By now, everyone knows what a snub is. Or a re-snub, as they also say in Jerez. And I'm referring to the flamencoAlthough we find the same thing in bullfighting. It's more or less the same thing. That's how the title of this column came to me, which I'm claiming and christening today, to be published every Wednesday. Boldly, but without arrogance. As a conclusion, but without exhausting the discussion. Quite the opposite: contributions and debate are welcome. So, with the introductions out of the way, I'll get down to business.
Knowing by heart the countless variations of soleares and seguiriyas that nephew and uncle Soler They were classified according to the teacher's postulates Antonio MairenaThe countless string of fandangos from Huelva, where even the locals can't agree on how many there are. The cartridge of malagueñas that Diego Clavel, the best anthologist of flamenco –There you go! MercéHe left behind more than thirty recordings. The Levantine styles, the flood of personal fandangos, the tonás… And we could go on like this until the milkman comes, quoting—as my friend would say. Faustino Nunez– styles, variants and versions, because there are those who don't like to call them palos palosLet's keep it simple. And if we keep splitting hairs, we can argue about whether or not territories even exist. flamencos. Because everyone knows that the cante It comes from the earth. It sprouts like potatoes. Or doesn't it? Some of us think that perhaps it's born from vicarious learning, in families, predominantly Gypsy—oh my, what have I said!—and that the creative richness of yesteryear had its raison d'être in experiences, in revelry, which I prefer to "parties." Because without YouTube or recordings, everyone took what they remembered of what they'd heard and added their own touch. That's what they say Mairena did, who, besides being a good flamenco singer and scholar, had the generosity to attribute canteothers when they were probably his own recreations, made with the few ingredients he had, rummaging through every corner in the intricacies of the old people's throats, like Juan TalegaAn indisputable figure and a link between two eras separated by the absence of audio recordings to corroborate his pronouncements. But… who was he? Charamusco?
"'He flamenco It's very difficult. And now everyone wants to know about it. flamenco',' my friend Chemi López would say. 'More than know-it-alls, there are know-it-alls,' the dean of critic Manuel Martín Martín would rightly affirm. So know-it-alls that sometimes we're even capable of writing that That cante It's not yours. I'll be back. Stay with me. And open fire.
And it's not being more Catholic than the Pope if I say that the taranto of Phosphorite It's not his, but the Tonto LinaresWhat fans know as tangos from Piyayo They're not the ones he sang. Bastian Bacan He has a seguiriya that isn't in the classification. There are soleares calcás that if he returned Ramon Soler To list them, I would unify them. That some of the fandangos por soleá with which he scratches Fernanda from Utrera They're not hers either, but his. Curilla de AlcaláLet's see who's brave enough to take it away from him. Titmouse his mythical fandango because it is truly from Pepe Rebollo. What about the canteround trip of MarchenaI don't even want to get involved. Was the bambera from The Girl with the Combs or of Medina boyAnd the cantes of milongas by soleá of The HutsBut not the one from Jerez, the one from Seville. Don't the tientos from... have any substance? Gaspar de Utrera or those of The Lebrijano to be included in those catalogs?
On flamenco It's very simple. Everything has its name. Of course! That's why Juan Breva it was called Antonio Ortega Escalona y Joselero from Moron His name was neither José nor was he from Morón; he was born in La Puebla and attended to Luis Torres CádizBut that also happens now: Jesús Méndez, Miguel Ángel Heredia, Ali de la Tota, Enrique El Extremeño… You look out for yourselves who you are.
Don't be surprised either because the cantes on the labels of shellac records and even on CDs – and if you insist, also on the pen drives and even on Spotify—they're misquoted. flamenco It's very difficult. And now everyone wants to know about it. flamenco"," the friend would say. Chemi Lopez"More than being knowledgeable, there are know-it-alls," the dean of criticism would rightly affirm. Manuel Martin MartinSo knowledgeable that sometimes we're even capable of writing that That cante It is not yoursI'll be back. Stay with me. And open fire. ♦
