Interview with Juan Cortés. Piano Flamenco. Jurepén

JUAN
CORTÉS
«Flamenco has always
been special for me..»

The young flamenco pianist Juan Cortés who
learned to play listening to Paco de Lucía and
cut his teeth playing live with jazz artists like Guillermo
McGill, Chano Domínguez and Jorge Pardo, has
recorded his first record, «Jurepen», based
primarily on flamenco but impregnated with the music
of those he has worked with throughout his career and
who have collaborated on this recording.

Where are you from Juan?
I was born in Tortosa (Tarragona), my father is from
Granada and my mother from Tortosa. But I've lived a
long time in Valencia. If you ask me where I'm from,
I'll say Valencia.

I supposed there's flamenco
in your family…
In my house we've always listened to flamenco, my father,
my grandfather… One plays the guitar, the other dances
a little…but always with the family.

What made you take up the
piano?
Well, my father sells antiques and he had a lot of things,
including three old pianos, and they always fascinated
me, so I used to spend every afternoon playing the piano.

How
do you go about learning?
I listen a lot.

You 'listen'? To piano? Who
do you listen to? Didn't you attend a conservatory?
No, no…I would listen to Paco de Lucía, lots
of guitar, old-time flamenco…I never had a teacher
nor did I ever go to a conservatory, I was always self-taught,
listening to lots of flamenco. When I grew up, then
yes, I took a lot of courses, but most of all I've learned
a lot performing live, I've worked with some really
good people, and you always learn things…

What about your contact with
Chano Domínguez?
I met Chano Domínguez on a course and then started
listening to a lot of different music, but flamenco
has always been special for me…it's given me another
way of seeing and understanding music.

Who do you admire when it
comes to the piano?
Anything that I like, makes no difference whether or
not it's flamenco, as long has it has that special something.

On your record there's some
jazz or Latin jazz…how would you describe your record?
It has all kinds of things, but I consider my record
flamenco, flamenco is the idiom I use.

But there are jazz elements…
It wasn't planned that way…it just came out from working
with these artists, something always sticks…I'll never
play Cuban music, or jazz or other kinds of music…but
still, the final product is impregnated.

Who have you worked with recently?
I've been 4 years here in Madrid, with Esperanza Fernández,
Montse Cortés, Rafael Amargo, the Losada family…accompanying
singers, dancers, also with jazz groups, Guillermo McGill,
Jorge Pardo… All that information seeps in and then
somehow you draw from it when it comes time to record.

When did you decide to make
a record?
While I was working with other people, always looking
for a break, I tried to do little concerts in small
venues here and there, always with good backup, all
these people, the ones who participated in the record.

Who's on the record?
Guillermo McGill is the producer, and there's my brother
Salva Cortés, Jorge Pardo, Montse Cortés,
Bernardo Parrilla…always in my same musical line,
each one put his or her own grain of sand.

I have a
great time playing for singing and
dancing. One thing doesn't displace the other.

And what can we hope to find
on the record?
There are some traditional tangos, some very old tangos
de Granada that Montse Cortés sings with J.A.
Salazar, the 'Tangos del Puchero', some of the songs
are very old, among the first I had. Among the last
things I did there 'La Rosa del Agua' with lyrics by
J.A. Maya the dancer, 'Que sí, Está Buena'
was composed right there in the studio, each one gave
their opinion and a really powerful rumba came out.
'Jurepen', is the piano solo. Then there's the tribute
to Chano Domínguez 'Chaneando', and 'Abuelo Juan'
dedicated to my grandfather, I superimposed the piano
on that and it really worked.

Did it take a long time to
make the recording?
I had a very clear idea about how I wanted to record
the piano, that it had to sound fresh, and it was recorded
in eight days. Some things were practically recorded
live, top to bottom. Basically it's a live recording,
I wanted it to sound as natural as possible, with the
musicians that have always surrounded me.

Obviously you now want to
bring the music directly to the audience…
Starting September, we're doing the presentation and
preparing a tour.

Will you still continue to
work as you have up to now?
I really like flamenco singing, I have a great time
playing for singing and dancing. One thing doesn't displace
the other.