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On flamenco-world they recently had a review of Capullo's concert at the Bienal and it mentioned that he's under investigation for attempted infanticide. I did some checking and found articles from Spanish news about this. My Spanish is far from perfect, but I think they're saying he poured gasoline on a 20-month old girl and threatened to set her on fire.
THAT IS MESSED UP.
I don't know what's up with his case. Anyone who knows the latest or can translate existing info better than I can, could you please let us know what the hell is going on with this guy.
Posts: 233
Joined: Apr. 7 2005
From: Adelaide, Australia
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to chinito)
I just got back from a month in Spain, and I saw Capullo's concert and followed the news coverage of the incident leading up to it. It appears that what happened is that, after a night of heavy drinking and an arguement with his wife, Capullo poured gasoline on himself and threatened to commit suicide. As he was shaking it out of the bottle, bits of it splashed on everyone in the room, including a baby. The baby's caregiver (grandma) was understandably angry at the potential danger, and pressed charges. In court both Capullo and her admitted to this version of events, it seems the Spanish press were the the main ones making it sound like something else. Charges were dropped a couple of days before the concert.
The concert itself was great - Remedios Amaya with lots of her family (the only one in the 7 person group without the surname "Amaya" was guitarist Juan Diego) and Capullo with guitarist Manuel Jero (son of nino Jero and in my opinion the greatest living exponent of the Jero clan's guitar style, with nino Jero pretty much lost to drugs). Capullo wasn't in my opinion in the same league as Remedios, however he made up for it with charisma, even improvising some lyrics refering to the recent court case.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Escribano)
Simon,
I think part of the problem with the above mentioned incident is petty jealousy (on the part of some of his neighbors) with his growing popularity, and corresponding increase in income. The peña here in Rota wanted to contract him to sing at the local Flamenco festival this past August, as he has performed there in the past as well as at the local peña. This year they couldn't afford him. His asking price was 7,200 euros.
Phil
BTW, Sean O'Brien had a full page with picture and 2 articles written about him in yesterday's Diario de Cadiz. I think you know him. You might be able to access it at their website. I was quite impressed. I still haven't gotten across the bay to meet him.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Phil)
quote:
I still haven't gotten across the bay to meet him
Phil, You sound as old or as lazy as me..(even worse! ) I'd have to go through the hassle of getting a new Passport and the application form has to almost be signed personally by Tony Blair as well as iris scanning and fingerprinting. Then there's the Airport trauma of cancelled flights and baggage and body searches etc... I really don't have the energy these days for that kinda crap. Prefer just listening to my records..
Ron
_____________________________
A good guitar might be a good guitar But it takes a woman to break your heart
Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Phil)
quote:
Sean O'Brien had a full page with picture and 2 articles written about him in yesterday's Diario de Cadiz
You mean about Sean or about Capullo by Sean? I'll check it out. Sean is a member here and yes, I have met him on several occasions. He is an old aquaintance of El Craic (Emma) from Belfast and he is a miserable old g*t! Only kidding Sean He is connected and very knowledgable. Make the trip and hang out, it's not that far from Rota. Stupid little bay.
p.s. If the they could hold the numbers, 7000 Euros would be cheap for the Mick Jagger of flamenco.
p.p.s. A friend down here has a very cool story about Capullo when he signed him for a concert at the Jerez F1 Grand Prix. Pure rock 'n roll. Can't be published here though.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Escribano)
quote:
You mean about Sean or about Capullo by Sean?
The articles are about Sean. That's why I thought you'd be interested.
quote:
If the they could hold the numbers, 7000 Euros would be cheap for the Mick Jagger of flamenco
Actually, he reminds me more of Keith Richards in may ways, except he hasn't fallen out of any coconut trees lately . The problem is they can't hold the numbers. I guess the days of hearing him in a relatively intimate setting, like the peña, are over.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Ron.M)
quote:
You sound as old or as lazy as me..(even worse! )
Ron, I plead guilty to both counts . But it's not just that - as old as I am I still have no control over my own life . I won't bore you with the details, but if you have a family including a grandchild or grandchildren who all live close by you probably know what I'm talking about. And, to be uncharacteristically serious for a moment, that has to take precedence over my self-centered hobbies. I was recently invited to a private fiesta by one of the Agujetas clan. Needless to say, I was extremely excited as opportunities like this do not happen to me even though I live in Spain. As I was just about to leave the house life got in the way and I was unable to attend something that may not ever come my way again. But, that's life. Phil
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to chinito)
Thanks to everyone for the Capullo info. Glad to hear it's all sorted. I couldn't keep my Capullo albums if he was guilty as charged in the media. Leadbelly was a murderer and is now considered a blues legend. But the situation would be different if he had done harm to a kid. Actually it's kinda screwed up that being a violent criminal could enhance one's artistic mystique regardless.
Sad also about Nino Jero. But no real surprise there. In the Puro y Jondo sequences he's in he seems kinda wired. He used to play for Capullo, didn't he? Now it's almost always Diego Amaya. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. Diego's also a great player. Nino Jero's brother Antonio also appears to be on something a lot of the time. Saw a video of him accompanying el Torta and he had this creepy rodentlike grin through every cante, even siguiriyas. Cool style of playing, but turns really manic when they're on drugs.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Guest)
quote:
Also, has antonio jero recorded with many other than rubichi? Not including compilations of course?
I don't think he has. There are a lot of very good accompanists that have few or no recordings. I have to say that his accompaniment of Diego Rubichi por Solea on the ''Luna de Calabozo" CD is one of the most elegant and tasteful accompaniments por Solea that I've heard.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Phil)
quote:
BTW, Sean O'Brien had a full page with picture and 2 articles written about him in yesterday's Diario de Cadiz. I think you know him. You might be able to access it at their website. I was quite impressed. I still haven't gotten across the bay to meet him.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to Phil)
quote:
There are a lot of very good accompanists that have few or no recordings
Phil, they don't make cante recordings any more. I began to notice about two years ago. A few locally-funded records, but virtually none on a commercial level with distribution.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to zata)
quote:
they don't make cante recordings any more. I began to notice about two years ago. A few locally-funded records, but virtually none on a commercial level with distribution.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to chinito)
quote:
No. There's plenty of flamenco around. Just that no one gets to hear it unless they're on the scene. Record companies will not record cante.
Record companies wants to make money, they´ll record someone farting if people would rush to the stores to buy it, they dont give a damn about quality or music itself for that matter anymore.
But Zata why dont you or i set up a website for them where they can sell mp3´s over the net so they can forget about the greedy multinationals?
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to sonikete)
quote:
Record companies wants to make money, they´ll record someone farting if people would rush to the stores to buy it, they dont give a damn about quality or music itself for that matter anymore.
It's not the fault of the companies. In order to cover the expense of proper promotion and distribution, they need to sell X amount of records. But the audience for cante is a small and unvarying minority. Flamenco has not changed. What has changed is the definition of what flamenco is in order to increase the audience. Definitions change, the music merely evolves.
A couple of artists have timidly begun to try work via the net, but flamencos are still, for the most part, computerless. Lots of people would still love to hear some cante, and the person who figures out how to tap that market could be very successful.
A more difficult problem is the dwindling stock of singers. Right now young people still have the memory of recently gone stars like Chocolate, Fernanda or Paquera, but living traditional cantaores are few: Agujetas, Rancapino, Chano, Bernarda....
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to chinito)
quote:
It's not the fault of the companies. In order to cover the expense of proper promotion and distribution, they need to sell X amount of records. But the audience for cante is a small and unvarying minority. Flamenco has not changed. What has changed is the definition of what flamenco is in order to increase the audience. Definitions change, the music merely evolves.
I think there is a growing amount of foreign aficionados of cante around the world with computers that could become a new market for it. Deflamenco for example could be the perfect place to try it out on.
And i humbly have to disagree with that flamenco hasnt changed, flamenco has changed, the lifestyle and living conditions the old cante came from and was an expression of, doesnt exist anymore, so naturally the expression also change.
And a lot of small recordlabels that had a genuine interest in music has been bought up by multinationals who only care about money, so i dont really agree there either.
But i know what you mean by a definition change, commercialization. But i think a lot of foreigners are drawn to flamenco because the tradition has aspects of unyielding integrity, something seriously lacking in a lot of music (and people) nowadays, and making it more accessible is sort of debasing it.
But you´re living with it, and im not, so im happy to be relieved of my misconseptions if im wrong.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to sonikete)
quote:
And i humbly have to disagree with that flamenco hasnt changed, flamenco has changed, the lifestyle and living conditions the old cante came from and was an expression of, doesnt exist anymore, so naturally the expression also change.
That’s an “old wives’ tale” that people love to repeat. Flamenco was never about being disadvantaged, that’s a yuppie concept that came after the fact. People lived without electricity or human rights since the dawn of time – music is an integral part of any culture. Flamenco has always been about love, unlove, and death - the human condition. When someone sings the famous siguiriya which translated reads: ‘When you went away, they offered me little cups of broth, but I didn’t want any’, that is extraordinarily powerful poetry that speaks to everyone who has ever lost a loved one or been abandoned by a lover, and it’s absolutely timeless. The vast majority of cante is in that line, only a very small portion is overtly political or dated. As dated as the new verses about cell phones and batteries will be in the future.
quote:
And a lot of small recordlabels that had a genuine interest in music has been bought up by multinationals who only care about money, so i dont really agree there either.
The system has changed. Now records are marketed in a way that requires expensive promotion to cover costs. The photographer who took the picture that appears on Merce’s recording “Aire” was paid more for that single shot than the cost of my house. That’s a lot of records that need to be sold. Smaller companies don’t have distribution, the product never makes it to the shops, hence, does not get sold.
quote:
But i know what you mean by a definition change, commercialization.
Recordings that only 30 years ago would never have been considered flamenco, today would be marketed as flamenco: Las Grecas, Peret, Manolo Escobar... We all love this stuff, but to call anything flamenco that includes a guitar and some handclaps is just cynical commercialization.
quote:
But you´re living with it, and im not
I’m not going down without a fight, and it’s the main reason I do so much writing.
RE: What the heck is wrong on with C... (in reply to chinito)
quote:
That’s an “old wives’ tale” that people love to repeat. Flamenco was never about being disadvantaged
I dont mean that as much the stylistic changes even with traditional singing (less hardcore expression among younger singers) and lifestyle changes like that there are so many other things young people can do with their free time nowadays other than learning to sing marianas.
quote:
The system has changed. Now records are marketed in a way that requires expensive promotion to cover costs. The photographer who took the picture that appears on Merce’s recording “Aire” was paid more for that single shot than the cost of my house. That’s a lot of records that need to be sold. Smaller companies don’t have distribution, the product never makes it to the shops, hence, does not get sold.
I like Jose Merce a lot when he sings flamenco, he has an unbelivable voice, but i could easily live without a lot of stuff from some of his albums, so its a pity that the market for less commercialized stuff is so small, but i doubt you could reach a larger audience even with madonnas marketing if you are called agujetas.
So the way i see it happen is using the channels that exist, like deflamenco, to sell music directly from the artist to the buyer. Then you get global distribution for a very low cost, and even if the marketing wont come near a josé merce, it is possible to promote it thru the site.
For example if you recommended a singer and there where some recordings available for a resonable fee on deflamenco - i´d buy it.
quote:
I’m not going down without a fight, and it’s the main reason I do so much writing.
Good, keep writing it, i enjoy reading it, just as many other addicts i presume.
Printable Version
) 
. But it's not just that - as old as I am I still have no control over my own life 
. I won't bore you with the details, but if you have a family including a grandchild or grandchildren who all live close by you probably know what I'm talking about. 
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