The Casas Cantaoras play an essential role in the creation of the jondo. And not because the Roma family unit conceived it as a way to earn a living, but quite the opposite, because for them it has been a way of life, a project with the objective of communicating, sharing information, establishing complicity and, ultimately, playing a decisive role in the defining characterization of flamenco.
La House of the DeafAmong others with whom I share a strong bond of friendship, this leads me to the conclusion that, regarding the immediate future of Jerez, there are no promises or hopes without commitment. However, if the territory finds its raison d'être in diversity, it is thanks to dynasties like the one mentioned. flamenco It's tradition, but it's always cutting-edge.
I say this because the lessons of the past are, in that sense, the passport to the future. That's what I learned, among other great teachers, from my friend. Manuel Soto, Deafness of Jerezwho, like so many illustrious Jerez natives, taught me everything, even how not to forget them. But lo and behold, in this corrupt world of flamencoThere is never space or time for reparation and repentance, hence the necessary opportunity to remember him before a city where the life of the dead, after two centuries, should endure in the memory of the living.
The head of the current family line is Manuel Soto Monje, known by the nickname of Deafness (1927-2001), the first Gypsy to be named a favorite son of Jerez a year after his passing, and the patriarch who once set the standard, the trunk through which the ancestral sap has flowed, which in these times has reached the branches of his offspring, his children, his nephews and grandchildren, among whom today the young Lela SotoBut it was also the sound well where fans of all kinds always found a reason for wonder and passion.
On Uncle Manuel Unforgettable experiences and the best memories of excellent listening sessions are shared with increasing care. This has been the case since he began his professional career in Jerez. Silver and Gold Coffee, where he performed until 1944, he always excelled in all the canteJerez-style dances such as bulerías, soleares or seguiriyas.
Several years later he moved to Seville, where he performed in the flamenco venue. The Guajiro and in the casts of Manuela Vargas y Maria RosaHe even toured America, Europe, and Asia, until in 1962 he decided to settle in Madrid to work in The Goblin, The Basket Makers and The Witchesand manage to achieve the Sherry Cup, from which he made each cante absorbed by his elders, the symbol of a greatness yet to be won.
From then on, Sordera made his first forays into recording, joyful experiences that have served as a lesson for those who came after. The rest is already known to the reader, but I would like to emphasize that his most distinctive characteristic was being an exceptional witness to several creative stages in this art form, and, therefore, one of the artists who proclaimed in his time a growing desire to recover the elements of his own culture, dormant for years, until he achieved the maturation of his musical thought and the manifestation of a unique style.
"The lessons of the past are the passport to the future. I learned this from my friend Manuel Soto, Sordera de Jerez, who, like so many illustrious Jerez natives, taught me everything, even how not to forget them. But lo and behold, in this corrupt world of..." flamenco There is never space or time for reparation and repentance, hence the necessary opportunity to remember him before a city where the life of the dead, after two centuries, should endure in the memory of the living."
Therefore, a rescuer of a school rooted in family essences and his own way of being, we can say of Sordera that his life is the sum of the efforts required by the creation of an interesting work and his identification with the destinies of Jerez.
The bulerías por soleá, for example, which start from Deaf the Light y Antonio Lapeña; soleares in the Jerez style; seguiriyas of Manuel Molina, Paco la Luz and Uncle José de Paula; natural fandangos, of The Child Gloria and Jose Cepero; tientos-tangos; taranto; taranta; malagueña del Twin, or the cantiñas in preference to the alegrías, the mirabrás and the romeras, confirm that we are facing a singer who is competent, firm and of sublime expressiveness.
His empathy was equally special with the bulerías of Santiago, and he displayed splendid ease in the cantes del Piyayo and la bambera, finding a wealth of accents in the Sevillanas or in canteseasonal traditions such as the saeta, the bell ringers or the villancicos, among many others.
In addition to the above, and beyond his professional integrity, I would add that he was an exemplary father and proudly represented Jerez, a summary of the highest values of this universal master who, in the last three years of his life, lived in the most favorable conditions for his diabetes, leaving in the memory of those of us who enjoyed his friendship a flamenco of captivating character, intense and profoundly Gypsy, through a work that allowed him to reflect the most varied situations of flamenco singing, without ever losing the dignity of his ethnicity and bidding farewell, at 74 years of age, as the greatest modern heir to the great flamenco tradition of Jerez.
His heritage is a large part of the flamenco tradition, because we cannot ignore that Sordera de Jerez was, on his father's side, the great-grandson of Paco la Luz and the grandson of Sordo la Luz.Therefore, we can deduce that his children are related to the most illustrious figures of the Utrera, Lebrija, and Jerez region, and are, by deduction, legitimate heirs of such important names as those mentioned, taking into consideration that this Sordo la Luz, so forgotten, was the great architect, along with Antonio Lapeña, of the bulerías and the soleá por bulerías.
To elaborate on the family relationship, let us remember that Sordera was also a first cousin of Manuel and Juan Moraoand upon marrying a daughter of Vicente Barea, first cousin of the Child Gloria, the enchanting Rafaela Barea Carrasco alias LelaFrom that union would be born Enrique Soto (1952) Vincent Soto (1954) Juana, Manuel el Bo (1957-2021), José Sorderita (1961) and two more girls, one of them Gabriela, married to Manuel, the son of Adela the Jacket, being the smallest, Lely, the only one who was born in Madrid.
In this sense, we are dealing with a patriarch of captivating wealth to whom the I Biennial of Cante Jerez (2019), whom we, his friends, hold in our cherished memories with sincere veneration, especially knowing that next June 24th will mark the 25th anniversary of his passing. And may it be so forever, because if the past is memory, then fans shouldn't dwell on it until the milkman arrives, as Uncle Manuel Sordera used to say, because the future will belong to Jerez as long as its citizens are involved and persevere in the beauty of their dreams. ♦
