After a quarter of a century without recording an album flamenco from the mythical Haunt (2000) Mayte Martín come back with In short timeAn ambitious double work that stands as the most important, profound, and revealing project of his career. A work conceived as an act of remembrance, an artistic testament, and a declaration of principles.
The conceptual heart of the double album In short time It resides in a clear idea: tradition as living energy. A vision that resonates with the phrase accompanying the album cover, attributed to Gustav Mahler"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire."
In the artist's own words, "the expression in illo temporeThe phrase, which comes from Latin, refers—in a solemn, transcendental, and almost mystical tone—to bygone times, to a remote era remembered with nostalgia and reverence. It symbolizes the cult of the past and portrays a gaze through a window toward an idyllic and romantic memory of the original time.
This new project by Mayte Martín is not just about recording: it is spiritual, aesthetic and vital. In short time It is born from the awareness of someone who has waited for the exact moment to say what needed to be said.
"Surely there was a mystical reason beyond my understanding behind this quarter-century of silence in our recordings." flamenco He meant that something hadn't been in its right place until now. Nor had I reached, until today, that point of maturity that would give meaning to a new way of feeling and doing.
"It is a work that does not look to the past with sterile nostalgia, but with active reverence. 'In illo tempore' is born from this religious respect that I profess for flamenco "I was born of those who have made him the treasure I venerate. Honoring him is what I want."
Pure and intertwined
The album is structured in two clearly differentiated volumes: Pure y IntertwinedTwo universes that engage in dialogue from their very roots.
En PureMayte Martín offers a flamenco essential, without compromise: «Pure That's it: Pure and a flamenco without vestiges that treasures great and some neglected works of flamenco old, preserving and respecting it in both substance and form.".
A work that champions purity as both ethics and aesthetics, accompanied by the guitarist José Gálvez, heir to the Jerez tradition, with whom he has shared the stage since 2022.
For its part, Intertwined It proposes an organic coexistence between sounds: "Everything that sounds in Intertwined It is the fruit of the coexistence within me of ancient sounds of diverse nature that have shaped my musical interests since the beginning of my existence."
Far from any intention to modernize, the objective is different: "There was no intention to modernize them, but to revitalize them and prolong their life in this era that I have had to live through."
Es fire preservation that runs through every groove of this new work. "From that reverence for the past is born my impulse to transmit essence, that treasure that survives time and fashion. That which, beyond aesthetics and forms, remains floating in the air for centuries to come."
The dimension of 'In illo tempore'
The renowned journalist and specialist José María Velázquez-Gaztelu underlines the significance of Mayte Martín's return to recording flamenco: «Singer, composer and guitarist, for Mayte Martín 'the flamenco "It is my origin, not my yoke." And with that premise as her motto, she delves into different genres with an overwhelming artistic personality." He adds: "Mayte remembers and activates the resources of evocation. She looks within herself to silently find the trace of the voices of characters hidden in the cloak of history."
In short time It is, ultimately, a work of absolute maturity, where experience, knowledge, and artistic truth converge. "For me, records are not a collection of cante"It's not just a story, but a document that captures a stage of life that reaches its peak," Mayte explains. "It's a work that doesn't look to the past with sterile nostalgia, but with active reverence." In short time It stems from this religious respect that I profess for flamenco "I was born to those who have made him the treasure I venerate. Honoring him is what I want," the artist concludes.
Mayte Martín not only does it return to flamenco in its recorded form: it transcends and shares it live:
- Tuesday, April 7 – Palau de la Música, Barcelona
- Sunday, April 19 – Cervantes Theatre, Malaga
