Saturday night, Torres Macarena opens its doors to cante. These are special nights that fans look forward to listening to and enjoying the lineup of great artists that Peña has in store for us this season. On this occasion, a red carpet was rolled out to welcome the sweetness of Sanlúcar. cante in a woman's voice. He visited us Laura Vital, a singer who filled the seats with an attentive, knowledgeable audience, one of those who seek the cante without effects, without detours, direct and sincere, almost a flamenco of worship.
She arrived and her smile filled the room. She's one of those people who radiates calm, a feeling that's nice to have around her because everything around her takes on a different meaning. She visits us with her soul still bleeding from the death of her father last December. Her teacher, her guide in the flamenco, her support and her best critic. This is what confirms the great wisdom that this singer transmits with her cante. Correct tuning, placement, mastery of his vocal apparatus. It was probably his father, also a singer although not a professional one, who taught him that “the cante “It is not for the deaf” (Caracol dixit) and she gives herself over to the lows, to which she takes us as if she were falling into a deep abyss from which she will not be able to escape, resurfacing with her own voice until she reaches the heights where it is necessary, without abusing, surprising us. Her voice is sweet and velvety, one of those that enter asking permission, without disturbing, carrying each palo to its rightful place, which is not sweet cante stop being brave, jondo, and flamenco through and through.
«Laura Vital's voice is sweet and velvety, one of those that enter asking permission, without bothering, carrying each palo to its rightful place, which is not sweet cante stop being brave, jondo, and flamenco through and through"
He began his performance with tangos, exuding joy and Cadiz charm, those of The Girl with the Combs. As an entry point, it is a letter of introduction to the masters who are important in her memory, still young but full of knowledge. It continues with Malagan songs, with a tribute to the women creators of canteand styles, which he so admires and vindicates in his performances. First, that of the Trini, and then that of la Peñaranda, in the Abandoned style that he did Pastora PavónA brilliant round of cantiñas. At his side is his good squire, the magnificent guitarist Eduardo Rebollar, a long-time maestro, who forms the perfect pairing with the singer. Not without reason, she reminds us that they will soon celebrate 25 years as an artistic couple, touring stages and around the world. In a way, this performance is the first celebration of that quarter-century. Laura sits up straight in her chair and closes her eyes, searching for her ancestors inside, a tragic expression forming on her face, while the guitar's slow, mournful chords emerge. Por seguiriyas, to round off this first part with pomp.
Change of outfit and return to the stage. It is important to highlight the elegance that Laura Vital exudes on stage, an elegance that demonstrates respect for flamenco and the public that follows her. She tells us that as a child she met Antonio the Sandman. Soleá de Triana, to resume the serious paths of cante. He has just released an album called Pure Life, and from it he gives us some original granaínas that he weaves with Andalusian songs and poems of Ibn Khaldün, which reminds us of Juan Peña Lebrijano, Morente and Lole Montoya in the unification of music across continents. He continues with a round of fandangos and ends his performance with some delicious bulerías that leave the audience bursting with joy.
Back in the dressing room, this reporter dared to ask her for a brief interview so she could tell us more. This is what she told us.
Laura Vital: "In the grieving process for my father, art has saved me."
– At what artistic moment does Laura Vital feel she is?
– (Laughs) Well, look, I think I'm at a stage of maturity. It's been 33 years since I got on stage and 25 years since I won the Giraldillo. I think that singers of my age have achieved a balance between transmission, expression, and knowledge of our own instrument. Now I do the canteThe more grounded, the more serene, the more weighty, the better the storytelling. The instrument loses technical nuances with age. However, I feel that in terms of storytelling, the older a singer is, the better they tell it, the more experiences they have.
Look, I've been very privileged until now because I haven't had anything bad. Now that, since last December, my father is no longer with us. He has been my teacher, my role model, the mirror in which I have looked at myself, he has taught me so many things, a person with a sensitivity for the cante Very special, who sang too. And my grandfather also sang, and other people in my family. Now that he's gone, I feel the need to continue his legacy, everything I've experienced, what he's passed on to me, and even more so now that I'm a mother. The way he sang to me...
I was listening to a fandango
my father sang it to me
so that he could understand
the legacy he left me.
That fandango now takes on a very different meaning.
– Your name is Vital and your album is titled Pura vida. What did you want to tell us with your album? What's the message?
– It's an album about maturity and family life. When my daughter Malena was born, we were in that period, the early years, very nurturing, very connected to motherhood. And sometimes, women tend to lose that part of us as women when we become mothers. It's a testament I want to leave my daughter so she knows she has a mother who is a complete role model; I mean, I'm a mother and also an artist. Her mother is nurturing, she makes her a plate of food, takes her to the park, takes care of her, pampers her, indulges her every whim. But her mother is also an artist and a woman. So, I think it's very important for a girl to grow up with a complete image of who her mother is. That's why Pure Life They have been small moments within the family conciliation in which I crossed the door of the studio and it was that moment to connect with that woman part, that artist part, that part that women when we become mothers should not lose, because they are complementary.
"Now that my father is gone, I feel the need to continue his legacy, everything I've experienced, everything he's passed on to me, and even more so now that I'm a mother."
– On your album, you've forged a musical connection with Morocco, our Andalusian references, traveling from one note to another in that universal language of music. Other artists before you, like Lebrijano, Morente, Lole, and Manuel, have already embarked on this quest. Do you want to add something more to that journey?
– When I undertake a project, my motto is to enjoy the creative process and I never expect anything or have pretensions. In other words, these kinds of proposals arise from my love of music. I'm surprised because when you start a project like this, the journey is a learning process. When I've had to sing in Portuguese, in Arabic, I've had to get to know my instrument better and, at the same time, push it to the limit. It's been a learning process, because the placement of sound when I sing in Arabic is different. Discovering things about my own instrument, thanks to these pairings with other types of music. My father was always a great music lover, and that's why I've listened to many types of music at home. flamenco It's my comfort zone, it's what I've heard from my elders, but my father and mother have always encouraged me to experiment, to find my own path. And I believe that in the end, it's important to be yourself, to be consistent, and when I do this kind of twinning, I do it with respect and study; it's fieldwork. It's not about creating illegitimate children. When I embark on any kind of twinning, I put in a lot of hours, I study diction a lot, I listen to the essence, I try to retain that musical skeleton that all music has and then dress it up one way or another, but for me, respect is fundamental.
It's true that when you have an idea and you go into the studio and those wonderful musicians start to arrive, what you have in your head in the end the result is not even twenty percent of what you had imagined. Recording studios are very gratifying.cantes because you discover many things and above all because getting into the study leads me to learn a lot, to study. For example, we made a serrana. Well, to make that cante sounds like me, how many serranas I have had to listen to, how many lyrics I have had to discard.
– Are you a singer who enjoys singing?
– For me, art and singing are therapy. I channel a lot of emotions through music. Throughout this grieving process for my father, being able to sing has been a balm for me. All this time, during this extremely difficult grieving process, art has saved me. Maybe these past few months I've had less desire to sing, but I've had a great desire to listen, because everything I heard led me back to him. Now, when I'm humming a new lyric in my head, the voice I hear is my father's. ♦
