The
list of fine flamenco
guitarists is long, among them the
Montoya family
(some of whom are better known by sobriquet
of los Habichuela),
especially Juan
(1933-) and Pepe
(1949-). Other artists to watch for include
El Tomatito
(1947-), Manolo
Sanclucar (1943-) and Moraito
Chico (1956-).
Paco de Lucia’s friend El
Camaron de la isla (1950-92) was,
until his death, the leading light of contemporary
cante hondo; plenty of flamenco
singers today try to emulate him.
Another who has reached cult status is Enrique
Morente (1942-), referred to by a
Madrid
paper as ‘the
last Bohemian’. Among other
leading vocalists
figures such ass Carmen
Linares (1951-), from the province
of Jaen,
and the Sevilliano jose
Menese (1941-). Other top-notch singers
include Remedios
Amaya and Aurora
Vargas (1956-), Juan
Peña Fernandez (El Lebrijano;
1941), Calixto
Sanchez (1946-), Chano
Lobato (1927-), and Vincent
Soto (Sodera; 1927-). El Camaron´s
younger successors
include Antonio
Vargas (known as El Polito), Juan
Cortes Duquende,
Miguel Poveda (1973-). One of the
rising female vocalists is Aurora
(1972-).
Of Spain’s
flamenco dancers and choreographers,
the greatest this century with little doubt
Antonio Ruiz
Soler (1921-96). Known many simply
as Antonio, he danced
and choreographed
an infinite variety of classical and inventive
style of flamenco.
He often combined classical,
folkloric
and flamenco
dance and from 1981, as a director
of The National
Ballet de España, he took
his creative genius
around the world.
One of
the all-time
great bailaores
was the fiery Barcelona-born
Carmen Amaya
(1913-63). Leading contemporary figures
include Joaquin
Cortes
(1969-) and Antonio
Canales
(1962-), who is more of a flamenco
purist.
Traditionalists dislike fashionable
attempts to mix flamenco with ballet and
other forms. One of the great traditional
bailaores , Farruco
(1936-97) was a wild gitano soul who argued
that performers such as Cortes
don’t really dance flamenco. The only
‘puro
masculino’
bailor these days, Faruco
used to say, was his teenage granson Farquito
(1983-). And indeed ‘little
Farruco’
is today on the verge of becoming a major
star
of flamenco dance.
Manuela Vargas
(1941-),
Antonio Gades
(1936-), Cristina
Hoyas
(1946-), Miguel
Peña Vargus
(El Funi; 1939-) and Sara
Baras
(1971-) are other well-known dancers, some
with their own successful companies.
If you want to
give yourself a general introduction to
the best of flamenco, try to see
Carlos Sauru’s 1995 flick,
Flamenco,
A double- CD
set of the music is also available.
Tourist- orientated
flamenco music shows, called tablaos, lack
the genuine emotion of real flamenco,
although a few are worth seeing if you have
no alternative. The show-cum-vaudiville
atmosphere
will not be to ever one’s taste.
Nuevo Flamenco
& Fusion
Possibly
the most exciting developments in flamenco
have taken it on to other musical shores.
Two of the best-known groups that have experimented
with flamenco-rock fusion since the 1980s
are Ketama
and Pata
Negra,
whose music is labeled by some as Gypsy
rock.
One of Ketamas best albums is Canciones
Hondas,
while Pata Negra’s seventh, Como
Una Vara Verde,
is a good choice. A former member of Pata
Negra, Raimund
Amador
(1960-), has gone his own way and in 1996
made a CD with an American
blues master BB King.
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