There are albums you listen to. And there are albums that change you. With Omega Both things happened to me, though not at the same time. I confess this without blushing. When it appeared in 1996, I turned my back on it. I had just cut my teeth in rock, I thought I knew the codes of rebellion, and I thought that the flamenco And those distorted guitars were incomprehensible. He loved too much. Nick lizard –his records Inertia, Hypnosislater the brilliant Leia's shock—to forgive such extravagance. It took me years to understand that I wasn't facing an incongruity, but a masterpiece. Today, I consider it one of the most important albums ever recorded in Spain. And not only for its music, but for the freedom it sowed.
Three years before Omega, while working as a music journalist for Andalusia Post OfficeI was fortunate enough to to sit opposite Enrique Morente to interview him. It was in the dressing rooms of the Teatro Central in Seville, during the recordings of the program Southern Fever, which presented Miguel Rios on Canal Sur TV. I still remember that cultured, restless, and extraordinarily free man. At one point in the conversation, I asked him to advertise himself. It was a more or less standardized questionnaire with which I confronted anyone who crossed my path. He smiled with that characteristic mixture of irony and serenity of his before answering: "I deserve a lot of credit, because I have survived the closed and hostile world of pseudo-orthodox puritanism of flamenco»That answer, which at the time seemed like a brilliant idea, now takes on a much deeper meaning. Morente never promoted himself. What he did was broaden the flamencoAnd he earned all sorts of criticism, as he also acknowledged in that conversation: "There's nothing they haven't said to me, so I don't remember what the worst thing was." Incidentally, that June afternoon in 1993 at the Central, I conducted the most deeply moving interview I've ever done. And it wasn't with the maestro from Granada, but with... Antonio FloresDissonant issues aside, one, in his genius, displayed a wicked sense of humor. The other poured out love with open hands.
I wasn't the first to understand it. My friend, the flamenco scholar Manolo BohorquezHe told me from the very beginning that that album would mark a turning point. While humming along to the rhythm of First we will conquer Manhattan, then we will conquer BerlinHe told me that Omega I would do for the creative freedom of flamenco something similar to what the legend of time He had done it almost two decades earlier. Time proved him absolutely right. What some then called sacrilege ended up becoming a territory of freedom through which artists of several generations now move with complete ease.
"If Omega taught me anything, it's that prejudices age far worse than great works. Don Enrique, I send you the assurances of my highest regard. And I ask your forgiveness for not having recognized it from the beginning. Some of us arrive late to masterpieces. The important thing is not to leave them again."
Another good friend of mine, named Federico, wise and sensitive like few others, arrived at flamenco through OmegaHe always blurts it out in the discussions, the scoundrel. He got in through Leonard Cohenby Lagartija Nick, by the electric noise and modernity. Then came Antonio Mairena, Manuel Torre, La Niña de los Peines o Thomas PavonWhat a paradox, by God. Sometimes the best way to reach tradition isn't the straight path, but the detour. Omega For many, that's what it was. A bridge. A shortcut to classicism. A revolution that ended up teaching us to look back.
Now comes the tour with kiki morente and Lagartija Nick to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of an album that couldn't have aged better. They kick off on Saturday, July 11th at the XLV Cordoba Guitar FestivalOn Constitution Day, I'll stop by the Maestranza to join the route, with the excitement of someone returning to a cathedral they know by heart. Also, with a very personal doubt. Kiki has talent and personality, but her voice has never moved me like her father's. Perhaps because Enrique didn't just sing with his throat. He sang with an understanding of art that was impossible to tame. I hope I'm wrong again. It wouldn't be the first time. Like that day I left the interview with... tucked away in a drawer. Luis Fonsi —understand, I used to devour ten or fifteen musical conversations a week— because the record I carried under my arm, years before the SlowlyI felt he deserved a prison sentence.
Anyway, if Omega What he taught me is that prejudices age far worse than great works. That's why I end these lines as I began listening to that album: with honesty. Don Enrique, please forgive me. Wherever you are, I send you my highest regards. And I ask your forgiveness for not having recognized it from the beginning. Some of us arrive late to masterpieces. The important thing is not to leave them again.
What remains to be discovered in the flamenco, my lord? "Almost everything has been discovered for a long time. But Ninety percent and infinity are still to come.We're just getting started, but we're going strong.
