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Hello, just caught the the news on deflamenco which is still my homepage even if i don't always get round to reading estela's marvelous reviews or much else these days :-)
There are many flamenco artists I may never get to see, but I caught Chocolate in Jerez with a few friends who had never seen flamenco before and they were mesmerised by his siguiriyas. It is a significant loss.
Simon, hello and sorry for absence. Hope weather is hot enough for you. I just got a week in Galicia and it was scorching, despite a negative prediction from Robin. So I thought of you shrivelling up like a sun-dried tomato down there.
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You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf
Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía
RE: Chocolate died :( :( :( (in reply to El Craic)
Hey Emma,
www.deflamenco is my home page as well and the Chocolate tribute says it all, the end of an era for cante. I was lucky to see him sing a few times, in fact one of my first cante concerts was Chocolate.
As for the Spanish weather I just got back from dropping some people at Granada airport and it was 47 degrees according to one sign on the road. Life lived in a sauna !!
The other guitarist in our group was in Spain about 8 years ago, and he was on the train somewhere , apparently he noticed Chocolate and he could hardly contain his excitement he said he was so close he overheard the conversation Chocolate was having with a woman he just meet on the train.
they were making chit chat when the woman asked Chocolate what he does for work, he said he was a flamenco singer apparently she didnt flinch a muscle she was like " Oh cool. Neither did he, he was very humble about it ..
I met Chocolate a couple of years ago...it was in Moguer, near Huelva. I thought it was a big deal, kind of like a celebrity. He was calm and he _may_ have nodded when we were introduced to him. Eduardo Rebollar, who was my teacher there, was his accompaniast. They had a bit of a rough time of it, and Eduardo claimed it was Chocolate who messed up :).
Living in Palo Alto in the late '80s, I tried to explain to my girlfriend that the Gypsy Kings, while excellent musicians and entertainers, weren't exactly what most andalucians would call flamenco.
She had grown up in Japan, raised as a proper young lady with the correct tennis, tea ceremony, flower arranging, ballet and piano teachers. Her father was a great fan of classical music. As a girl she was regularly taken to concerts. She spoke good castellano, learned at Holy Cross High School in Tokyo from a Spanish woman, and practiced on family vacations to Acapulco.
"But my friend P___ says the Gypsy Kings are flamenco?"
P___ was a pro jazz sax player, so his musical opinion outranked mine as a mere amateur flamenco guitarist--though P___had asked me to play a time or two when he came over to the house.
A few months later a Spanish dance troupe came to San Francisco. My girlfriend showed me the advance in the Chronicle. "Is this what the andaluces would call flamenco?"
Chocolate's name was on the list. I had heard him four or five times in Spain. Not having seen the principals in the show, nor mentioning Chocolate, I said, "It might be flamenco."
"Would you like to go?"
In other words, "We are going."
The show started with some good professional dance numbers accompanied by two excellent guitarists. The dance lighting dimmed, a spot picked up Chocolate as he came forward. Accompanied by a single guitarist, his right hand exended, he launched into Frijones' solea.
My girlfriend's eyes got big. She concentrated on the singing. During a guitar falseta she tugged on my sleeve, leaned close and whispered in my ear, "My God, who is that?"