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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
La alboreá
So gitanos in the room, forgive me for the intrusion, but I've heard a bit about the alboreá and realized I actually don't have a single recording! I'm really curious to hear what one sounds like. Recordings are probably at a minimum, but does anyone know where I can find one?
Volume 3 of the old Hispavox/Westminster Anthology of Cante Flamenco has an alboreá, sung by Rafael Romero with Perico el del Lunar; also, if you're VERY lucky, you might find an old Cuban LP, Cante Flamenco, also from the 1950s, also with an alboreá, also with Romero and Perico. It is Kubaney #MT-164. Good luck!
I've heard a bit about the alboreá and realized I actually don't have a single recording! I'm really curious to hear what one sounds like. Recordings are probably at a minimum, but does anyone know where I can find one?
The gitanos I've known say it is bad luck to sing it except at weddings, in the morning. Maybe that's why recordings are uncommon. Sort of like dancing Peteneras is bad luck.
However, Saura's film flamenco trilogy has one in it. "Despierte la Novia" in the movie Bodas de Sangre ("Blood Wedding"). It is like a very slow bulerias. They play it in F# phrygian with no capo (the common Tarantos key). Not sure if that's a trad. key for alboreas. I had to learn it for a performance I did of Blood Wedding, and wrote out the tabs. Let me know if you want them.
TonyArnold
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"Flamenco is so emotionally direct that a trained classical musician would require many years of highly disciplined formal study to fail to understand it."
I'm resurrecting this thread to show an example of this palo (uploaded quite recently) that I had never heard before, and so just in case you haven't either:
haha: I'm just trying to figure out the bread and butter of baile/cante accomp, and in today's second class, the dancer wants this palo.
I've never heard this palo, and can't think of another that mixes bulerias de cadia/alegrias type harmony with phrygian harmony in the middle of the letra.. and not all seem to do it in the same place or same way. (Am I missing something?)(
after doing a little research, my first question is: is this a type of palo one can easily accompany not knowing any of the coplas?
the versions I'm finding are slightly different but the differences are kinda big. (like 3 beats where one type there's a Bm chord por medio, and another in the same place it's a Bb chord. That'd sound like quite a clunker if you mixed those up).
Adam - the best comercial recording I have of this is from the CD by La Tombala called "Lenguaje Puro". Her husband is Pedro Sierra who plays exceptionally throughout the album. Its for me a really authentic CD of pure Gypsy Cante.
Would this be something that could happen in a buleria? as part of a mixture of cantes por buleria?
Or is it typically something where a cantaor calls the palo and just sings a couple letras por alborea?
Ok look...it's more than bad luck, it's simply bad taste to play it, unless you are the musicians in a gypsy wedding. IMagine you get called to a gig, it's like a birthday party or christmas party or whatever...then you start playing "here comes the bride"....and finish the whole song...people look at you like you are an idiot. Or perhaps you have a private party at someones' home in july, and you play a few Christmas songs....WTF???
So, assuming you are in a gypsy wedding...that song can be interpreted as solea por buleria, buleria, tangos, rumba, etc...whatever might be ideal. A non gypsy cantaor sang it (the first time ever I had to play it) at a private party in a very high class restaurant as his CANTE solo....the dancer was the main feature. We ran over it before hand at tempo of buleria por solea. He ends up singing twice as fast, OVER TOP of my compas....which was the same tempo we rehearsed. He seemed totally pleased. To this day I am still like WTF was that about???
Recordings are probably at a minimum, but does anyone know where I can find one?
Individual Artists
Curro Malena: Antorcha de Oro del Cante, track 5 Diego Clavel: Cantes y Pensamientos, track 10 El Lebrijano: El Lebrijano, track 9 Fosforito: Fosforito Vol. 1, track 13 Juan Serrano et al: Cante Hondo, track 11 Paco Peña: A Compás!, Vol. 1, track 1 Pedro del Valle et al: Flamenco Fiesta, track 8 Pepe Marchena: Memorias Antológicas del Cante Flamenco Vol. 4, track 11 Rafael Romero: La Caña, track 3 Tía Anica La Piriñaca: Por el Aire de Santiago, track 6
Anthologies
Antología del cante flamenco Vol. 2, track 12 Archivo del Cante Flamenco Vol. 3, track 14 Cante flamenco, track 4 Duende Gitano, track 8 Grabaciones En París 1956–1959, Vol. 1, track 9 Gran Antologia Flamenca Vol. 4: Cordoba y Granada, track 9 Gran antología flamenca Vol. 3, track 2 Grandes Figuras del Flamenco (1), track 3 Grandes figures du flamenco Vol. 8, track 8 Grandes figures du flamenco Vol. 18, track 8 Grandes figures du flamenco Vol. 19, track 7 Hispavox Antologia Del Cante Flamenco Vol. 2, track 12 La Verdad del Cante Vol. 2, track 14 Magna Antologia Del Cante Flamenco Vol. 3, track 6 Manolo Leiva Selections from LPs Vol. 12, track 8 Medio Siglo de Cante Flamenco Vol. 2, track 14 Noche Flamenca, track 5 Nueva Gran Antologia Flamenca Vol. 4, track 10 Nueva Gran Antologia Flamenca Vol. 6, track 9 Reyes del Flamenco, track 3 Romances, Gilianas y Alboreás, tracks 7–11 The History of Flamenco Vol. 11, track 2 Vergara Archivo de Cante Flamenco Vol. 3, track 14
We ran over it before hand at tempo of buleria por solea. He ends up singing twice as fast, OVER TOP of my compas....which was the same tempo we rehearsed. He seemed totally pleased. To this day I am still like WTF was that about???
sounds like that singer wasn't going to be "boxed in" by any rehearsal/choreography nonsense!
We ran over it before hand at tempo of buleria por solea. He ends up singing twice as fast, OVER TOP of my compas....which was the same tempo we rehearsed. He seemed totally pleased. To this day I am still like WTF was that about???
sounds like that singer wasn't going to be "boxed in" by any rehearsal/choreography nonsense!
He was OLD...that's why he hired people for special gigs, but the dancers rarely hired him....impossible to do choreography to his cante in a consistant way, always the dancers had to improvise. Fine for solos (sort of) but for group numbers impossible. I now wish the dancers had taken advantage of what he had to offer....
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