There is in our sphere or world flamenco, and in others, people who have great value as researchers or disseminators of art flamenco, and are even artists themselves, without receiving, we believe, the recognition they deserve. One of them is, without a doubt, José Esteban Rodríguez Cosano, brothers of another great one in this sense, but somewhat more well-known and recognized, the beloved and remembered Ricardo, with whom we were able to share moments of flamenco with our students and with fans in general. Two people of remarkable human quality, full of simplicity and generosity.
We've gotten to know José Esteban better in recent years. Especially since he called us, very excited, to tell us he wanted to record two albums of flamenco guitar with a pick, something he's a specialist in. He wanted to know what we thought—brilliant and innovative, of course—and to ask us to contribute our opinion in the booklet introducing them. It was an honor and a pleasure to collaborate. The pick surprised me, of course, because it was so unusual, but I admired the difficulty and the daring. I've barely seen any examples of it. flamenco with a spike on the Internet, it is really not at all common and its use will surely have many detractors.
The first of the albums was titled Feeling and guitar. Flamenco instrumental and was published in 2023. These are the words we dedicated to it:
FROM THE PICK TO THE SKY
From the pick to the sky, the pick plucking with excited precision (or precise emotion) the six magic strings of the guitar. Beautiful but inert strings until hands like those of José Esteban Rodríguez Cosano are able, with their snowy hand, like those in Bécquer's poem, so deep and jondo, to give them vital breath. Music from earth to heaven, a beautiful pentagram of beauty and depth. And depth, for Rodríguez Cosano offers us with generosity, at last, what he knows and communicates so well: the cultured and honorable music of flamenco.
José Esteban Rodríguez Cosano –Casariche, Seville, 1951– is a retired teacher, a true amateur, as was his beloved and admired brother Ricardo –RIP–, whom all good amateurs of the flamenco They know, remember and admire him for his work as a member of the club, lecturer, and pioneer in the teaching of flamenco in teaching, research, and dissemination, activities in which the former has also worked. Ricardo, to whom, as the best of brothers, he dedicates his work.
We titled our commentary "From the pick to the sky" because the performer gives us a surprising gift for two reasons: because the use of the pick is a novelty when singing with it on the guitar, or at least something very rarely seen in the flamenco In recordings or live performances, as he has been doing for many years, and because, without a doubt, he achieves that magical ability to elevate us above the everyday and vulgar, he seduces us with his artistic quality, in this case musical and flamenco.
"Personally, I am excited about this way of doing things. cante with the pick, more than I expected. The pick may have a bad reputation among the flamenco"s, for being an artificial addition, perhaps superfluous, a kind of technical juggling act, compared to the nail, which would represent the natural and the traditional. Rodríguez Cosano is innovative and brave, without a doubt."
He has wisely selected a few themes, few, but with substance, a group of touches that are cantemore than recognized and recognizable, cantes played/sung with the pick on the strings. Eight renditions joining palos and styles of canteThey are very popular with artists, such as the fandangos, the malagueñas and verdial or the granaína, along with other less used ones, always very beautiful in our opinion, such as the alboreá, the campanilleros, the lullaby, the petenera or the saeta. We know that he saves for another occasion, hopefully soon, those that we fans love so much, such as the soleares, the seguiriyas, the bulerías, the tientos, the alegrías or the cante from Levante and the so-called "de ida y vuelta" (round trip). Making them available to us will be a boon for everyone and a just reward for their knowledge and skill. In the end, we could have a fantastic anthology.
For all the above, we are looking at a great work. If we add that it is accompanied by the guitar of Antonio Carrion It's already honey on flakes. All artists and fans know that there are few artists and fans of Carrión's caliber, due to his career, his wisdom of touch, of cante –he himself has recorded an album as a singer– and dance, his incessant work with the peñas, his mastery and, most importantly, his bonhomie, his human quality. With Antonio's respectful but decisive contribution, this album is, never better said, perfect. And that cherry on top with the piano of Juan Antonio Aguilera the Vitito in the introduction of the lullaby.
I'm not an expert who can fully analyze each performance musically. I can get close to its meaning. flamencoAnd I have to say that I am personally excited about this way of doing things. cante with the pick, more than I expected. The pick, a priori, may even have a bad reputation among the flamencos, for being an artificial addition, perhaps superfluous, a kind of technical juggling act, compared to the nail, which would represent the natural and the traditional. Rodríguez Cosano is undoubtedly innovative and brave.
Each cante played has its own personality. Thus, the alboreá, in the usual style of bulería por soleá, but with considerable speed and joy, with dizzying tremolos with the pick, and the lyrics that we remember from the person who first recorded them, Rafael Romero the ChickenThe bell ringers have a penetrating tempo, an exquisite finesse, in line with the ornate and melismatic The Girl from Puebla. The fandangos are remembering three styles: those of Lion Boy, Pepe Aznalcóllar y Antonio the top scorer. The granaína overflows with intimate emotion, as should happen both at cante like the guitar in this paloIn the Malagan version, he plays the Twin, builds a perfect and deep "mellizada", with a vibrant closing with the verdial of the Montes de Málaga. The lullaby is introduced with some piano chords by Juan Antonio Aguilera el Vitito, as we said, to continue with the lullabies that evoke those of Manuel de Falla, the Nana of Seville recreated by Lorca, the Lullaby of the Big Horse Who Sang Camarón And some lullabies, José Esteban tells us with the emotion of a grandfather, one in a normal tone and another in high-pitched tones, "as if the baby were opening its eyes and telling the grandparents not to be sad." The peteneras, the small one and the large one, are intense in his hands, with the memory of Pastora Pavón among other artists and unite Carrión's introductory tremolos with Rodríguez Cosano's singing pick in a splendid and difficult repiqueteo. And finally, the saeta, original, a personal recreation by carcelera, but within the melodic schemes of flamenco.
Our performer learned to play with a pick at the age of six, first the bandurria, then the lute. Finally, the guitar arrived, with a distinguished teacher, Pedro Bacán, and another no less admirable, his own brother, Ricardo. Ultimately, Sentimiento y guitarra is an exemplary, innovative, intense, and very flamenco work, a work that took a lot of effort to complete and which, thanks to his sensitivity and superior technique, with the invaluable support and guitar framework of Antonio Carrión, takes us from the pick to heaven. We eagerly await the second album. Onward, and thank you.
Let us listen to the dawn of this work.
The other album, from 2024, is dedicated to the famous bandit The TempranilloIn our contribution to the libretto you can read:
José María Hinojosa Cobacho –1805-1833–, bandit known as "El Tempranillo", was, when the king "of the Spains" was Ferdinand VII -according to Richard Ford in words that the historian reminds us José Antonio Rodríguez Martín In this same pamphlet, he describes himself as "the master of Andalusia." And he adds: "At whose very name the old men and women there tremble." We now have the Romantic myth, outside the law of the time, with his own world alongside his companions in the mountains. A world that seduced many writers and artists, as the Romantic movement of the 19th century was responsible for elevating these marginal figures to artistic glory, with no small amount of idealization, but that's another story.
The bandits have received in the world of flamenco various tributes in the form of a collection of cantes, like the one Manuel Orta dedicated to Diego Corrientes in 1988 or, now, the album we're discussing here, among others. In our case, José Esteban Rodríguez Cosano and his late brother Ricardo also wrote the book Semblanza flamenca de José María "El Tempranillo." Now the former sees one of his dreams come true: an anthology of cantes glossing the trajectory of this "Robin Hood "Andalusian", as he has been called. He has written the lyrics of all the cantes, with the pertinent perfect metric and expressive adjustment. The first lyrics of the alegrías already summarize the life of this Cordoban from Jauja: "The story of a bandit / who was born in Andalusia, / a treacherous hand / came and snatched the road from him." And in all of them we can see a panegyric air, highlighting qualities such as courage and events that have marked his love life, personal life, and his social impact: "I am Tempranillo de Jauja, / King of the Sierra Morena. / My fame, to the four winds, / resounds throughout Spain."
Ten gather here cantes: classic alegrías from Cádiz; tientos-tangos with Beans y Pastora of references; fandangos from a variety of sources –Aznalcóllar, Pichichi, Gabriel Moreno, Cepero–; martinetes in use; bamberas (of Pastora and another different version that they embroidered Jose Menese o Miguel Vargas); light-mountainous-abandoned from Perez de Guzman; from Malaga the Trini with rondeña and the finishing touch of Peppermint Bottle; the petenera – primitive, large and small; the zambra, one hundred percent caracolera, and some obligatory seguiriyas and cabales reminiscent of the Jerez people Manuel Torre y Paco the Light and to top it all off the cabal of Silverio.
This is a successful selection, with canteObligatory and in keeping with the theme, such as the serranas, the hallmark of all things mountainous, where bandits always had their lives hanging in the balance. There's no shortage of drama, as in the seguiriya, but life is always multi-colored, and we have the alegrías of Cádiz or the amorous bamberas. In short, a good repertoire, and in the voice of the experienced singer, who is brimming with knowledge. Juan Soto, everything is very flamenco, deep, in a deep key. The guitars of Luis Calderito in the alegrías and malagueñas –from another previous album by the singer– and by Antonio Carrión in the others cantes embrace the cantes with musical beauty and a touch flamenco Precise. I invite you to delve into the skin of this character through this album, which captures his true story and its literary reflection in this musical work. flamenco high quality.
That's all for now. The author has been working on this idea for years. To say goodbye, here we see him in a recording made at the presentation of a work about El Tempranillo, with lyrics by himself and his brother, who is also a great fan and scholar of the flamenco Ricardo. They sing in the same Pepe Montaraz y Ani Zambrano accompanied on guitar by Juan CarrascoThey offered polos, seguiriyas, alegrías, serranas, etc. Here we heard the serrana.
