It's tarantas time. It has been in The Iron and it is in The Union y Linares, where the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Peña Flamenca The Cabrerillo of Linares, an entity that set out to recognize and value its local flamenco singer since it established its first headquarters in the Bar La Fuenteand then in the Bar La Victoria, from where it would initially go to the La Virgen streetbeing their primary managers Antonio Aguilera Galisteo (president), Rafael Charquero (secretary) and Antonio la Torre (treasurer).
With this intention, the Linares fans showed their appreciation to Luis Soriano Cabrera, The Cabrerillo of Linares (Linares, 1892-1938), whose exact birth dates –Bailén Street– and death dates –Glorieta Street– we determined through the research of José Ramón Checa Medina.
As a flamenco singer whom we could label more as a dedicated amateur than a professional, there isn't much information we can provide about the owner of the peña from Linares, except that he was a goatherd –hence the nickname– and a miner, although he stood out in the 1920s, going down in history, above all, as a master of the local taranta, to which he contributed such unique twists that they would influence his friend Child of Marchena.
Regarding his professional career, it should be noted that in 1922 he participated in the Contest Cante Jondo held in Linares, where he won second prize after Juan Soler, Alias Boy from Linares, and that in July 1926 we find it in Malaga on a poster headed by Mr. Antonio Chacon and with Manuel Escaena or Niño de Marchena, among several others.
I don't know if as the absolute creator, but, judging from my conversations with Pepe Marchena y John ValderramaYes, we attribute to him two styles of taranta that have already been subjected to analysis by Rafael Chaves Arcos y Norman Paul Kliman in his highly recommended work The CanteMiners through slate logs and cylinders (2013). Namely.
The first Linares style appeared in the discography in 1923 and shows a possible predominance of The Fool of Linareswhich could have greatly influenced what we know as the Personita taranta. This taranta by El Cabrerillo was identified with the lyrics That he would do it right away. voices like The Trinitarian (1923), Niño de Marchena (1924), Child from Utrera (1926) and The Pena Son (1928), without forgetting The Girl from Linares (I've seen a running bug, 1928).
As for the second taranta from Linares mentioned, it was recorded in the throats of Niño de Marchena (That with both of them he was scratching, 1925), Little War (Borrull the guitarist, 1929), Boy from Utrera (Which is the best in Cartagena, 1940) or my admired Grace of Triana (To have you as a fan.
"The fans of Linares showed their recognition to Luis Soriano Cabrera, El Cabrerillo de Linares (Linares, 1892-1938), who stood out in the 1920s, going down in history, above all, as a master of the local taranta, to which he contributed such unique twists that they would influence his friend Niño de Marchena."
It is fair to say that these canteThey were the model in which the participants of the National Taranta Competition of Linares, and that the signatory, as can be seen in the newspaper archives, attributed it to Niño de Marchena, who obviously found his origin in El Cabrerillo de Linares, a flamenco singer who was honored in the Teatro Cervantes from his hometown, in May 1970, with the presence of prominent poets such as Federico Muelas, Luis López Anglada, Eladio Cabañero, Antonio Murciano, Manuel Alcántara and Manuel Ríos Ruiz.
Popular identification, however, would come with the founding of the Peña Flamenca The Cabrerillo de Linares. It was June 2, 1976, when a group of dedicated fans formed a social entity that not only valued the contributions of the owner, but also went on to organize the XIX National Congress of Flamenco Activities in October 1991, where they honored the local singers and guitarists with the publications that we attendees received.
Although in the eighties of the last century the board was made up of Herminio López (president), Miguel Hernández y Raphael Lara (treasurers) and Peter Lazarus (secretary), it is as a result of him assuming the presidency Fernando Medina de la Rosa, when the entity takes a boost that would lead it to become a model of planning, direction and resource management, as confirmed by the fact that he was elected president of the 1990s Provincial Federation of Peña Flamencas from Jaén.
Let us also remember that in 1992 Medina and his board moved the headquarters to the Sagunto street with a membership drive that exceeded one hundred, plus recitals, and an outreach to the flamenco to the children, conferences, total involvement in the tarantas competition and the creation of the The Festivals Flamenco, held on August 27, 1994 in the El Campero RanchThe meeting, in its fourth edition – August 1998 – was dedicated to its namesake, in the belief that it celebrated the centenary of his birth, not forgetting the opening of the new headquarters in the Ventanas Street at the end of 1995.
The various social clubs were frequented by the great figures of the era, as well as local artists, to whom we add the Cultural week, created in 1995, conferences that were suspended in 1997 due to the unexpected death of Fernando Medina as a result of a stroke.
Medina succeeded him as president Joaquín SecoBut in October of that same year he assumed the position Francisca García Herrera, widow of Fernando Medina, dedicating the fourth Cultural Week to Fernando Medina (1998), paying tribute months later to the holder of the peña and organizing the 5th Cultural Week (2000), in addition to celebrating the silver anniversary of the peña a year later at the headquarters of the Pontón Street, with the presidency in 2004 passing to Rafael JiménezApart from tributes such as those offered to Carmen Linares, whom they named godmother, Joselete from Linares (1992) Juan Récola Elova, Fernando Lastra and Gonzalo Rojo (1996) Francisco Moyano (1997) or naming as an honorary member the Virgin of Linarejos (2006), in an event where the presidents who led the society were recognized.
These are the data we can provide from the Peña Flamenca The Cabrerillo de Linares, an entity that in its glory days comprised leadership and strategic vision, which therefore generated a very positive impact on the cultural life of the people of Linares and enriched our contemporary society. ♦
