{"id":7039,"date":"2018-12-05T14:42:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T14:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expoflamenco.com\/archivo\/uncategorized\/jose-merce-y-tomatito-si-hablamos-de-flamenco-jondo-jondo-la-verdad-es-que-esta-la-cosa-cortita\/"},"modified":"2019-02-13T20:36:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T19:36:28","slug":"jose-merce-and-tomatito-regarding-traditional-true-flamenco-jondo-the-fact-is-that-theres-not-much-to-talk-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expoflamenco.com\/archivo\/en\/interviews\/jose-merce-and-tomatito-regarding-traditional-true-flamenco-jondo-the-fact-is-that-theres-not-much-to-talk-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Jos\u00e9 Merc\u00e9 and Tomatito: \u00abRegarding traditional, true \u2018flamenco jondo\u2019, the fact is that there\u2019s not much to talk about\u00bb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text and photos: Quico P\u00e9rez-Ventana
\n<\/span>
\nStarting from pure tradition, sometimes they embraced contemporary music to transcend the limits of the flamenco music market. Yet, with their new album\u00a0De verdad<\/i>\u00a0they return to the path of tradition. Jos\u00e9 Merc\u00e9 (born in Jerez, 1955) and Jos\u00e9 Fern\u00e1ndez Torres \u2018Tomatito\u2019 (born in Almer\u00eda, 1958) are flamenco musicians, born into flamenco dynasties. Thus, no one should be surprised by this happy collaboration, not even the most conservative aficionados. They talk about all that with ExpoFlamenco in a lively conversation\u00a0\u00e0 trois<\/i>.<\/p>\n

We are in the lobby of the Plaza de Armas hotel, in Seville. This early-morning interview even includes a foosball game. \u00abOrtodoxy is defined by the performer\u00bb, says Merc\u00e9. \u00abIt\u2019s the performer who makes things\u00a0grandes<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0chicas<\/i>. A\u00a0cante por seguiriya<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0por sole\u00e1<\/i>, which in our jargon are referred as\u00a0cante grande<\/i>, are not\u00a0grande<\/i>\u00a0at all if the performer is unable to communicate anything. The performer is the one who makes the cante \u2018grande<\/i>\u2019 or \u2018chico<\/i>\u2019, orthodox or unorthodox\u00bb.<\/p>\n

\u2013How are you doing, gentlemen?<\/b>
\n–Tomatito<\/i>: Very well, very eager to work, of doing it well and showing what we\u2019ve done.
\n–Jos\u00e9 Merc\u00e9<\/i>: Very eager to be on stage, we both, and having a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

\u2013A new album and a tour by two leading flamenco artists. No one can claim that there aren\u2019t any important artists left in this musical genre.<\/b>
\n\u2013JM: Life has changed a lot. There isn\u2019t that focus on the big star that was the norm in the old days. Both Tomate and I feel blissfully united, we know who we are. What we try is having fun on stage, and making our public have fun, too.
\n-T: In music there shouldn\u2019t be any competition. There is the complicity, and doing it well. I became a soloist after Camar\u00f3n passed away, but I really like playing the guitar for\u00a0cante<\/i>. I listen to people singing and I think to myself: \u2018such good singing, great modulation\u2019. It\u2019s not all about dazing with the guitar.<\/p>\n

\u2013Jos\u00e9, you address Tomatito as \u201cTomate\u201d. Why is that, sir?<\/b>
\n\u00ac\u2013T: Age, it\u2019s about age.
\n-JM: I\u2019m an old man already, I\u2019m allowed to call him Tomate (laughter). He\u2019ll always be Tomatito, there\u2019s no question about it. But we\u2019ve known each other for a long time and I\u2019ve always called him Tomate, never Tomatito. Tomate this, Tomate that\u2026
\n-T: Camar\u00f3n always called me Tomate, poor thing. We never used the endearing forms among us. Tomatito is more for the public, for the concert posters and album covers. And some people call me Jos\u00e9.
\n-JM: I sometimes call him Pepe.
\n-T: I don\u2019t quite like that (laughter).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Tomatito

Tomatito y Jos\u00e9 Merc\u00e9, durante la entrevista con Quico P\u00e9rez-Ventana en el hotel Plaza de Armas, Sevilla.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2013The album \u201cDe Verdad<\/i>\u201d was released a few weeks ago, and people are saying that Merc\u00e9 and Tomatito have claimed their roots back. That sounds very solemn. Is this correct?<\/b>
\n\u2013T: That\u2019s not correct. We\u2019ve never left our roots, particularly Jos\u00e9.
\n-JM: It\u2019s not about claiming anything back. We just did what we felt like doing at the time. We felt like doing a\u00a0grana\u00edna<\/i>, a\u00a0sole\u00e1 por buler\u00edas<\/i>, a\u00a0seguiriya<\/i>, a\u00a0Taranto<\/i>\u2026 Let\u2019s say that perhaps we wanted to recall our early days. We felt like it. But we didn\u2019t claim anything back, we don\u2019t own anything.
\n-T: It\u2019s what we felt like, in that moment. We had been doing many different things.<\/p>\n

\u2013Agreed. So you don\u2019t feel as ambassadors of anything. Yet, it seemed like it was the right time for such thing, no?<\/b>
\n\u2013T: Yes, that\u2019s true. If we do it, it\u2019s because we feel like it. And the public appreciates it. The other day we were at the Palau, in Barcelona, and when Merc\u00e9 started singing\u00a0por seguiriyas<\/i>, the public\u2026ah! It was as if it were a pop song\u2026 Ay!
\n-JM: We were both looking forward to doing something like this. It was the right time.
\n-T: That\u2019s where we come from.
\n-JM: After so many different things that we\u2019ve done, so much mixing, so much fusion\u2026 Well, we decided to go back to our early days.
\n-T: To the flamenco\u00a0palos<\/i>. There\u2019s nothing like it.
\n-JM: No other\u00a0palos<\/i>\u00a0have been created.
\n-T: Singing\u00a0por seguiriyas<\/i>. Remembering the\u00a0sole\u00e1<\/i>\u00a0of Juanito Mojama, the\u00a0Taranto de Almer\u00eda<\/i>\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2013Sometimes there\u2019s no need to create anything new.\u00a0<\/b>
\n\u2013T: It\u2019s necessary to recreate what has been created. If something has been created, it has to be recreated, made our own, as authentic as possible, according to what we\u2019ve heard.
\n-JM: And convey emotion. If we\u2019re unable to convey emotion, there\u2019s no point doing it. In this case, we are very lucky that both Tomate and myself are able to convey our emotions.<\/p>\n

\u2013Are you aware that people will be talking about this? Is that the intent?\u00a0<\/b>
\n\u2013T: People will think whatever. What can we say? We can say that we feel happy and honored doing this. If we perform for two hours and the public doesn\u2019t get up and leave, it\u2019s because they\u2019re having a good time. If I play the guitar, he sings, and people cheer, I\u2019d feel super happy. Considering all the bad things happening in this world, if people have a good time, I\u2019ll be delighted.
\n-JM: There will be all sorts of opinions. We recently premiered it at the Palau de la M\u00fasica in Barcelona and it was a spectacular evening. Everyone had a lot of fun: we, our crew, the public\u2026 The warmth of the public is a huge boost for us.
\nT: They didn\u2019t let us leave the stage. We had to do three encores. Everyone stayed put, all together.\u2013Besides the artistic aspect, or perhaps because of it, you two have charisma. That\u2019s fortunate, isn\u2019t it?<\/b>
\n\u2013T: Yes, we both were born with charisma.
\n-JM: There is a saying in Spanish which goes \u201cmejor caer en gracia que ser gracioso<\/i>\u201d [a play of words, roughly meaning \u201cbetter having charisma than being funny\u201d]. We really have to acknowledge that both Tomate and I have charisma. That\u2019s very important. The fact of people liking us as soon as we climb on stage really helps us succeed.<\/p>\n

\u2013And that\u2019s not easy. I know for a fact that there are many charmless artists out there.<\/b>
\n\u2013T: Possibly, and when that happens the public senses that lack of charm and it just doesn\u2019t work.
\n-JM: The public may or may not understand [the technical aspects of the performance]. Yet, when it comes to convey emotion, the public quickly understands when we are generous and raw on stage.<\/p>\n

\u2013My apologies, but in all those flamenco interviews it\u2019s always the same story. Whenever an artist is interviewed, it\u2019s seems like we, the readers, care a lot about their opinion on those two other mainstream singers. And journalists don\u2019t think twice about highlighting those opinions in their headlines, as it increases readership.<\/b>
\n\u2013JM: I\u2019m fine with all things I\u2019ve read.
\n-T: We can\u2019t give an opinion about the things we haven\u2019t heard.
\n-JM: All I say is that people can use flamenco for whatever they want, as long as it\u2019s for a good thing. If they use pop, rap or anything else, I think it\u2019s wonderful. Time will tell. What\u2019s worth will stay, what\u2019s not worth will be tossed in the garbage.
\n-T: Flamenco is a wise musical genre, according to all musicians the world over. When people think about Spanish music, what do they think of? Flamenco, right? What did [Spanish classical music composers] Falla and Alb\u00e9niz do? People say \u201cSpanish music\u201d. No! It\u2019s Andalusian music, flamenco music. So, if some kids decide to do other things and they take flamenco in account, if Rosal\u00eda sing\u00a0tangos de Gran\u00e1<\/i>\u00a0or old songs\u2026
\n-JM: Perhaps if she had stuck to flamenco, she would be just another one of the pile. Making those stories, those incursions, well, to each their own, right?
\n-T: Look, Jos\u00e9 has done many things. I\u2019m also from Camar\u00f3n\u2019s revolution. Look at all the ugly names people called Camar\u00f3n when we recorded\u00a0La leyenda del tiempo<\/i>. They called him everything except pretty boy.
\n-JM: [Camar\u00f3n] got hit harder than when I released Aire. I wasn\u2019t criticized\u2026 So, it is what it is. What is worth, is worth, and what isn\u2019t, gets tossed away.
\n-T: Like he said. Things come and go. Some young people like Rosal\u00eda. I like her too, why shouldn\u2019t I like her? She\u2019s pleasant to the ears. And if I listen to her, what can I say? That I\u2019m the one doing flamenco? No, people don\u2019t own anything. Music, flamenco, is out there, it belongs to everyone. If someone does something that people like, so be it. If then it turns out that it was just a fad, so it was a fad. And if she turns out being a musical genius, well\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u2013Regarding that other singer, the controversy is greater because he insults his critics, with particular venom directed at flamencologists from Seville.<\/b>
\n\u2013JM: I don\u2019t know him, so I don\u2019t have an opinion of him.
\n-T: When someone has no manners, it\u2019s a lost battle. How are great things done? Talking. Even if there are no nice things to say. If I were a journalist, the greatest punishment I could give someone is never mentioning them. It\u2019s worse to say how bad and rotten they are\u2026\u2013Why are there so many angry people in flamenco, so many well-versed aficionados arguing with each other in the social networks?<\/b>
\n\u2013JM: The world of flamenco has always been like that. A soon as artists are successful, people start looking for their defects. The great flamencologists go to the concerts of the big starts to check if they fail. They don\u2019t care about the good things, but just about the failings. This is disturbing. Critics have always been destructive. There has been few constructive critics in the world of flamenco. That\u2019s how it is.<\/p>\n

\u2013What is your opinion about the direction where flamenco is going?<\/b>
\n\u2013JM: I like what some young people are doing, but they still have a lot to learn. They have the right of making mistakes, like we all made mistakes when we were young. Yet, if we\u2019re talking about traditional, true\u00a0flamenco jondo<\/i>, the fact is that there\u2019s not much to talk about. Time will put everything in its place.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Merc\u00e9 and Tomatito \u2018DE VERDAD\u2019 tour<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Feb 01: Girona (Auditori)
\nFeb 16: Sevilla (Cartuja Center)
\nApr 12: Barakaldo (Teatro Barakaldo)
\nApr 13: San Sebasti\u00e1n (Kursaal)
\nMay 18:Fregenal de la Sierra, Badajoz
\nMay 25: Granada (Auditorio Manuel de Falla)
\nJun 7: \u00dabeda, Ja\u00e9n (Hospital de Santiago)
\nJul 19: Almer\u00eda
\nAug 15: Marbella (Starlite Festival)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n