Text and new photos: Estela Zatania
The best guitar Cd 2007 ‘Abolengo’
“I don’t think I’ve ever played guitar as well as I’m playing now»
Francisco López-Cepero García, Jerez de la Frontera, 1942, “Paco Cepero”, idol of my youth, those innocent years when everyone knew what flamenco was, and it was easy to distinguish the palos, which weren’t even called “palos” back then. The crisp punchy delivery, aggressive minimalism that shouts out a flamenco feeling. With his Jerez personality, and an absolutely unmistakable style, Paco Cepero is on everyone’s short like of the greatest cante accompanists of all time.
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Medalla de las Bellas Artes que le entrega el Rey Juan Carlos I.
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Premio Flamenco Hoy 2008 de la crítica.
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Gold Medal of Arts, “Calle de Alcalá” prize and a new recording that just received the critics’ award “Flamenco Hoy”, as well as the popular vote of Deflamenco’s readers for best guitar recording of 2007, the maestro is enjoying the recognition of an entire lifetime devoted to the art. Precisely this year he is celebrating the fifty years he’s been hugging his guitar, pulling out that special sound of his that triggers applause wherever he goes.
Two days before the debut of the show “¡Viva Jerez!” for which he is musical director, we had a pleasant conversation at his home in the heart of the San Miguel neighborhood of Jerez. It’s a beautiful traditional Andalusian house with patios, potted plants, tiles, canaries and a room that looks like a small flamenco peña where the walls are covered with photos…
Paco, in this show “¡Viva Jerez!”, do you accompany, or play solo?
I don’t play at all, I’m in charge of coordinating the music!
Don’t tell me we aren’t going to hear you play!
You can see me on November 1st at the Villamarta theater. Because I’m the music director of the work, and Javier Latorre is doing all the choreography. The director is Paco López, and he’s done a fine job. There are also some humorous parts, and there’s traditional flamenco; there’s martinete, romance, siguiriya to represent the beginnings of flamenco, and we follow its development. It’s not easy, there are a lot of people, you have to coordinate them, there are people like La Bastiana or Luisa Terremoto, who aren’t professionals, they’re a little square. We’ve also got Luis de la Tota, Pescaílla, comic numbers and serious ones, the history of flamenco, from the beginning, and right up to café cantante period where they sing cuplé, it’s very nice. We’re taking the show to London too.
So it’s not the typical situation of a show that is funded for one single performance, never to be seen again…
Not at all, there’s an international projection, we’re also going to the U.S., it’s a strong production, and there are some important artists as well: Terremoto, Mercedes Ruiz, María del Mar Moreno, Angelita Gómez, singers like El Londro, Rosario, lots of people, 22 artists in all…
Your new recording “Abolengo” won both the critics’ prize and the popular vote for best flamenco recording of 2007…it seems you convince everyone…
I’m delighted, because even after being in this for so many years, and it’s a very special year for me, my fiftieth anniversary playing guitar professionally, prizes are always welcome because they motivate you, because I could make records and go unnoticed, and maybe my music wouldn’t say anything to people or wouldn’t be accepted, and that’s depressing. But it’s like the other day at a concert in Seville, the theater was full, I had the audience in my pocket, and they demanded an encore after I’d been playing more than an hour non-stop, and the reviews were good too, that inspires you and makes you feel alive. The other day José Manuel Gamboa told me that one of the most requested records is the first one I made, “Amuleto”, which isn’t even available any more, it’s what people want most.
When you accepted the critics’ prize, you said you were more anxious to work than ever.
Yes, I’m totally inspired, and in good health, mentally and physically, as well as creatively. All the time I spent composing and producing, now it sort of feels like that took me away from the guitar, but finally I’m able to devote myself to it heart and soul, thinking like a guitarist, dreaming like a guitarist, working like a guitarist, and it’s making me do things, much more than ever before, I play guitar every single day.
You’re from here, from the neighborhood of San Miguel…
I was born on this street, living on the same street I was born, we were fortunate enough to find, not exactly the same number, but very close, and for someone like me, who spent 37 years living in Madrid, coming back home, and being able to find a little place so typically Jerez and so Andalusian on the street I was born, just think what it means to me!
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with Camarón y Cojo Peroche
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with Paco de Lucía
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What was it like, being young in Jerez, being in flamenco?
That’s my beginning, my roots, the people I was lucky enough to accompany, and who taught me to respect flamenco, to love cante, and to live flamenco in all its richness. Just think, artists like Tío Borrico, el Sernita, Terremoto, as well as people like Batato, Troncho, wonderful local artists, people who have gone down in the history of flamenco, for me it was incredible to have known them.
“…in heart and soul, thinking like a guitarist, dreaming like a guitarist, working like a guitarist…”
From San Miguel, who was singing back then?
In this neighborhood, almost no one. San Miguel had its golden age. The neighborhood produced Paquera, who was a phenomenon in the history of flamenco, a genius, with incredible power, more than an artist, a person, and very straightforward and natural. I have wonderful memories of Paquera, and I’m very grateful to her because she was the first to lend me a hand and take me in her company.
What made you go to Madrid?
Well, Manolo Caracol called me for his tablao, Los Canasteros. I had already been playing for him in his last company; I was lucky enough to go with Paquera, and then with Caracol, and I was very young. Then, when I came back here to Jerez, Caracol opened his tablao and called me to go to Madrid, which was the beginning of my long adventure in the capital.
¿Who was in the cuadro back then?
It was unbelievable…everyone! Juan el Pelao, La Perla de Cádiz, María Vargas, Sordera, Terremoto, el Diamante Negro, Romerito de Jerez, Curra Giménez, Curro Vélez, La Polaca, Bambino, Gaspar de Utrera…lots of great people, an amazing bunch…
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with Bernarda and Fernanda de Utera
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with Manolo Caracol and Terremoto
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Good memories…
The best! Memories of continuing to learn, and what’s more, I’m still learning, you keep learning until you die. Because life is a constant learning process, and every day you discover new things, new movements, even new ways of feeling things… Perhaps with age comes a certain serenity, you’re less trigger-happy and more mature, maybe it’s mastery. Before, everything came down to strength, and now the mastery that comes with age, it’s all reflected, you become more focused, you think more slowly, I used to be a whirlwind, everything real fast. But over the years, little by little, I’ve calmed down, and now I think the place I have, I actually don’t think I’ve ever played guitar as well as I’m playing now.
Your great-uncle, the singer José Cepero, I’ve never heard you talk about him…
There’s a photograph Juan de la Plata has, I was a very young boy and he came with his last company, with Manolo Varea, and I remember it, almost like a premonition, because he put his arm around my shoulder as we were heading for the Villamarta Theater and he said, “son…don’t you ever go into this as a profession” [laughter]. And look at me now… But he was someone I respected very much, because he was a great star of flamenco singing, not just known for his fandangos, Cepero was a great singer.
Did you ever play for him?…you were old enough…
No…he’d heard that I played guitar, but I never played for him, because when he came here to Jerez, I was only 7 or 8…at 9 I started to play the guitar in a school group at La Salle here in Jerez, and precisely this year, on April 4th, I’m giving a mini concert in honor of the school’s 100th year, and some alumni who are musicians are going to play. José Luis Balau is also going to play, and a violinist, Orellana, and his brother on piano, it’s a nice thing, because the years fly by and you don’t even realize. On March 6th I’m sixty-six years old, and it seems like only yesterday I started out.
“I struggled to have my own way of playing, of strumming, my own way of working the strings, and I think I achieved the objective”
It must be that flamenco keeps you young…
No no, I take very good care of myself, no more nightlife for me since many years ago, I watch what I eat, and I’m always hungry…[laughter]
In your opinion, where does the Jerez guitar sound come from?
I think the Jerez sound of the guitar comes from the whole ambience. Javier Molina was one of the most creative guitarists in history, and that source led to Niño Ricardo and many others, an incredible guitarist. I think perhaps you’re referring mostly to bulerías, but Jerez isn’t just bulerías. There’s a special way with soleá, siguiriya, a way of dancing, of doing palmas, all that comes from the ambience, because without being gypsy, I play very flamenco, and there’s nothing gypsy in my veins, and here in Jerez there are many non-gypsies who sing and dance very well.
So when you began to play guitar, there was already a characteristic sound of Jerez bulerías…
Noooo… I created my own sound, drawing from Melchor de Marchena and Diego del Gastor, but I followed my own line, and my way of accompanying is completely different from anyone else’s, I worked hard to make that personality, but in the beginning, of course I looked to others, it’s only natural, no one is born knowing how to do things, but I struggled to have my own way of playing, of strumming, my own way of working the strings, and I think I achieved the objective.
The way young people are playing now, no one has played before, but what I see is the lack of creativity. The guitar is being harmonized better than ever, and newcomers are playing incredibly well, I’m a great admirer of those amazing guitarists, and quite honestly I applaud and respect them, but I would also tell them to try create their own personalities, because everything sounds the same, not only in guitar, but also dance and cante, the same thing is happening, as soon as one person stands out above the rest, everyone’s ears perk up and they race to follow the same line. Before, there was a range of great guitarists, each one with his own unmistakable personality. Manolo de Huelva had his own sound, Niño Ricardo, Montoya, Borrull, Diego del Gastor, Melchor de Marchena, Luis Maravilla, Paco Aguilera, Manolo de Badajoz…each one was distinctive…Juan Serrano, Mario Escudero, Sabicas, big personalities, each one of them. But now, I don’t see any personality, they’re all playing that exact same style. They’re doing this important thing of alternative tunings and positions, which can make the guitar sound fuller, like the sound of minera, rondeña…but they do it in everything. If you’re going to play soleá or siguiriya with the sound of minera, look, I think that’s senseless, soleá is soleá, and siguiriya is siguiriya, and each form should sound distinctive, tientos should sound like tientos, tangos, bulerías, etc… I understand it’s very difficult to change the tuning, and they do it to show off to other guitarists, but often the most difficult thing is to find meaningful simplicity, to be able to communicate something with just two notes instead of twenty. Diego del Gastor played very natural, and he had a big personality and was always communicating, Melchor de Marchena the same thing. People say they were limited, but that’s not true, because they had personality. People think you’re more complete if you read music, know the instrument perfectly, have great technique… Technique is necessary to develop what’s inside of you, but they say art begins where technique ends, those aren’t my words, a great man said them…you have to have technique, obviously, without technique it’s not possible to develop what you want to do, but if you base everything on technique, that’s coldness, lots of notes, but it’s much more important to play from the soul.
Your new record, “Abolengo”, is that the best thing you’ve recorded?
Well, it’s my most recent baby, you know? So I’m especially fond of it because it was amazing to see “De Pura Cepa”, that’s where it began, then “Corazón y Bordón”, and now this third record, it looks like people have reacted, and everyone is with the sound of the record and my way of playing. It’s very gratifying for me to receive these prizes, and to be recognized after so many years, and what with the level of guitar-playing these days…it’s important to feel alive.
“I closed my eyes and was seeing and cheering Tío Borrico, Terremoto, Juan Talega, Antonio Mairena, Manolo Caracol…”
Do you miss playing for cante?
A lot! The thing is, you can’t be everywhere at once, but from time to time, in many concerts, I bring a guest singer. I truly consider myself a good accompanist, I’ve never been a braggart, but I am proud of my accompaniment, because I’m a tremendous fan of cante, and have always enjoyed accompanying, not getting in the way of the singer, that’s how I see it, and it’s something young people don’t get because they have no vocation. If you’re going to accompany, you have to be the singer’s sidekick, you’re not the star. Whenever the singer is singing, I don’t get in the way for a single moment, but when the singer leaves room for me to play my falsetas, with my personality, I get my own applause. Nowadays that’s normal, but I was the first guitarist in the history of the festivals to trigger applause with falsetas. But I was never looking for center stage, and what I would tell today’s young guitarists is, in order to be a great accompanist the most important thing is to have a great love for flamenco, know the cante very well, and then, try to accompany, not show off what you know. When the singer needs you to dig in, you dig in, and when you have to play softly, you play softly, it’s a labor of love. This is what I’ve learned over the years, during a very long career, and I’m still learning, you can’t think you’re a maestro after playing guitar for two years just because you read music and play classical pieces, and know two-hundred exercises for the left hand and another two-hundred for the right hand, and you can play everyone’s compositions, and you eat guitars for breakfast…that doesn’t mean anything, and anyone who thinks so, is on the wrong track.
Would you say having played in tablao was enriching, or detrimental like some people say?
Not detrimental at all, it’s what gave me everything in the way of compás, and I’ve played for dance a lot, it wrecks your fingernails, but gives you a lot of security in the compás, syncopation, silences, knowing how to wait… I was playing in tablao for eighteen or twenty years, and after that, playing for cante. I’ve played for the best, even Vicente Escudero, for Farruco in his best years, for Güito when he won his prize…
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with Farruco el Viejo
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with La Perla de Cádiz
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With the years, do you give more importance to art than to money?
Yes. Now I’m doing things I really feel, without worrying about whether or not they will sell. I went through my commercial phase, when I was involved in producing and song-writing, and now I’ve played soleá por bulería on this record and it was like being transported, I closed my eyes and was seeing and cheering Tío Borrico, Terremoto, Juan Talega, Antonio Mairena, Manolo Caracol…that gives you power. And the record, I want people to know, was not done by any record company, I had to pay for everything myself, and it’s a crying shame that artists who have…well, I don’t mean to talk about myself, but people who’ve earned a reputation within flamenco, and they don’t have a record company to support them, that’s really tough, but I jumped into it headfirst and now I’m glad, because even without any kind of record company, or marketing or publicity, the record has been a hit, and that’s doubly rewarding for me.
Will there be another record?
God willing, yes. As long as my hands and head are still working, I keep composing, and with tremendous inspiration. What I can tell you is, I’ve set very high goals, so we’ll see what I come up with next time. But I think inspiration always comes if you keep working.
I’m very grateful to Deflamenco for this opportunity, and to the readers, for having included me among the finalists and then voting my record for the prize. All these things are what spur you on to keep working. This webpage is a great boon to flamenco, because it spreads the flamenco word throughout the whole world, and does so with respect, which is the most important thing.