Sometimes I consider a duality that may be full of profound meaning: the flamenco singer and the land that saw him born; the former presupposes the latter, and vice versa… Thus I begin the farewell to a great friend and even better teacher because I am one of those who believe that the place of origin is the shell where the echoes and immanent ideas in the artist revolve, a small perceptible world that perhaps summarizes the complexity of the cosmos.
And I say this because it is in the blessed Puente Genil, the one that cradled the echoes of El Seco, Malos Pelos, Pinturas, el Niño de la Patro, Mateo Medina, Pepe el Pinto, el Niño del Dispensario and the Hierro brothers, where the majestic expression of germinates Antonio Fernández Díaz, 'Fosforito', Which reminds me of a phrase from the palace official Joaquin Romero Murube"The work of a master possesses the indelible force with which adolescence preserves all the feelings that wounded it when it awoke to the life of the spirit."
On the other hand, the common denominator of great men is that they leave a lasting impression on those they have encountered. This is the feeling that overwhelms me as I sit before these blank pages, eagerly awaiting the moment when this jack of all trades and master of almost nothing can articulate words, phrases, and ideas about a singer of universal heavens, a tireless craftsman who has cultivated a following by establishing a unique way of expressing the heartbeat of the soul. cante and filling all corners of the world with our music.
A Fosforito, with a clear and noble forehead, with a serious and thoughtful faceI always imagined it sculpted in bronze in the splendor of a violent, milky night and in the Huerta de la Barca from his hometown, where in 1986 we had the honor of participating as a speaker in the events on the occasion of his appointment as Favorite Son.
I glimpse him sitting on a bench in an abandoned park that could well be located in one of the meanders formed by the river as it passes through Puente Genil. His right hand firmly holds the crown of the canteHer left hand barely holds a volume of poetry. Perhaps, to complete this vibrant romantic scene, all that's missing is the soft murmur of a fountain or a timid, crystalline voice babbling in the shadows.
"Throughout his journey, one has a vivid and penetrating impression that he knew from the beginning that his primary objective was to become great in order to defend the greatness of Art Flamenco»
His gaze, fixed on a path carpeted with lilacs, takes in everything, leaving nothing hidden. His stare, bright and steady, seems to indicate that he is contemplating, at every moment, the continuous unfolding. His eyes, with the gleam of the chosen, seem to open onto unfathomable darkness. A whole life of risk and chance appears before him as if on a film reel, and the soul of this illustrious Andalusian, who now has the time to do so, meditates at length.
He, of a passionate and captivating character, vehement and of heightened sensitivityHe watches his childhood years slip by like a child wearing immaculate Sunday shoes. The man squints. Now begins the kaleidoscope of his adventures.
No, life in the village never satisfied him. He needed a wider field for his aspirations. Throughout his journey, one has the vivid and penetrating impression that he knew, from the beginning, that his primary objective was to become great in order to defend the greatness of Art. FlamencoBut the destination has never worried him. The journey is what has always interested him. He has never been in a hurry. He was aware that his path lay in the chosen direction. All that mattered was dedicating himself to the task day by day.
Constant contact with the bustling, fictional world of taverns, inns, and fairs strengthens his spirit and lends him a fundamental seriousness. This is evident in the marvelous precision with which he expresses the most delicate nuances, the most elusive forms of canteHis entire eventful nomadic life appears to him as a vast crossroads; each journey in his memory could be the threshold of a new canteSinging techniques? I didn't know any, but life is shaping me under a reality that allows no concessions.
As time goes on, his cante It flows, it pulsates, it overflows, and it reaches the most remote corners in fickle tides, yet sweeping across like waves. When one comes to know it, one feels fascinated, captivated, and possessed by it. And if genius is someone who, besides representing an era, anticipates and announces what is to come, then Fosforito undoubtedly possesses the characteristics of genius. Otherwise, let us recall when, in 1956, in the I National Competition of Cante Jondo From CordobaFosforito was already anticipating his future by a few years by becoming the absolute winner of all sections.
"When you get to know him, you feel fascinated, captivated, and possessed by him. And if a genius is someone who, in addition to representing an era, anticipates and announces what is to come, then Fosforito undoubtedly has the characteristics of a genius."
Before he was even 24 years old, at that age when one begins to travel many paths, the master had already traveled many of them. It is from this crucial date that the future of Art becomes clear. FlamencoWhen that voice of oleander, scratched by olive trees that he said Manuel Urbano, offers us a whole life burned out in absolute dedication to canteIt is the life of an eternal teacher who has never stopped being a student at heart.
But Fosforito had to sharpen his wits to overcome the decline and marginalization that he suffered. flamenco which he advocated. He had to purify his entire existence in constant communion with the mysteries of this art. It took blood, sweat, and tears for him to break through to reach the world stage and perform from there until he achieved universality.Demonstrating, in fact, that we were dealing with a being endowed far above the ordinary level, equipped and armed with brilliant treasures of talent, a very personal expressive language, and driven forward by will, sacrifice, courage and tireless diligence.
And Fosforito always possessed an inexhaustible resource: enthusiasm. That's why it's no surprise to imagine him dreaming, day after day, because all the canteThey were in the next room. There he could feel them seething, murmuring, waiting expectantly for the entrance of a golden man from Puente Genil who had the virtue of possessing a multifaceted ability to slip into the most diverse recreational situations and the faculty, as he stated Ricardo Molina, to magnify everything he sings about.
In this vein, we must acknowledge the privilege it is for the true aficionado to preserve within themselves the timeless voice of Fosforito, a voice in a state of grace to make, without losing its roots, flamenco musicAn intense and rhythmic voice, yet relaxed and free. A sincere voice, sometimes rough and passionate. A voice iridescent with the mysteries of rhythm that, while capable of gentle inflections, is often rigid and dramatic, almost cruel; at times, it seems to take on a vindictive social stance. A voice, in short, that, supported by a prodigious capacity for observation and an incomparable magic for suggestively expressing the most abstruse and inaccessible things, finds itself condemned to do all the canteeven the lightest ones, a cante great.
These unusual attributes, combined with his intensely poetic temperament, manifest themselves in a decisive expression that gives the flamenco landscape an unmistakable accent. For he who has lived through the miseries and the grandeur of our art has made it eternal forever. And the voice of our Fosforito – who at 93 years old has bid us farewell – flows from eternity, for eternal and messengers of God are the flamenco singers who awaken a confident warmth in our hearts, those who enliven our world through the grace of their love for the most precious spearhead of the Spanish brand. ♦
* To be continued…
