He was born a hundred and one years ago. Always full of anecdotes, memories, and wisdom. I met Manolo Morilla when I used to buy raw milk from an old man in front of his house. A lifelong friend of Diego del Gastor since their teenage years, he had Diego’s touch deeply embedded in his mind and hands. While leading a conventional life as the head of a family, he lived his flamenco at off-hours, always in the shadow of his guru, Diego.
What interest could there be in the memories of a guitarist from Morón who was born a century ago and passed away twelve years back, taking with him the wisdom of a lifetime spent alongside a guitarist celebrated by a certain circle? Speaking from my own experience, I can say that the exchange of knowledge and insight with Manolo Morilla was always enriching, a window into the recent history of flamenco art.
The first guitar that accompanied José Menese was Manolo Morilla’s, when they were both just boys. It happened at a wedding. In the morning, after the wedding had ended, Manolo stayed behind with some friends who were guitar aficionados. It was around three in the afternoon when one of them said, 'I’m going to fetch a young guy, a certain Menese, who’s into flamenco singing and sings really well.' Not long after, Moreno Galván took the young singer to Madrid, and the rest is history.
"Artists from outside used to come to Morón brought by Camacho, who owned a bull ranch. Aurelio, La Niña de los Peines, Manolo Vargas from Cádiz…great names passed through Morón in those days. Morilla played for the big stars, Miguel Vargas many times, José Menese, El Clavel, El Lebrijano, Fernanda and Bernarda, Talega, El Perrate, and others. These were well-paid gigs with those singers, all organized by Diego del Gastor, who acted as a kind of manager. Among the more recent guitarists, and those Morilla liked the most,he mentioned Juan Habichuela, Manolo Sanlúcar, Paco de Lucía, and of course Paco del Gastor: “the best guitarist Morón de la Frontera has ever produced, he wipes us all off the map!“ Morilla declared.
Manolo used to say that before the war, older singers sang soleá and seguiriyas, but not much. People liked the “other stuff” a lot more, everyone wanted fandangos. There was El Niño de la Calzá, El Niño de Marchena, El Niño de Aznalcóllar… so many 'Niños'. That’s what people liked back then, even more intensely than bulería today. Bulería didn’t matter much at the time.
Morilla said when he was young no one spoke of attributed styles of song forms, Utrera, Alcalá, Cádiz and the like that came later on with Antonio Mairena. If someone sang styles of Tomás Pavón they’d say ‘the singing of Tomás’, or Manolito de María, or Juan Talega. Then Mairena came along and said “the forms of Joaquín were like this, and sung like that”, and Serneta and all the others. Before Mairena, people in the street had no idea of things like debla or caña. Someone would sing something and say “that’s martinete”, but no one knew what that meant. Morilla pointed out that when he was young, say the nineteen forties and fifties, people would sing tangos, basic soleá or alegrías in addition to popular songs, maybe two or three amateur guitarists strumming away with no concept of good guitar, just sevillanas and such.
«The name Manuel Morilla will only be known to fans of Morón, Utrera, La Puebla, Lebrija, and other important flamenco towns in the region. At 77 years old, he had rubbed shoulders with many legendary figures of the flamenco of the 20th century»
Diego liked to play alegrías in E, but drawing it from bulería, he was very limited. Then there was El Niño Álvarez, who was a really good guitar player. Manolo had heard stories about him from Pepe Naranjo and others who knew him. He injured a finger badly, it got gangrene, and they had to amputate it.
Manolo used to say that in Morón, people have always played more slowly than anywhere else. At parties, among friends, they played slowly, savoring it. Nowadays, some people debate the difference between soleá por bulería and bulería por soleá. Morilla said it’s exactly the same thing, and a relatively recent distinction. “One day, while I was playing for Lebrijano in Alcalá, he said to play ‘soleá por bulería’, and that’s when they started calling it that. But I already knew those forms, they were just called soleá, nothing more."
Morilla said it was Ramón Montoya who revolutionized the entire technique of the guitar. Before him, people played with a lot of thumb and picado, but there was little arpeggio and little tremolo, and the bulería rhythm was all played with strong down-strokes. But alzapúa came from Manolo de Huelva. Morilla said that for as long as he could remember, Ramón Montoya was the one who renewed the guitar, he was a revolutionary, just like Ricardo, just like Paco de Lucía. Many have played very well, but those three were the great revolutionaries of modern flamenco guitar. Ricardo changed how bulerías was played, he began to shift that two-beat rhythm, and now we have the twelve-beat bulería as it's played today."
Morilla said that when the first recordings of Sabicas came out, everyone in Spain was amazed. He had gone to America, and people didn’t really know him, no records, nothing, yet that way of playing was so flamenco. But then, when Paco de Lucía came along, everyone was left speechless. “This is the ultimate!” they said.
This wise maestro concluded his remarks saying that Diego del Gastor’s style has a signature that’s recognizable anywhere. It’s not exactly an influence, but rather a deeply personal mark, “something uniquely his, unmistakable."
When Manolo Morilla’s wife passed away, he placed his guitar in its case, and never took it out again.
This wise maestro concluded his remarks by saying that Diego del Gastor's touch has a distinctive quality that can be recognized everywhere. It's not an influence per se, but rather a very distinctive signature that is unmistakable.
When Manuel Morilla became a widow, he put his guitar in its case and never took it out again.
