Interview with Tomatito

TOMATITO

“Even after so many years alongside Camarón,
because I’m hard-headed and I love guitar and
music, I didn’t quit, because others would have
given up already”.

“Aguadulce” is the title of José
Fernández Torres “Tomatito”s latest
recording. Aguadulce, is the name of his town in Almería
“where I always feel right at home, so I want
to pay tribute to the town where I’m so happy”.
He has it quite clear that he never wants to become
disassociated from Camarón: “I want
them always to say I’m Camarón’s
guitarist”. After the loss of his inseparable
friend, he had a hard time pulling out of it, but now
he’s going through the best professional moment
of his career as soloist. His path is flamenco, but
he sometimes likes to combine it with other rhythms
like jazz or Argentine tango, and he’s open to
new projects. For the time being this record has brought
him back to traditional flamenco: “I felt
like going back to the roots”. The voices
of his daughter Mari Ángela, Potito, Guadiana,
Diego el Cigala, the guitars of Luis Salinas, Paquete,
Josemi Carmona and the percussion of Antonio Carmona
accompany him on this occasion for compositions that
bear his charismatic touch, fresh melodies and flamenco-charged
verses.

The record has three bulerías.
¿What’s your take on each of them?
There’s one, the first one, which is “Al
mariyya” which means Almería, I identify
with it a lot. “En casa del herrero”, since
I love cante so much, has singing and I chose Potito
and Guadiana because I really like how they sing and
I have a good time with them. And the other, “Manduka”,
takes a chorus and builds it into a composition. Each
one has its own special flavor.

“I needed to make
a flamenco record this time, more in keeping with who
I am. You go through stages in life”

There
are two tangos, and one of them your daughter sings…
Yes, Mari Ángela. I’m beginning to realize
what a personal style she has and I like the color of
her voice…it makes me very happy to be able to have
her with me.

Does you think she’ll
follow in your artistic footsteps?
I think that’s something she has to decide, but
she seems to be taking it seriously because I’m
bringing her to the Sonanta Suite show with the orchestra,
and she seems very pleased.

Diego el Cigala sings the
other tango…
Our old friend Diego, it’s right up his alley,
entertaining and flamenco, and he does some really nice
things.

Then there’s a soleá.
Yes, for me it’s sort of special, a more intimate
kind of composition.

There’s also a soleá
por bulería…
The soleá por bulería dedicated to Miles
Davis, because the rhythm reminds me of a record he
made dedicated to Spain, so I wanted to dedicate it
to him.

And rumba…
A kind of funky rumba. I was thinking of Luis Salinas,
the tours we’ve done together, I invited him,
and that’s what came out, what you hear on the
record.

“The problem is when
you have your hopes pinned on something, thinking it’s
going to be a big hit, and then it’s a failure…but
failure never comes if you don’t worry about those
things”

It’s a mostly flamenco
recording, but like you say, there’s a kind of
funky rumba. ¿Do you like mixing other kinds
of music?
Of course…because I’m a musician with an open
mind, but this time I needed to make a flamenco record,
more in keeping with who I am. You go through stages
in life, and things come out the way they come out…then
I’ll go back to doing other things.

You made a jazz record with
Michel Camilo, and the tribute to Piazzola. ¿Is
it complicated to feel out that kind of music?
No, because I never really move away from my flamenco
line. What happens is, changes take place in me, and
I adapt to what we want to do, but I don’t stray
from who I am.

You really got yourself organized
to be up-to-date for recording, as far as new technologies.
Yeah, computers and such…

Does working with professional
tools give you more freedom?
Yes, I’d say so, it makes things easier. Obviously
the programs don’t make music, but they’re
ready to do anything you want, to be able to pick up
at any spot, they make everything easy, especially the
format, because it’s much more difficult to record
on a tape recorder than a computer. The computer gets
revved up and you start recording, it’s very comfortable…I
hadn’t realized how easy it makes everything.

“I
don’t want to disassociate myself from Camarón,
and I don’t think I’m disassociated, because
thanks to him I got where I am”.

Does it add spontaneity,
take it away, or neither of the two?
Neither…I think if you allow your message to be manipulated,
it’s no longer yours and it’s going to seem
strange, “hey, who’s that guy…I’m
not the one who’s playing”.

Your name has become very
important on the flamenco scene, and you’ve earned
both critical and public acclaim. Was it hard to build
a solo career after being Camarón’s guitarist?
Yes, it was. Because I’m hard-headed like I say,
and I love guitar and music, I didn’t quit, because
others would have given up already…after being so
many years with Camarón and feeling comfortable
with the genius that he was… Then all of a sudden
you’re alone and there’s an audience out
there that’s waiting to see your stuff, and I
wasn’t ready, so I began rather late in life,
when Camarón died. It’s not like a kid
who starts at fifteen, and he’s completely mentalized
that he’s going to be a soloist…when it comes
to composing, you’re doing it for yourself and
to present to the audience at large. After coming from
a situation where I was completely at ease, and accompanying,
and being Camarón’s faithful friend…it’s
very complicated, but look, if you believe in yourself
and keep at it, you can accomplish a great deal.

You’ve now become a
guitarist in your own right within the world of flamenco,
but people still remember you as Camarón’s
guitarist, always asking you about him…
The day they stop asking about him I’ll feel very
bad, because I don’t want to disassociate myself
from Camarón, and I don’t think I’m
disassociated, because thanks to him I got where I am,
the little I know, I owe it all to him. I was just a
kid when I started out with him, so that’s why
I want people always to say I’m Camarón’s
guitarist.

I don’t think anyone
can surpass what Paco de Lucía has done with
guitar. What you have to do is look for your own personality,
so that when you play they say: “That’s
Tomatito”.

Paco de Lucía continues
to be very important. ¿How do you see the future
for flamenco guitar?
It looks good to me, very good. The thing is, what you
have to look for, and I always tell this to young people,
is personality, because nobody’s going to invent
anything new here, music has already been discovered.
I don’t think anyone can surpass what Paco de
Lucía has done with guitar. What you have to
do is look for your own personality, so that when you
play they say: “That’s Tomatito”,
and each one should seek their own sound and way of
playing, and if after all that, audiences like it, well
that’s what it’s all about, because you’ve
got Paco, and then you’ve got all the rest of
us. That’s my true feeling and I believe Paco
is the father of guitar. I worshipped him thirty years
ago, as an instrumentalist, and because he could drive
you crazy, because a lot of guitarists have gone through
that with Paco because he has a natural gift, the facility
with his hands and his gift for music and rhythm, only
one person is capable of that, because it has to be
natural…if you study fifteen hours every day, you’ll
still never be able to get what he has. I think you
have to spend your time doing other things, making music,
expressing yourself in other ways, get a sound that’s
your own so people say “wow! I just have to hear
Tomatito because his music makes me feel good”.

Do
you think you reached a happy medium on this record
between what sounds good on the guitar and what is most
easily appreciated by audiences or has commercial value?
I don’t think about things like that…chorus,
good melodies, natural things always please. If you
look for it you can be sure it won’t come, and
if you don’t, it comes, and if nothing happens,
so what? The problem is when you have your hopes pinned
on something, thinking it’s going to be a big
hit, and then it’s a failure…but failure never
comes if you don’t worry about those things and
act naturally, that’s how I believe it all comes
together.

Guitar can be less accessible
for many people than cante or dance. Is the use of backup
musicians a way you have of making it more palatable?
The most important thing is to be a fun guy, you can’t
be melodramatic, with all kinds of hangups, worried
about every little thing. You have to do things in a
natural way, and be laidback, and make fun music, and
when you play something serious, then do it serious
and do it from the heart, and don’t give it any
greater importance than it has, don’t look for
contrivances. I think that’s a stage you go through,
you get hooked on a melody you like and some people
think it’s nice, and others say “what’s
this guy doing?”. In music you always have that
conflict.

“Music is for sharing,
and without hang-ups, you have to give what you’ve
got”.

But do you like having other
instruments play along?
Yes, I do, because there are some tangos on the record
for example, and it comes out well, with good percussion.
I was very happy to have Paquete on the record, Josemi
who plays on another piece, I really have a good time
with these guys. Music is also sharing, not being a
stick-in-the-mud like I say, you have to share, and
not have hang-ups, you have to give what you’ve
got.

In addition to the tour,
what else is on the horizon?
Well, we’ve got a project underway. For example,
the soleá on the record, which is really a guitar
piece, has now been orchestrated by Amargós,
and we’re breaking it in at concerts with the
Córdoba symphony orchestra. We already presented
it in Barcelona, and now we’re going to Almería,
Córdoba, Cartagena and Segovia and it a very
rewarding experience because you see your music played
by a great symphonic group, and it’s beautiful.

Sonia Martínez Pariente
smpariente@deflamenco.com

More information:

Festival
Flamenco Patos 2004 (Madrid)

Tomatito
– 'Agua dulce'