Something very important happened in Jerez de la Frontera on May 4, 1930. A boy was born. Antonio Núñez Montoya, with a complexion as dark as chocolate, that nickname stuck with him. Antonio the Chocolate He was born in the San Mateo neighborhood of Jerez. He was raised in Seville, where he earned his first pesetas singing fandangos. And he is buried in Seville. It is the story of a flamenco singer who straddled two important flamenco capitals during a glorious period of development for the very best. cante classic. In 2001, Chocolate stated in an interview: "I feel like a Sevillian."
He left us twenty years ago, but why do I feel his absence so keenly, and why is the fans' neglect so incomprehensible? Triana is distilled in him, the Pavones, the distinctive flavor of the Alameda de Hércules, the smoke-filled little rooms where Chocolate could hear figures like El Caracol o Vallejo, where there were photos with Pastora y the Pinto. Writes Miguel AcalThe late journalist and flamenco expert said: "His soul blends the grace of having been born in Jerez and the duende of having grown up in the Alameda." Antonio el Chocolate was speaking of Crazy Mateo, Marrurro… “You have to drink from Alcalá and Utrera,” he would tell us in the Radio Sevilla gatherings where Antonio Mairena She drank in every word he said. The flamenco dancer Manuela Carrasco He said of Chocolate: “There has never been another like it, and I don’t think there ever will be. Its echo is indelible. It has represented the best.”
When young voices are barely distinguishable from one another, the flavor of Chocolate is always unmistakable. The late flamenco singer Fernando de la Morena He described him as “one of the greats, as a person and an artist. A unique artist, with his own style. Those fandangos and siguiriyas, those black sounds…” Cante of height and dignity that pinches the innermost layers of your soul to make you feel the beauty of heartbreak and death.
"That little flamenco singer who had asked for coins in exchange for his canteHe became pharaoh of the best and noblest art jondoHe said: 'I really liked the cante by Pepe Marchena, but it wasn't my thing'»
Chocolate didn't excel at keeping time, and he rarely sang at parties, although his faithful companion, the guitarist, did. Antonio CarrionHe wove together musical phrases to create coherence. He left behind an extensive discography, but no artistic heir. He would go on to sing or record with Juan Habichuela, Manuel Morao, Manolo Sanlúcar, Melchor de Marchena, Paco Cepero, Pedro Peña o Manolo from Huelva, among others.
He was always a flamenco singer who knew how to give his all without resorting to histrionics, and in his time he was one of the few who trained by learning firsthand from the masters of his generation, without the support of recordings. Perhaps for this reason, echoes of Torre, Thomas, Bag and others without falling into imitation.
Chocolate sang everything well, but his soleá, siguiriya and canteSat palo The dry ones are of great beauty and height. And if we examine the back of his virtual flamenco singer's card, he is also listed as a "fandango singer par excellence." He lived through the heyday of fandangos, but felt the need to delve deeper into the palos more black people, in addition to contributing their dense version of the taranto. That little flamenco singer who had asked for coins in exchange for his canteHe became pharaoh of the best and noblest art jondoHe said: “I really liked the cante de Pepe MarchenaBut it wasn't for me. I've performed in shows with Marchena, but that path wasn't for me."
Antonio Núñez Montoya The chocolate He died on July 20, 2005.
