El flamenco It is an art and a living entity. Sometimes we enter into the contradiction of thinking that it can only be expressed in a certain way. We overlook that canteFlamenco-inspired dance and guitar have a unique source in each of their performers, whether geographical and/or personal. It's like the flow and current of two rivers. It's true that both are tributaries of the same sea, but the path they take to reach it or their formation is unique. Their colors, their inner life, and the life they produce in their wake are distinct, but they are still rivers. And speaking of rivers, two flow into the city of Huelva, one with a cinnamon-colored skin—as I would say. Juan Ceada, who was mayor of this city—and another reddish one. Odiel and Tinto. As different as they are necessary to understand this corner and its magic. This week, two singers arrived in this land, as different in their performance and their styles, as they were necessary to thrill flamenco fans in general. They are María Jesús Bernal and Laura Vital, accompanied by Manuel Jero. Periquin and Eduardo Rebollar, on guitar.
From Puebla de Cazalla, we received María Jesús Bernal. In his cante the soul takes the form of a brave, sincere and uncompromising lament. For those of us who have set foot on the land of Pepe the Muscle y Fernando from Central, in the Sevillian countryside, we know that its voice echo is more similar to other singing areas, although it calls and rocks the bambera among the woe that come out of his Moorish vocal cords, and in his first letter he recalls his omnipresent countrymen, Francisco Moreno Galvan y Jose Menese: I have a neighbor across the street / who seems pretty. / Today I said good morning to her. / Things have a beginning.
And after several swings of the swing of the popular performer that of the Combs, finishes resoundingly and profoundly with the soleá apolá that he performed in times Curro Malena, lyrics of Julio Mariscal Torres, I don't boast about loving you / and if I do, I keep quiet about it. / The more roots it has / the stronger the tree grows.
Then, and with the right accompaniment of Manuel Jero, María Jesús reminds us of the airs of Henry the Twin in the malagueña, finishing with rondeñas. The soleá in his voice is an amphora of old sounds. With what courage and gusto he unravels the cante Great. Manuel, who had already given us several cheers at the entrance, is giving us the necessary air so that the Moorish girl hurts us in her interpretations of theto Andonda and La Serneta and also to hold on to your hats at the close of Paquirri.
He shares his knowledge of tientos and tangos before moving into the Jerez-style sounds of soleá por bulerías. What a pleasure Jero's playing. Slowly, without stridency. A perfect symbiosis with the singer, who understands that there's no need to rush. All you have to do is play good rhythm and remember the masters of this genre. cante that come from that flamenco soul that she has.
«María Jesús Bernal came to us from Puebla de Cazalla. In her cante The soul takes the form of a brave, sincere, and uncompromising lament. For those of us who have walked the land of Pepe El Cachas and Fernando el del Central, we know that his voice echoes more closely with other flamenco-producing regions, although he calls out and rocks the bambera among the moans that emerge from his Moorish vocal cords.
Manuel Jero is a guitarist with a sense of vintage, and he understands that this doesn't necessarily mean the instrument is in optimal condition at all times. He's precise in his tuning. No wonder, because what's coming next is the siguiriya. cante with which María Jesús left us with our gaze fixed on her cries and her expression. With our gaze fixed on her singing ways and on the pain that her melody transmits, taking us back to Sernita, Uncle Jose de Paula, shooting at us at the close of Juan JunqueraSiguiriya with a siguiriya flavor, what more can I say?
Manuel calls for the bulería. His Jerez son awakens the rhythm of the Santiago and San Miguel neighborhoods in the voice of María Jesús. Jerez becomes a guitar string; it's a pleasure to delight in Jero. María Jesús It hurts in its sorrows, more than in those of others, and also takes us to the romanced bulería.
And finally, a selection of fandangos rescued from popular tradition and from the masters. Manuel Torres y Agujetas, among others.
And with almost no time to digest the aftertaste left by María Jesús Bernal, we went off to enjoy the emotions of a night that brought together the 42nd anniversary of the founding of the Peña Female Flamenco Culture, with all that it entails, and the cante de Laura Vital, accompanied by the teacher Eduardo RebollarWhat a delight, always, to delight in the voice of the Sanluqueña and the sonanta of the maestro from Cerro del Águila, who precisely this month of October celebrate their silver anniversary as an artistic couple.
Women who make possible / the miracle of life. / Women together and free / fiery springs.
With these tango lyrics, Laura began her performance. A complete manual of intentions for the evening, where the artist vindicated the role of women in the cante and in the history of the flamenco. Tangos of Pastora, Juana of the Stir, Marina Habichuela and the variants of Triana and Extremadura were born from a voice with the elegance and depth of the singer that she is. He continued with the cante by Malagan women Trini and Concha Peñaranda to finish with the fandango of Peppermint Bottle.
the melody of cante Laura's and Eduardo's touch distribute honey and salt for those demanding palates eager to taste music turned into flamenco y flamenco in music.
Huelva and Sanlúcar are like two sisters separated by a jewel: Doñana and the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Bajo Guía, where our artist is from. And as if it were a brotherhood, Eduardo Rebollar sets sail on his six-string guitar to the seaside neighborhood to bring us, in Laura's voice, the sounds of cantiñas and the rose.
From the castle to Bajo Guía / beautiful little flower / From the castle to Bajo Guía / I'm coming with mine / which is the cante of the rose. / That rose in the throat. / That salt rose / is the cante that is sung / here in my seafaring land. / The rose comes, oh / it perfumes the air / The sea sets the rhythm / Sanlúcar el cante.
Is cante from her homeland. There are no ojanas here. Laura unravels the exact melody and the specific flamenco style with which they must be performed. Their perfection is not without its own personal nuances, native to the seaside corner where the Atlantic and the Guadalquivir join forever as one.
"Huelva and Sanlúcar are like two sisters separated by a jewel: Doñana and the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Bajo Guía, where Laura Vital is from. And as if it were a brotherhood, Eduardo Rebollar sets sail on his six-string guitar to the seaside neighborhood to bring us, in Laura's voice, the sounds of cantiñas and the rose."
Next he brings us the lyrics of Moreno Galvan played by José Menese, in the cante From the Mariana. What a pleasure. What mastery. The highs and lows, so necessary, in perfect harmony to touch the sensibilities of the fans who were there.
In the soleá of Triana, Laura envelops us with the warmth of her voice, imprinting the cante The perfect melodic arc to touch our sensibilities. His own lyrics are taken from his song. Little Glass Mirror and the memory of Triana teachers, such as The Sandpit y Paco Taranto, delight us to close the cante with the moshara Moroccan.
Laura remembers her father, to whom she owes her hobby, and that the fandango of Huelva was the first cante that she learned. I fully understand the emotion of the Sanlúcar singer because the person writing these lines came to the wonderful world of flamenco Hand in hand with her father. Without them, how difficult it would have been to pursue this noble art form as a passion. She left the brave airs of Rengel, Toronjo, and Alosno on stage deeply moved.
The Bulería, with airs of Antonia La Negra, The Pearl, Pastora and the festive adaptation of Ojalá que te vaya bonito, by Jose Alfredo Jimenez, put an end to a more than remarkable performance, which had its last little fragrance in a gift in the form of a fandango of Titmouse, With tears they go away…
Laura left her heart and emotions between the arches of the Peña From Huelva. His voice is the heart that beats in a chest that transmits tradition and legacy. flamencoHow much we will have to thank, as time goes by, a singer like her. A singer of that generation who has intellectually dignified the flamenco without losing a single iota of depth.
And being a participant in what I am telling you, I ask myself again where is the truth of cante: in educated voices or in racial ones, in those that carry the soul in their throat or the one that runs through the river of singing life that they carry within. The same occurs in the expression of the guitar. flamenco of yesterday, today and tomorrow has much to thank both aspects or qualities for. Every moment, every emotion, every point of sensitivity has its own characteristic, which is by no means defined. If María Jesús Bernal and Manuel Jero bring us a faithful adaptation of the flamenco As an expression, Laura Vital and Eduardo Rebollar bring us a melodic architecture that, without sparing any risks, you end up hooked. Taking as my own an expression from journalist Miguel Ángel Fernández, both forms are nurturers and lovers of the flamenco Traditional.
Credits
Cante: María Jesús Bernal
Guitar: Manuel Jero
Location: Cajasol Foundation. Women's Cycle (Huelva)
Cante: Laura Vital
Guitar: Eduardo Rebollar
Location: Peña Female Flamenco Culture of Huelva
