan
does a little bulerías, the singers sing away from the mikes,
an almost obligatory gesture, and the final ‘adios’.
“Mi Camino” is a lengthy presentation but it was worth
sitting through in this Bienal which is not yet quite impressing
too many people.

Text : Kiko
Valle.

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