One thousand seventy-six pages in a single volume. Don't be alarmed. It's true that the book of the journalist Ildefonso Vergara, the result of his doctoral thesis and degree One hundred years of flamenco and radio, edited in the collection of flamenco of the Sevilla University by the end of 2024, it's a huge project, as the publications director said at the presentation in SevilleA huge work, but, be careful, in the best sense of the word, because once you hold it in your hands, not without effort due to its weight, of course, you begin to realize that we are dealing with an important work. What's more, once you finish reading or reviewing it, you truly realize that it is one of the most outstanding contributions to Flemish scientific research literature on flamenco of the last years.
Here, for those interested, the link to the University of Seville publishing house, coordinated by Araceli López Serena, in his collection of flamencoDirected by Francisco Javier Escobar Borrego y Rocío Plaza Orellana, award-winning and recognized collection:
It is true that, due to its specific content, relative to one hundred years of presence of flamenco on the radio, and we would say of the radio in the future of flamenco, for mutual benefit, may not be of interest to everyone. It is not, no, a generalist book, as there are others, more informative and that cover history, literature, styles, personalities of the flamenco. It is, on the contrary, a work related to this subject, and, therefore, apart from being of partial interest to each person, according to his taste and origin - the part of flamenco on the radio in Huelva, for example, is of more interest to those from that province than to those, like me, from Seville - we will be very interested in other aspects such as the short biographies of the protagonists, both artists and commentators. Likewise, if we want to see The evolution of radio in Spain since its beginnings in 1924, already with flamenco On its airwaves, within the historical context, we will also have reasons for learning or remembering. In addition, we have a complete range of information on programs flamenco on the radio in Spain and the rest of the world, contests, discussions, coverage of various shows from a peña flamenca, a summer festival or a theater, interviews, etc.
A mosaic of in-depth, well-referenced information, very well written and commented, where appropriate, with commendable skill and elegance. I have known the author, Ildefonso Vergara, personally for several years, ever since he joined the interdisciplinary research doctoral program at the University of Barcelona. flamenco from the University of Seville, which I coordinated for two years. I've followed his thesis and, more recently, his extraordinary lectures and his increasingly broad and highly valued career, awarded even by amateur radio enthusiasts. A man of radio, he is regional commercial director of the Cadena Ser of Andalusia and has worked in various media. He himself appears in the book as a promoter of a program flamenco from the radio of To the mountain, in his birthplace, from the early years of his total dedication to flamencoAn elegant person, like his style, it is commendable how he has researched with unquestionable diligence and seriousness, and how he has written this book, the result of his doctoral thesis, with ease and at the same time with a depth worthy of a great researcher and a good writer.
His main idea is that radio contributed to the socialization of flamenco. In the beginning, there was, he says, flamenco on the radio, as there was basically music in general, with live performances. Then, from the sixties onwards, it began to be a topic discussed as a specific content, so we could now talk about flamenco radio, with discussions like the one that gave rise to Antonio Mairena, so remembered, whose memory is reflected in thethe cover photo of the bookIt's not just an ambient resource, a programming filler, but rather one that already has a greater social and intellectual significance.
As a memory and tribute, let us listen to this cante by Antonio Mairena for soleá:
Likewise, it studies radio as a means or resource for promoting flamenco, for example, with the organization of competitions cante like Radio Union, later Cadena SER, since 1925, held in the radio studios with an audience in attendance. A promotion and revaluation, along the lines championed by Antonio Mairena from those years onwards, to whom he dedicates a few measured words, assessing with fairness and knowledge.
A teacher whom he values so much, Inaki Gabilondo, writes the prologue. Many years of radio history in this exemplary journalist, and part of them in Seville with his small contribution to the attention to the flamenco In a historical context still marked by dictatorship, censorship, reactionary forces, etc., which in every way, and in this too, were a nuisance, if not outright outrageous. A world of freedom, simultaneously battered by emotions, attracted him intensely.
«Radio has been a fundamental pillar for the dissemination and knowledge of flamencoAnd this monumental work, this magnificent tome, is already, for me, in my bibliography, one of the best books written and published in recent years.
The work is divided into nineteen chapters, covering the relationship flamenco and radio by province and some places abroad. This is a publication for general information, tailored to the reader's taste, as we say, but also for research purposes. Researchers will find here a wealth of biographies, photos, and various documents that will pave the way for some of their objectives, whether or not they are related to radio. It is complemented by numerous figures and images, some QR codes for listening to programs, and a final list of reference documentation.
And I still have to comment on a personal, emotional, experiential part. Everyone, if they're already graying, will see their own. Mine, beyond sixty and after more than forty years of hobby and research flamenco, has been impacted by some names, photos or moments. There are many and they are full of passion for the flamenco and friendship with her lovers: the program The goblin and the tarab de Manolo Bohorquez, where I collaborated with a small section of study of letters, entitled With one more couplet; the priceless Emilio Jimenez Diaz, man of radio and journalism, flamenco full to the maximum, which gave me the first opportunity to publish in Andalusia Post Office, back in 1986, my first article on flamenco; Manolo Curao, whom I have followed not by land, sea and air, but by radio and television since its beginnings; Manuel Cerrejón, a man of unbeatable passion and significant contributions, on whose program he interviewed me; Manuel Martin Martin, whom I have also followed from the beginning, learning from his vast experience; the remembered Miguel Acal, whom I got to interview for the magazine The olive; José L. Montoya, who has treated me so well in his Patio de ABC; Tere Peña and pellizco and communicative elegance; Antonio Montero Saucedo, a fellow countryman from Paradas, who emigrated to Barcelona and from there does flamenco radio; and other journalists with whom I have learned and continue to learn a lot. Or the author himself, Ildefonso, whom I have had the pleasure of listening to play fandangos from his homeland of Huelva at a gathering of friends with his professors and now friends from the doctoral program. By the way, let everyone know that these doctoral programs, these theses on flamenco, which bear fruit like the present one from scientific research.
We remember Manuel Curao, here in his Forum flamenco from Canal Sur Radio, in its world of flamenco communication, so valued and recognized. YouTube link of this special dedicated to Camarón:
The radio, then, as we are told and demonstrated, has been a fundamental pillar for the dissemination and knowledge of flamencoAnd this monumental work, this magnificent tome, whose only real flaw is perhaps that it could have been edited in two volumes for greater convenience, a very well-written book, measured in its more personal comments, is already, for me, in my bibliography, one of the best books written and published in recent years.
→ Ildefonso Vergara, One hundred years of flamenco and radio. Seville, University of Seville, Col. Flamenco, 2024.
