On this day – January 13 – one hundred years ago, one of the most unique singers in the history of the world was born in Badajoz. cante Andalusian. He was from Extremadura, yes, but his voice went beyond the borders of his homeland to become universal. He was a gypsy, Salazar y Molina, that is, of pure strain, but his voice was of honey and lemon. I never imagined him in a forge, like Juan the Bald o Uncle Juane, but flying like a bird over some plain of his land. He had an astonishing tuning, of a Viennese violin, and a prodigious half voice. He fitted the cante in such a personal way that, although he had a Marchena influence, with just one outing for fandangos he demonstrated that he had a unique personality, far from Marchena mimicry. He was elegant and not only in his dress: he walked with elegance and even spoke like those born with the gift. He was a miracle of music, a white blackbird of the cante Extremaduran who did not need to found the cheerleading to set the standard of teacher and creator. He became a leading figure in the cante at a time when there were many top-notch voices, such as, for example and not to tire of, those of Marchena, Caracol y ValderramaIt was not easy to make his voice part of that choir of luminaries, to be great among the greats, and he achieved it. He was one of those natural geniuses that emerge like a whim of nature, like a flower from among the stones. A fine gypsy, a voice of precious stones, a bell from Extremadura, he was a man of fast and sweet melismas. In three years it will be half a century since his death and he is still alive. Marquis of Porrina, the gypsy from Badajoz who gave flamenco glory to a region that today feels proud of having given birth to a genius of cante, one of those rare miracles of music, of the history of cante jondoToday he turns 100 and it seems that time has not passed by his throat.
«Porrina de Badajoz was elegant and not only in her dress: she walked with elegance and even spoke like those born with the gift. She was a miracle of music, a white blackbird of cante "Extremaduran who did not need to found porrinismo to set the standard of teacher and creator"
