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Dedicated
to the memory of Francisca Méndez Garrido “La
Paquera”
Cante: Luis “el Zambo”, Miguel Flores “Capullo”,
Vicente Soto, Juan Moneo “El Torta”.
Guitar: Antonio Jero, Diego de Morao.
Dance: Joaquín Grilo.
Cuadro Flamenco “Jerez por Bulerías”: Jesús
Méndez, Sara Salado, “El Torrán”,
Sandra Rincón, Paco Peña “El Gasolina”,
Eva de Rubichi, Roció Fernández Parrilla, Guitar:
Pedro Pimental, Manuel Jero.
While Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco took a deep
breath and just about took the night off after its first ten
days of trials, tribulations and triumphs, the flamenco beat
kept going down in Jerez de la Frontera where the annual happening
known as the Fiesta de la Bulerías took place the evening
of Saturday, September 11th. Eight-thousand people, some say
nine – we could just say a whole lot and leave it at
that – filled the Jerez bullring to overflowing. Groups
of young flamenco fans, older couples, families with small
children and big picnic baskets, a foreign tourist here and
there – a true flamenco microcosm that confirms the
absolute relevance of traditional flamenco in general, and
Jerez in particular.
Youthful enthusiasm opened the night with cante, dance and
lots of compás with Jesús Méndez, nephew
of Paquera, doing some noteworthy singing in a cuadro that
went on a bit too long and seemed destined to make background
music for latecomers still flowing in one hour after the announced
start of the festival (some people haven’t gotten the
message that these events now begin on time, more or less).
Perhaps because he was going to do a serious repertoire,
Luis del Zambo was relegated to opening act after the cuadro.
Without showing off, with no technical feats, nor chatting
up the crowd, he simply gave a dignified cante recital as
if he were in a small group of friends, nearly oblivious to
the ruckus that surrounded him. Taranto, malagueña,
soleá, siguiriya, fandangos y bulerías, a challenge
Luis took on with his customary sincerity and natural voice
setting an example for young people who blurt out their cantes
at top volume. He was accompanied by that guy who eats guitars
for breakfast, Antonio Carrasco.
The same guitarist stayed on to help Miguel Flores construct
“the Capullo show”. Two days earlier in Triana
the singer was like a fish out of water and didn’t quite
find his personality, but here in his hometown there’s
a symbiotic relationship with the audience, a strong feedback
effect that Capullo knows how to take full advantage of. He
served up his standard fiesta-style repertoire of soleá
por bulería, popular bulerías, tangos with his
anti-violence theme, original verses, more tangos and bulerías
to finish.
”…a little siguiriyas
because we’re in Jerez de la Frontera and people know
how to listen to cante”
After a long intermission the event got back into high gear
with dancer Joaquín Grilo accompanied by violin, double
bass, drums, guitars, voices and a lot of inappropriate aspirations
for this type of festival. Grilo wants to be Canales but he
lacks the mental instability, he overdoes on the “ragdoll”
effect, which he does do very well, and only in the final
bulerías closing does he come down to earth to dance
in a more natural way and show what he’s really capable
of.
Vicente Soto with Diego del Morao on the guitar offers his
product to an audience which is becoming more unruly by the
minute. Despite the noise and activity, after singing alegrías
and soleá por bulería, Vicente announces he’s
going to sing “a little siguiriyas because we’re
in Jerez de la Frontera and people know how to listen to cante”.
The singer didn’t raise goosebumps but he has plenty
of compás, knowledge and a great voice. Tangos dedicated
to Paquera, and bulerías “my way” with
mostly popular songs and a few off-tune moments, possibly
the fault of the amplification.
The appearance onstage of Juan Moneo “El Torta”
caused a tremendous stir and set the multitudinous audience
chanting the singer’s name as a single voice. The charismatic
cantaor’s fame goes even beyond his considerable artistic
capacity and qualifies as a personality cult. Torta is an
excellent but uneven singer (“excellent / uneven”
is common in flamenco because this is an art in which risk-taking
can yield splendid fruits or lead to major disasters). The
epitome of bohemian, innocent genius and an unmistakable style.
Dedicating his performance to Paquera and dancer Ana Parrilla,
he sang taranto, malagueña, tangos, tango-rumba and
bulerías, but couldn’t get focused and this kept
him from reaching his full potential.
The obligatory fiesta ending, slightly chaotic but without
surprises, led to the last drop of bulerías at half
past three.
Related links:
Interview
with Capullo de Jerez
Reseña
XXXVI Fiesta de la Buleria (Jerez-2003) |
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