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Text: Kiko Valle
Mis Cuerdas
The Bienal chills out. Gualberto came to the Lope de Vega
and created an ambience of charming intimacy with the taste of Triana
and other groups. But respect, tradition, the avant-garde, experimentalism
are all present in his strings. With the years under his belt he
no longer cares if people wonder whether or not it’s flamenco.
It may never have concerned him at all. He has fun with the guitar
pick, digging his fingers into the neck of his instrument, twisting
his legs and taking off his shoes so as not to damage the sitar.
It’s almost a ritual. India, the gypsies, his neighborhood…it
all fills his mind with feelings that provoke mixed emotions but
always with the taste of Zurraque and of “cloves and cinnamon”.
The repertoire scarcely lasts an hour. Who needs more? He has no
intention of boring anyone, so much the better. Those shows, nearly
always of low quality, that lack the resources to raise gooseflesh
and leave you feeling washed out are unbearable. The pen is prepared
to be more sincere than ever. But Gualberto invites us into his
“house” and gives everything he’s got, nothing
is withheld, with the serenity of someone who has nothing to lose
and plenty to say.
“Levante”, inspired in the cante cartageneras is one
of his whistle-stops. He deconstructs the traditional song until
it becomes unrecognizable although some hints remain. He toys with
siguiriyas in “Recuerdos” and Triana can be proud of
having given us this man because he is yet another champion of the
flamenco cause, in his own way of course – we won’t
be comparing him to the old Triana singer Arenero whom he honors
in one of the pieces. For Hungarian gypsies there’s “Zíngaro”.
“The rhythm of this work is somewhere between swing and flamenco
tangos” he explains, and the scale employed is that of the
central European gypsies. This is followed by an orchestration with
violoncello, piano, percussion and flamenco guitar, all answering
Gualberto’s riffs who, by his own confession, has “as
much fun as a barrel of monkeys”. The program finishes with
“Compadres” which includes “a free-form introduction
similar to the slow passages of east Indian music which he develops
like an Indian raga with bulerías ending in Phrygian mode”
according to the program which was not closely followed. Several
unrehearsed curtain-calls were the prize. And this was where the
audience could enjoy an even more flamenco Gualberto who played
soleá de Triana, tangos and bulerías.
This flamenco rock musician from Seville managed to fill the theater
and people knew what they were in for, it was a very select group.
Gualberto strutted around the stage playing electric guitar, took
off his shoes and caressed his sitar. His falsetas echo the melodies
of his neighborhood, those ones we all know and love, if I may be
allowed to generalize. He has a great rapport with his musicians
and lets it show in each performance, he plays with musical give-and-take
and although he doesn’t dominate any of the instruments, he
has his virtues: more than enough sensitivity and originality that
he has nothing to answer for if he doesn’t show up in many
programs of flamenco fusion. Flamenco isn’t the private reserve
of a chosen few for people like Gualberto who knows how to bring
it all together with great respect both for tradition and the avant-garde
in an art rich in musical manifestations.
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Ricardo Miño & Gualberto |