Having just returned from a wonderful visit to Granada where I gave a talk about the great but forgotten guitarist Juan Maya \u201cMarote\u201d at the venerable Pe\u00f1a la Plater\u00eda, I got thinking about why this corner of Andalusia, with its incredibly rich history and culture, seems to be something of a bit player in the great scheme of things flamenco.<\/p>\n
The geography of flamenco is pretty simple. Everyone knows this artform comes from Spain\u2019s large southern region of Andalusia, made up of 8 provinces, each one with its particular identity. We also acknowledge the considerable contribution of Extremadura and Murcia with their autochthonous song-forms, so easily recognizable.<\/p>\n
The provinces of C\u00e1diz and Seville in western Andaluc\u00eda loosely constitute the so-called \u201ctriangle of flamenco\u201d where a great many of the basic forms\u2026sole\u00e1, siguiriya, ton\u00e1s, tangos, etc\u2026.were created and developed. Huelva is noteworthy for its astonishing variety of fandangos, M\u00e1laga\u2019s importance derives from musically diverse tangos, and of course, a rich assortment of malague\u00f1as, while Almer\u00eda, C\u00f3rdoba and Ja\u00e9n have also contributed in various ways to the genesis of this singular music that has been attracting followers for well over a century and a half.<\/p>\n
But what about Granada? Years ago, this culturally rich province was a focal point for flamenco, partly thanks to Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca whose colorful writing and poetry captured the world\u2019s imagination, and came to represent a picture-postcard Spain that even today draws foreign visitors from every country of the world wanting to see \u201cthe real Spain\u201d. Whatever that is. Decades ago, legendary producer Sol Hurok breathlessly announced his Catalonian flamenco star, dancer Carmen Amaya, as \u201cstraight from the caves of Granada!\u201d, and certainly non-Spaniards visit, or even set up residence in the city convinced it is the absolute hub of flamenco activity.<\/p>\n
Somehow western Andalusia never got the message. Triana, Jerez and C\u00e1diz, in general, the provinces of Seville and C\u00e1diz, lay claim to flamenco, and tend to look askance (this is an understatement!) at the easterners.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the Alhambra complex, Spain\u2019s second most visited monument after the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, upstages flamenco in this historic city. Then too, the caves of Sacromonte bear a great deal of bad press carried over from times of extreme poverty when beggars plagued the area, and ersatz flamenco shows, often of questionable quality, projected an unsavory image.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all a thing of the past however; as long ago as the 1980s, the quality of the Granada offering had improved exponentially and some fine artists \u2013 singers, dancers and guitarists \u2013 have come out of this city. In dance, we need only mention the much-admired Eva Yerbabuena and Bel\u00e9n Maya, in addition to legendary interpreters such as Manolete and Mario Maya, the latter, born in C\u00f3rdoba but raised in Granada. Other veterans include Mar\u00eda Guardia \u201cMariquilla\u201d, Joaqu\u00edn Fajardo, Gracita de Sacromonte and El Millonario, the latter two having toured the U.S. with Jos\u00e9 Greco. Young Granada maestros of dance are Manuel Li\u00f1\u00e1n, who recently received Spain\u2019s national prize for dance, Juan Andr\u00e9s Maya, Iv\u00e1n Vargas and two winners of La Uni\u00f3n\u2019s dance prize, Patricia Guerrero and Alba Heredia.<\/p>\n
Granada is also guitar territory with a crisp energetic style that is immediately recognizable, and especially suitable to accompany dance. The names of the families Habichuela, Marote and Cort\u00e9s nearly say it all.<\/p>\n
The best-kept secret of this very flamenco city is the abundance of fine singers. All flamenco followers are familiar with Enrique Morente\u2019s important contribution, and that of his family. Marina Heredia and Antonio Campos have each constructed solid careers. But how many people ever got to hear young V\u00edctor \u201cEl Charico\u201d whose Terremoto delivery and repertoire could have taken him to the heights, or other little-known singers such as Juan \u00c1ngel Tirado, Antonio \u201cEl Manzana\u201d, the late Antonio Cuevas \u201cEl Piki\u201d or the very interesting Jaime el Parr\u00f3n among so many others?<\/p>\n
Many more noteworthy names could be mentioned, and that\u2019s without even scratching the surface of hundreds of interpreters who have performed over the years in the legendary zambras of Sacromonte.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having just returned from a wonderful visit to Granada where I gave a talk about the great but forgotten guitarist Juan Maya \u201cMarote\u201d at the venerable Pe\u00f1a la Plater\u00eda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":11206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estela-flamenca"],"yoast_head":"\n