Cante: Juan Peña el Lebrijano,
Curro Malena, José Valencia, Aurora Vargas Guitar: Antonio Malena, Pedro Mª Peña,
Pedro Peña, Fernando Moreno, Diego Amaya Dance: Antonio Canales y su grupo Fiesta: Sabor Jerez
At the ripe age of thirty-eight the Caracolá Lebrijana
ranks among the elders of cante festivals, and this year the
organizers decided to pay tribute to one of the most memorable
flamenco characters to come out of Lebrija, in honor of the
one-hundredth anniversary of his birth. José Vargas
Vargas “El Chozas” was born in Lebrija August 30th,
1903 and spent a large portion of his life in Jerez causing
him to be known as El Chozas de Jerez, although his cante
and his personality are pure Lebrija. The festival opened
with a touching presentation by the town's most representative
singers: Juan Peña el Lebrijano, Curro Malena and the
young José Valencia, together with guitarist and singer
Pedro Peña took turns singing Chozas' fresh and original
bulerías.
Styles reminiscent
of romance with the characteristic
flavor and compás of Lebrija.
José Valencia
Next up was Curro Malena with his son Antonio Malena on the
guitar, cantiñas and romeras in E position, a good
sound for the latter, less so, the former. Then por fandangos
– the prohibition against fandangos in cante festivals imposed
years ago by Antonio Mairena has been completely overcome.
Siguiriyas with his son's just-right accompaniment, and amplification
problems, complete with annoying feedback which would not
be corrected over the course of the night. To finish up, bulerías,
once again sounding of El Chozas and styles reminiscent of
romance with the characteristic flavor and compás of
Lebrija. For the ending the singer stepped away from the mike,
a futile and meaningless gesture considering the vast expanse
of the athletic field.
His thing is, always
has been and shall always be traditional cante.
Juan Peña Lebrijano
Juan Peña Lebrijano with his nephew Pedro Mª
Peña providing the accompaniment settled in on the
large stage. The veteran singer hasn't given up his fondness
for novelty cantes but his thing is, always has been and shall
always be traditional cante. Tonight he is into medleys as
well: bamberas, a cante Lebrijano gave a new lease on life
when he recorded it more than twenty-five years ago at the
height of his popularity, is served up with the romances especially
cultivated by the Peñas. Then a tour of the cantiña
family including not only verses of mirabrá and Carapiera,
but the seldom heard alegrías de Córdoba. A
classic siguiriya set with styles of Marrurro, José
de Paula and Loco Mateo among others, with the wisdom and
authority inherited from Mairena. Bulerías “a
lo Lebrijano” situates the singer in his most familiar
territory, followed by a trip through “galeras”,
the non-cante that Juan Peña steadfastly promotes although
no other singer has to date shown any interest in reproducing
the creation.
Twenty minutes
of compás and pure inspiration
transformed into elegant madness.
And
it was time for Antonio Canales who is doing a series of cante
festivals this year as if to atone for certain theatrical
excesses and rectify a less than favorable image. The man
knows how to dance flamenco and came to prove it. With quality
back-up, heavy on Morón artists (guitarists Daniel
Méndez, dancer Juan de Juan and singer David Sánchez
in addition to Rafael de Utrera), he danced long, well and
with dignity, throwing himself into it as only he can. Twenty
minutes of compás and pure inspiration transformed
into elegant madness. Juan de Juan was noteworthy with his
ever more polished and controlled dance, and a pair of flaming
red boots.
After a break with 'caracoles' and 'caña', not the
flamenco sort but rather snails and beer, “Lebrija's
hopeful young voice” as he was presented by Pepe Marín,
José Valencia, formerly Joselito de Lebrija, came up
on stage with Antonio Malena. His flamenco voice, his compás
and his knowledge are always impressive. A good assortment
of soleá, and another of siguiriya, verses well-phrased
and linked, perhaps forcing his voice a bit too much in search
of the duende. He then showed off his considerable talent
for bulerías with the complicity and palmas of some
of Canales' people who were clearly delighted and having a
good time.
Antonio Canales
Aurora Vargas,
never lets you down,
always beautiful, flamenco and instinctive.
Aurora Vargas, who never lets you down, always beautiful,
flamenco and instinctive, started out with alegrías
as is her custom. “Aire” with a capital A. With
her regular guitarist Diego Amaya she then offered her limited
but flavorful repertoire of tientos tangos, fandangos and
of course, bulerías. A few voices from the audience
shouted out for Pansequito who was watching from the sidelines.
Aurora Vargas
The cuadro Sabor Jerez with guitarist Fernando Moreno was
precisely that: “sabor”, flavor, and very Jerez,
and their performance made for a perfect dessert. This year
we had no djembe and no Indian tablas on stage for the Caracolá.
In fact, the lengthy bill of artists and the intense activity
at the bar recalled the festival-happenings of the nineteen-seventies
and even the defective sound was somehow a nostalgic touch.
