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DIEGO AMADOR / MIE MATSUMURA, LEONOR LEAL, RAFAEL CAMPALLO |
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Special SUMA FLAMENCA, all the information Music… ¿made in Spain? I remember Diego Amador from a few years back when he appeared quite dishevelled on a TV report about the new generation of flamenco artists. It was in his house in Seville, surrounded by his buddies, with that homemade drum set and enormous talent, all gathered in the garage. Everyone who was anyone wanted to help put together whatever the young man was more or less doing on his own.
He was, and continues to be, an absolute genius. One of these people who if he were to set his mind to it, could do open-heart surgery, sweep a city street, fight a bull or sew a button and leave everyone agape. Enough said. He came to Madrid to the Canal theaters. After a long stretch without performing in the capital, he came with his work “Río de los Canasteros”. A much-admired recording in which he is self-sufficient. He cooked, served and ate the most virtuoso kind of flamenco we’ve seen since Paco de Lucía. And bear in mind they share the same manager. And for good measure, “El Churri” brought his group to share the glory, what a good guy he is. In the hour or so he was allotted, Diego Amador broadly emphasized the contents of a record not yet fully assimilated by the flamenco peanut gallery. This also served to remind us he’s a wonder when it comes to playing jazz, linking clusters with Andalusian cadences, bulerías closings with Argentine tangos, Montoya’s rondeña with Paco and Camarón’s ‘Canastera’… We’re all strange when you look at us up close, we have our little obsessions which when seen at a remove, get lost in the multitude and turn us into mere numbers. But there’s no way to miss Diego Amador’s distinctive artistic gypsy characteristics. That’s just how it is. He knows how to surround himself with a high-level group. Double bass, guitar and cajón (his son, what genes!) approached genius. The drums, a special case, because it seems impossible Israel Varela’s phone isn’t ringing off the hook with offers. In Tijuana there’s more than trouble, there are also musicians, and flamenco ones at that. Drunk with art, it would be impossible to describe the show blow by blow without taking a half-day of your time. The first part was followed by a generous helping of Spanish music, this time passed through the Japanese sieve of Mie Matsumura. It looks like instead of limited to being Spanish, our folklore, flamenco and classical music are universal.
She is a pianist with a solid background, extraordinary technique, and surprise of surprises, enough compás to carry an entire flamenco group with her keyboard, like a brigadier general. Matsumura developed a concept that loosely brings together Spanish musicians such as Granados, Falla and especially Albéniz, with some of the most traditional flamenco forms, malagueña, alegrías, bulerías, and fandangos. The guitars of Juan Requena and Eugenio Iglesias, the cante of José Valencia and the most noteworthy moves of Rafael Campallo and Leonor Leal, round out what goes beyond a flamenco idea with a variety of ingredients. Here we’ve got creative cookery. These are unheralded events almost no one remembers in the end. Only two thirds of the discreet second level theater were wise enough to mark this date on their entertainment agendas. Too bad for everyone else, it’s their loss. Nights like this can’t end when you walk out of the theater…you’re always left wanting more… |
