On the evening of Wednesday, May 29, the presentation of the poster and the program of the event was held. Festival Flamenco The Yerbabuena from the Sevillian town of Las Cabezas de San Juan. The Rincón Malillo was dressed up to host the event, which was attended by Pepe Solano, mayor of the town, Africa Castro, Culture delegate, the author of the poster, Antonio Boza, and Alfonso Garcia, journalist, who, in addition to the City Council, is an organizer together with his wife Tere Peña of the renowned event. The Yerbabuena will be held on July 5 at 21:30 p.m. in the Plaza del Santísimo Cristo de la Vera Cruz, at the foot of the parish of San Juan Evangelista.
The delegate for Culture opened the floor by thanking the presidents of the two flamenco clubs in the municipality and the representatives of the associations to which the profits from the festival will go: Teacense y Opening roads. Africa stressed that "we have made firm progress to embark on a new journey by betting on the dissemination of flamenco designing for the first time a cycle of talks and conferences by renowned flamencólogos –the companion Jose Maria Castano, from our house, will participate in a conference the day before the festival – with the collaboration of entities such as the Provincial Council of Seville, the Andalusian Institute of Flamenco o expoflamenco». He recalled that the winner of the Silver Yerbabuena this year will be the filmmaker from Lebrija Benito zambrano and the event continued with the unveiling of the poster, a work by the Cabeceño artist Antonio Boza de la Street, who went up on stage with the mayor to do the honors.
The painter was visibly moved and said that he spent part of his childhood playing in the Rincón Malillo: “I am in love with this corner. My dream in life is to live here. So it could not be missing from the poster, just like the big moon in homage to Pedro de Miguel,” one of the first creators of the festival. He was then given a reproduction of his work.
Alfonso García then took the floor to give a full account of the programme and details of an event that aims to return to the tradition and purity left as a legacy by the precursors of La Yerbabuena more than fifty years ago. Friday, July 5th will be the big day of the festival. The Plaza del Santísimo Cristo de la Vera Cruz will host the performances of the local singer. Manuel Cordero, and that of the people of Jerez Luis El Zambo and Maria TerremotoThe dance will be in charge of Carmen Ledesma, with the guitar of Antonio Moya, cante de Mari Peña y Samara Carrasco, and The Oruco to the beat and dance. There will also be four presenters, one for each artist: Sandra Garcia, Jose Maria Castano, Patricia Moreno and Angeles Cruzado.
After the presentation of the program, Pepe Solano highlighted the importance of La Yerbabuena and said that "I have always thought that the Flamenco is more than an art form. It is a vibrant expression of our roots, a testament to our history and a celebration of our identity. Every beat, every chord and every moan speaks to us of a legacy that we have inherited and that we have the responsibility to preserve and care for. That idea became our goal since we entered less than a year ago. To return the Festival de La Yerbabuena to the privileged place it deserves in the music scene. flamenco from Andalusia and to do it as the dreamers who one day created this hallmark of Cabeceña culture taught us."
The palatial singer Juan Juanelo He closed the day accompanied by the Utrera native on the guitar Alejandro Fernandez and palmas de Manuel valencia y Alvaro Sarabia. He began with malagueñas, entered into the rhythm with cantiñas, searched for the soleá, rocked the tientos tangos and ended with bulerías, paying tribute without a megaphone to the brilliant Kids, whose death is 25 years ago. Juanelo was full of professionalism and knowledge, tied to the echoes of Lebrija and Utrera, sounding like El Lebrijano, Gaspar or El Turronero without resembling any of them but drinking from all of them and many more. He stitched together the lines with his deep, caramelised voice of melted brass in the waves of a sonanta that delighted the audience with the precision of his picados, his fair and servile accompaniment, the flamenco style of his neat falsetas and well-executed arpeggios, tremolos and alzapúas.
"Every beat, every chord and every moan speaks to us of a legacy that we have inherited and that we have the responsibility to preserve and care for. We want to return the La Yerbabuena Festival to the privileged place it deserves in the music scene." flamenco from Andalusia and do it as the dreamers who one day created this hallmark of the Cabeceña culture taught us" (Pepe Solano)
Parallel activities
On Saturday, June 29, we will be able to see LaCinderella, a spectacle flamenco in charge of Sandra Vilchez and his dance group at the Municipal Theatre of Ciudad de las Cabezas. The performance will be at 21:30 p.m. at the symbolic price of 5 euros.
On Tuesday, July 2 at 20:30 p.m., and under the title Proast, Present and Future of La Yerbabuena, Alfonso García will moderate a thematic table with free entry at the Rincón Malillo in which they will participate Fernanda Vazquezwidow of Miguel Acal, the guitarist Juan de Clemente, Antonio Bravo, cultural activist from Las Cabezas, and Louis the Marquis, music producer from Utrera. After the discussion, the flamenco section of the Municipal Music School will liven up the evening.
Also with free admission until full capacity and in the same place, on Wednesday, July 3, the journalist Alvaro Romero and the singer Anabel de Vico They will delight us with the accompaniment of Salvador El Titi on the piano and the Child of the Friar on the guitar with The lineage of Soledad Montoya.
On Thursday, July 4th, our colleague Jose Maria Castanojournalist flamenco y flamencoThe Jerez-born artist will take over the Rincón Malillo to create a profile of the four members of the cast of this edition. The artistic finishing touch that night will be the dance of Diego Guijo and Sandra Vílchez's dance school.
Silver Peppermint, Benito Zambrano
Benito Zambrano Tejero He was born in Lebrija on March 20, 1965. From a young age he showed his artistic interests and moved to Seville to study dramatic art. In the early 90s he began working at Canal Sur and then studied at the International Film and TV School of San Antonio de los Baños in Cuba, where he met Gabriel García Márquez.
He returned to Spain and directed his first work, Soles, which earned him international fame and several awards, including five Goyas. He later directed the television success Father Courage and feature films Havana Blues, The Sleeping Voice, Intemperie y Lemon poppy seed bread. His latest film, The jump, released in 2024, addresses the drama of immigration.
Hobbyist flamenco, has participated in the Film Festival Flamenco and Ethnographic Museum of Jerez 'In Flamenco' and has been distinguished as an Ateneísta de Honor together with Inés Bacán. He is currently working on a project on the flamenco, looking for ideas for a fictional film or series.
Top image: Alejandro Fernández. Presentation of the Festival Flamenco The Yerbabuena. The Malillo Corner, Las Cabezas de San Juan (Seville). May 29, 2024. Photo: Kiko Valle
