The first time I heard the Catalan cantaora Mayte Mart\u00edn sing (which, if I\u2019m not mistaken, was at the Festival del Cante de las Minas, in La Uni\u00f3n) I knew she was meant to become a great cantaora. Her voice felt like a sweet and wet tongue caressing the backbone. I also knew then that things would not be easy for her, not just because she was Catalan, but mainly because she was independent, possessing a unique style and having very clear ideas. That\u2019s what I most liked about her: her independence, perhaps because that reminded me a lot of Enrique Morente. Not in regards to her singing style, but to her attitude towards art and life.<\/p>\n
When she launched her first CD (\u201cMuy Fr\u00e1gil\u201d, 1994) in La Union, I happened to be in that town and she asked me to present her first recording, to which I immediately agreed. She gave me her CD, I listened to it at the hotel, and I said what I had to say: here is the cantaora of the future. Indeed. Mayte is today the best voice of cante, the best leader, without taking away credit from anyone. I must say that sometimes she has disappointed me, and I\u2019ve written about it, because that\u2019s the point of being a critic, to stick our necks out. I have disliked some of her work, but only because I saw her departing from cante flamenco, and that worried me, not as a critic, but as an aficionado. Yet, as time has gone by, I have understood that an artist like her couldn\u2019t possibly be doing always the same things, singing other people\u2019s songs, using only the repertoire of the classics (which, by the way, she knows like few others, and masters to perfection).<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Mayte has never been an ambitious or media-savvy artist. She\u2019s not interested in fame and she hasn\u2019t been led astray by the dazzling glitter of gold. Contrary to what sometimes has been said about her, she is not a \u201ccommercial\u201d artist, because \u201ccommercial\u201d is what is simple and easy, what reaches the masses, and the cantaora from Barcelona has never done anything to trap those looking for \u201ccatchy\u201d. All her work, flamenco and non-flamenco, is the result of artistic concerns, of a personal reflection. Her pieces are well crafted, for her own satisfaction, and then become gifts for those able to connect with her music, with her way to conceive cante flamenco. If we review the discography of the greatest cantaores, we\u2019ll discover that all of them have been very careful with everything they record, from the choice of accompanying guitarists to the lyrics. Has anyone ever heard gaudy or tasteless lyrics by cantaores such as Chac\u00f3n, Tom\u00e1s Pav\u00f3n, Manuel Torres, Mairena, Ni\u00f1a de los Peines or Fernanda de Utrera? No, and the same happens with Mayte Mart\u00edn. She is careful with everything she does because she\u2019s conscious that history will judge her according to her recordings, her creations, her lyrics and, of course, her career path.<\/p>\n
I remember the critic Miguel Acal, no longer with us, saying once that he couldn\u2019t picture her in a caf\u00e9 cantante or in a tabanco in the Alameda de H\u00e9rcules, but I can. I picture her as a modern La Cuenca, daring and courageous. As Pe\u00f1aranda, creative and free. As Parrala, brave and independent in a world of rude and insensitive men. As Concha La Carbonera, fresh and unburdened by social prejudices. Carlos Saura once tried, unsuccessfully, to make her sing with a mant\u00f3n. Yet, she once made a big effort to get hold of a mant\u00f3n that once belonged to Ni\u00f1a de los Peines, one of her role models. Such is this cantaora: sometimes perplexing, often brilliant, and always, always, above everything else, a true artist. Cuba has just discovered her, but here in Spain, she was discovered many years ago.<\/p>\n
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The first time I heard the Catalan cantaora Mayte […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[256],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bordonazo-new"],"yoast_head":"\n