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Jerez Festival 2006
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Kate
Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía
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 RE: Jerez Festival 2006 (in reply to Escribano)
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Just to add my two cents, my favourites were Domingo Ortega (despite the flute !!) , La Fuensanta ( from Granada so I had seen her many times) and Son de la Frontera who performed in an old sherry warehouse, the smell alone was enough to feel drunk and even better was the fact that they gave the stuff away free. The band got a standing ovation as the whole crowd rose to their feet.a
It was my first time in Jerez but I seemed to keeping bumping into old friends which made me feel as if I was at home. It was great to finally meet Fergus and his gorgeous girlfriend Waffa ( I had already heard of her beauty as she won the hearts of quite a few flamencos last year when they went with Emilio to play in the UK). Also Sean from Cadiz and Sarah who were great company, and just as well Harold had not come or Sean and him would have spent the whole time discussing recording, mikes, and other problems you come across recording flamencos. Estela was busy writing up her reviews but still made time for everyone and managed to meet us for tapas in between shows. Robin Totton kindly invited Simon and I to dinner, and he took me to a few shows as he had spare tickets and we both enjoyed a bloody good moan after seeing Rocio Molino. And also another forum member Veetus who was very good company, so I hope he makes to Granada sometime soon. If you reading this Veetus sorry not to have had a chance to say goodbye.
The funniest moment was as we arrievd at the theatre to see Fuensanta and were overtaken by a stapede of Japanese running to get the front seats, apparantly they were from the gance academy and get free entrance. We didn't stand a chance as we stood with our mouths open. Any way they were in for a treat as Simon has already said Fuensanta did a classical show, cante and guitar accompanying her dancing soleá, a fandango abandolao and finally a seguiriya.
I wish I could have stayed longer and seen La Farucca and got there earlier to see the opening night when some wonderful cantaores sang martinetes with a real forge, actually making horseshoes on stage.
Looking forward to next year, and a big thank you to Simon for the fun we there and back and hanging out. Maybe next time we take the Mustang 
Kate
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 6 2006 16:47:17
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Romanza
Posts: 296
Joined: Oct. 24 2005
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RE: Jerez Festival 2006 (in reply to Escribano)
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Got back from Jerez a few days ago and thought I would add my update! Well I had a great time but am afraid my obsession with all things Flamenco (and indeed Spanish) has only intensified! The festival really opened my eyes to what a diverse and continually surprising form of expression flamenco is.
Jerez was only my second time in Spain and felt like the real Spain – being forced to speak Spanish for one thing! But what fantastically friendly and welcoming people! Such a laid back town and very attractive. Would just like to say thanks so much to the ‘Houseinjerez.com’ guys for their useful tips on the website - La Moderna became a favourite!
We saw three acts of the festival – the first, Hiniesta Cortes at Sala la Compania, was a treat. This was everything I hadn’t seen of flamenco but expected it to be if you know what I mean. The complete set of guitarists, singers and dancer in an array of dramatic costumes including the long tailed dress (how do they not trip over it?). I loved Hiniesta, she seemed to take great joy in the dancing while remaining relatively sombre. At the end the cantaors and the palmeros did a bit of dancing – very amusing. I have a terrible photo of this which I will maybe post anyway. Her first sequence I found very moving, something about the female dancing and seemingly oblivious to the men around her yet in complete synchronicity - almost controlled by them (or perhaps vice versa?) - there is something incredibly intimate about it.
Second was Antonio Rey at the Palacio de la Vivencia, in the grounds of the Alcazar. The location was perfect, the room itself simple and basic but with high ceilings and with great acoustics, letting the music speak for itself. Antonio Rey – great guitarist no doubt but this set which included his sister and ‘El Londres’ on percussion didn’t really do much for me. It was nice, but just didn’t touch me.
HOWEVER, I was totally blown away by the following act, who I didn’t even know were appearing. Oh my god! El Salmonete, with Alberto San Miguel on guitar.When these two dour looking guys strode arrogantly on stage I wondered what on earth to expect.. but WOW!!! I don’t know what to say, I have never seen a singer give it his all like that on stage – at one point I was cringing because I thought the guy's lungs were sure to explode! It was truly amazing stuff, and watching the guitarist’s face change as he got into it was pretty powerful – just completely surrendering himself. I’m not sure if Duende can ever be reached in such a staged setting, but I was certainly feeling something!
I guess this was flamenco puro – there was nothing fancy about it, but it was all the more effective for its simplicity. It seemed like it could have been 50 years ago or today. Salmonete was stamping his feet so hard and at the end of each song launched himself off his chair to rapturous applause. I wanted to join the one lady at the front in a standing ovation but.. British reserve I guess!
I was thrilled that I actually managed to identify some of the palos – a fandangos, a bulerias.. I thought also an alegrias (although it would have been the least joyful alegrias ever sung I guess – these guys were pretty serious - but it contained the Tiri Tiri Tran which confused me as I thought that was unique to Alegrias - perhaps someone could explain!) – from what I understood of the reviews the next day I think maybe it was a seguiryas.
We decided to see Carmen Cortes on our last night, mainly so we could take in a show at the Teatro Villamarta. I erroneously kept reminding my partner that Carmen was the wife of Paco Pena (not sure where I got that from) - I didnt realise until we returned home that it was in fact Gerardo Nunez! I must admit that the first 20 minutes or so of this show – ‘Silencio’ – I found excruciatingly boring, literally I wanted to cry out loud in frustration. It was painfully slow, didn’t seem like flamenco, more like contemporary dance. My partner complained later that the dancers weren’t in sync – in my new-found knowledge I told him they weren’t meant to be, so it doesn’t appear too choreographed (thank you Robin Totton!).
However when Carmen finally got going it was worth the wait – once again I was left open mouthed – how on earth does she move like that! She seemed almost possessed, like some sort of gypsy witch woman (I mean that in a good way!) – it was almost spooky. The two guys she was with – one of them was kind of ‘raw’ but both really came into their own with their solo pieces – Oh I could have watched it all night – thigh slapping, stamping, the lot. Again, at the end, Carmen embarrassed all of the accompanists by forcing them into the limelight to do a little dance. Despite their protesations they seemed to enjoy their few seconds in the limelight each doing a cheeky little dance. It was, to use a cliché, a joy to behold!!!
I had to keep pinching myself with the knowledge that I was actually in flamenco’s heartland. I was literally like a child in a sweet shop – what with the flamenco centre, the music shops, and then the flamenco itself.. Even just coming across an elderly gentleman in the street warbling to himself, my pulse would quicken – was this what I had read about – gypsies on street corners singing their laments to noone in particular? My partner told me to stop being silly, that he was no different to any old drunk wailing on a street corner in London.I am ashamed to admit that I was excited to see (what I thought wer)e real gypsies on the streets, in fact I was actively studying the locals to see if I could identify the gypsies among them. But I couldnt help romanticising everything, the whole culture – especially not in Jerez – home of flamenco – my senses were on overdrive!!
Anyway, sorry for this ridiculously long and gushing post but I felt it necessary. I still don’t think I’ve had the authentic flamenco experience, but although by no means an aficionado I feel a whole lot closer to understanding what it’s all about!
Anyway to finish I thought I would share what was tragically one of the highlights of the trip for me – coming across a sherry barrel signed way back in 1975 by none another than Paco de Lucia, at the Tio Pepe bodega! I had to defy regulation and take a photo. (I've just tried to upload it as it has a funny little message on it, but I couldnt seem to do it. Will try again another time!)
Thanks for reading!
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 10 2006 22:54:28
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Florian
Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia
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RE: Jerez Festival 2006 (in reply to Romanza)
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My friends got back today from that, they went to a show everynight, they loved, Faruccos, Moraito, Rafael Campallo, Rafael Riqueny, Grillo, and many others , they hated Sara Baras, didnt get much into the Jeronimo who was doing the weird stuff that he does.
I just read that review about Sara, he said , she had all the old yappies (60yolds) in the crowd, there were cards people were given to scoret the show and he said all the flamenco people they knew gave it about 2 or 3 out of 10.
The next night they saw faruccos, said it was like a different world, everyone in the crowd was young, had black hair and the show blew him away.
did u guys catch the sara bars and faruccos what did u think ?
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 20 2006 15:13:53
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