Andy Culpepper -> Paging Mr. Kliman (Apr. 11 2010 14:36:04)
Does anybody know anything about this Tangos letra/melody that starts here at 1:23?
It seems like a distinctive melody. The first time I heard it was on Juan Moneo "El Torta"'s new album and Canelita sings the same words here... did El Torta write it or what?
NormanKliman -> RE: Paging Mr. Kliman (Apr. 12 2010 1:56:12)
Hi Andy,
The author is Jesús Agarrado Castro, also known as "El Guardia." Here he is accompanying Diego Agujetas:
He's written a lot of letras that his brother-in-law El Torta and others have recorded, although he rarely gets credit. Jesús is an excellent aficionado, person and guitarist (in any order) and the father of two very talented kids.
His daughter Gema Moneo is a dancer who's drawing a lot of attention from aficionados and critics although she's not yet 20 years old. She's just started what looks to be a promising career, and the family has already gotten calls from top professionals who want to hire her.
His son Jose (usually billed as Jose Moneo) is a bit younger and is a real interesting kid. Thanks to his father's open mind and restless sense of artistic perfection, he not only sings all kinds of siguiriyas, soleás, bulerías, cantiñas, etc. (after all, he's a Moneo) but also guajiras, cantes abandolaos and other styles rarely heard in Jerez, and he sings all of them very well. He's still just a kid, so breathing is a big issue for him (having enough lungpower for each part of the verse), but he sings the most interesting parts of all of his cantes with absolute conviction. You know: the parts toward the end of each cante where they start yelling. [;)] When he gets to those parts, he always sounds geniunely angry but never in a heavy-handed way. I've heard him sing a few times, not too many, but enough to realize that he's able to connect to some kind of energy and to channel it perfectly at will. It takes some people an entire lifetime (or never) to gain that kind of ability, and he's already very strong in that sense. But he's still a kid, and he's interested in all kinds of music. On several occasions, he's surprised the hell out of me because he'll start talking about Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, Hendrix, which were my favorites when I was his age, and he'll even point out some of the same tiny details in those recordings that I used to marvel at when I was his age. Details in the music and lyrics, and without knowing that I used to listen to those recordings. An amazing kid.
There are some videos on YouTube of Jesús with his children and with other artists. As often happens, most of them aren't very good examples of what these people can do.
Jesús is available for classes. I'll try to post some information on the forum.
Andy Culpepper -> RE: Paging Mr. Kliman (Apr. 13 2010 5:08:31)
quote:
The author is Jesús Agarrado Castro, also known as "El Guardia."
Damn, we're so lucky to have you here Norman! That's incredible that you actually know all these people personally. Btw how long have you been in Spain, I assume you weren't born there?
Viva Jeré![:D]
NormanKliman -> RE: Paging Mr. Kliman (Apr. 14 2010 0:51:58)
Hi Andy,
quote:
That's incredible that you actually know all these people personally
Not so incredible because Jerez is a small town and it's easy to bump into all kinds of people. Also, the jerezanos (and especially the gaditanos) are incredibly friendly. In addition to this, lots of people like to keep track of everyone else: who's doing what or whom, heh-heh. So it's easy for us to get to know them, and we provide them with entertainment.
But don't get me wrong: I can't say that I have a close relationship with any big artists here. I've eaten with some families, I've been in intimate party settings with certain people (and, what's more important, they remember afterward [:D]), I'm on friendly terms with others, etc., but it's nothing to brag about. Like I said, they're all friendly and outgoing.
quote:
Btw how long have you been in Spain...
Since 1987. But I'd rather talk about this stuff off the forum. Nothing to hide, but it's not appropriate.
