It is a pleasure to see how towns with no more than ten thousand inhabitants continue to maintain their festival with special care. flamenco Every summer. It's important to highlight this, let me explain. There are numerous promoters—not professionals, but members of the club—who once took up the task from their elders, the responsibility of continuing the legacy that others built more than half a century ago, with all that this entails, without the intention of making money, but rather wanting the flamenco grow up.
En Campillos (Málaga), with about eight thousand inhabitants, there is a large fan base that is largely grouped in the Peña The Soleá, founded in 1974 and which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2024. The members of this entity strive to offer a monthly program of great importance, with a strong commitment to the new generations, without leaving behind current names who are also welcome. The saeta, for Christmas comes the zambomba, friendly, gastronomic and fraternal gatherings around the cante, to the touch and to the dance.
Years before the founding of the peña was born on Festival Flamenco from Campillos, which was held last Wednesday, the 13th of this month and coinciding with the start of the August Fair, with the usual enthusiasm and desire to do things well, taking care of the details. Many fans arrived just in time, because as happens in Seville and other large fairs, on the opening night the crowd is eaten up. pescaito in the booths and that is an unbreakable tradition. But they kept arriving until the courtyard of the CEIP Manzano JiménezIt wasn't even eleven at night when I went up to introduce the first artist.
But I like to stop in this section #FromWithin en details that the public doesn't see, like those given in the dressing rooms. In one of the classes, the dressing rooms are set up, one for the men and one for the women, although we could say it in the singular because only Paqui Ríos was the female representative of the gala. In another class, a nice table is set up to serve the artists and directors, with their tapas and refreshments. There, people discuss, reminisce about past editions, miss those who are no longer here, the artists share a moment of conviviality, and begin to gather around to begin the evening.
"Jesús Méndez, a Jerez-born whirlwind whose metal pierces any sensitive heart. He's another of the hallmarks of these times, sought-after and respected, giving a little bit of his all every time he faces an audience. I think he's at his peak, with extraordinary stage presence and singing like a true maestro."
Francisco Jiménez El Canana was the one who raised the curtain. This singer is from Guillena (Seville), where he also grew up in the warmth of the Peña The brook, which is responsible for organizing each year the Bulería Festival 'Alberto Valdivia Arteaga', who was president of the entity and died suddenly at a very young age. That friendship, that of Canana and Alberto, will always remain, which is why he wears a polka-dotted scarf around his neck that he later places on the microphone, as a rite of remembrance. He was in the peña a few months ago and “we almost carried him on our shoulders,” he told me Francisco, one of the entity's directors. It is important, I insist again, that festivals open the deck of names and make way for those who need boards to show everything they have inside. The guitar that accompanied him was that of the relentless Antonio Carrion, recently honored in Arles, La Unión, and El Puerto de Santa María. Among the styles he performed, he was powerful in the seguiriya, reminiscent of Gaspar de Utrera o Lebrijano in bulerías, and giving away some fandangos at the top of his lungs so that the audience could give him a standing ovation. Palmas de Jose Luis Vargas y The Chinese, two from Lebrija.
The next to leave was Paqui Rios, as introspective and unique as ever. She is pure and natural like the rain in spring, which always reveals the light in defined nuances of her voice. We couldn't compare her to anyone, and that is her best compliment. She dedicated some fandangos to me in soleá and I was moved. They don't usually do that, as is normal. Soleá, soleá por bulerías, tientos, seguiriyas... In one of these, she even said to herself, "I get goosebumps when I sing." There is no room for greater simplicity in her personality, but how great is her cante, what ceremonious and uprightThe guitar in this case remained Antonio Carrión's, as his official guitarist couldn't make it due to last-minute problems. This Malaga native, who also sings this style like few others, is a fantasy, like something between reality and a dream.
It does not fail in its connection with the public Peter the Granain, one of the festivals with the most productions this year. He works practically every other day, jokingly confirming to me how great it is to open a festival so he can get home early, nothing like that outdated interpretation of wanting to close, synonymous with mastery. Now it's the opposite; no one wants to be last, and it's perfectly understandable. Well, Pedro, with his sonorous half, who is Child Sponsorship, was outlining a very complete recital, somewhat longer than usual and with a tango performance that raised the bar for the stars. Soleá, bulerías… were not missing from their night in Campillos. The rhythm was provided by louis gold y Miguel HerediaMany fans asked for photos before leaving the venue.
And finally, when the clock hands pointed to half past one in the morning, Jesus Mendez, like a Jerez gale that pierces any sensitive heart with its metal. He is another of the guarantees of these times, in demand and respected, he leaves a piece of skin every time he faces the audience. I think he's at his peak, with an extraordinary stage presence and singing like a true maestro, although his age doesn't yet tell the difference. The temperament in his soleá, the rhythm in his alegrías, or bulerías... Then that harmony he brings to the stage with Pepe del Morao The guitar is made of blood, and two (aces) palmeros , the Cantarote y Diego Montoya. Campillos is not only that highway that passes between provincial capitals, but a big family that welcomes the good ones flamencos.
