I’m not a die-hard mairenista, just a big fan of the cantaor Antonio Mairena, but we must acknowledge that when flamenco was at a very low ebb, he came and led the aficionados towards serious, good cante. He was a great reference. Is there anyone like Mairena in this current age of flamenco? There isn’t. The main flamenco starts in our days such as Miguel Poveda, Estrella Morente, Arcángel or Rocío Márquez focus on making money. I believe Poveda is now planning to record with María Jiménez. What the heck.

José Mercé, Mayte Martín or El Pele, all still in great shape, are not strong enough to lead and promote serious cante. Then there is a big bunch of imitators who will be left behind because few people pay attention to them. There are a few great masters around, such as Pansequito, José el de la Tomasa, María Vargas and Carmen Linares, but they don’t perform often and are venerated by just a small minority.

«There are very good artists who sing really well, but they don’t have that power of attracting aficionados like Antonio Mairena or Fosforito had»

In the last decade, there has been strong new entries in cante such as Jesús Méndez, Antonio Reyes, Rancapino Chico, Argentina, Pedro el Granaíno and some others, and we’ll have to wait and see how much they will be able to achieve the next decade. And that’s about it. Well, there’s also those good cantaores who’ve been around forever, but only perform now and then in private parties or in low-key festivals. We love them, but when they release an album they stay put. They are the eccentric cantaores of our days, as were Mojama, Tomás or El Gloria in their days, although I don’t mean to say they’re as good. No one would pay them one thousand euros for a recital, yet those stars who are featured on TV get ten thousand euros, regardless if they sing soleares or cantiñas de Pontevedra.

I guess that eventually a new star will come, someone with influence and charisma, who will straighten this out. There have been numerous losses in the last few years: Camarón, Lebrijano, Manuel Agujetas, La Paquera, Lebrijano, Menese, Morente… These great references in cante left us a great legacy, now followed by young artists. Yet, we would need a new Mairena, a fifty-something cantaor with a deep love of cante, to rekindle our excitement.

It’s true that there are very good cantaores, like some of those named above, but they don’t have that power of attracting aficionados like Antonio Mairena had. The same can be said about Valderrama or Fosforito. I remember when, in the 1970s, when Fosforito performed in a festival, aficionados from all corners of Andalusia would come to listen to him, from Almería to Ayamontes, even as he wasn’t a commercial cantaor, but quite the opposite. People came to listen to cante grande. Why do aficionados come to festivals nowadays? To listen to imitators.

I know that this kind of article annoys many people, but my intent is to create a debate and make people think about all this.

Translated by P. Young