The\u00a0Taranto de Oro<\/i>\u00a0is not just any award, but a prize given by one of the best pe\u00f1as flamencas<\/i> in the world, and also one of the oldest. This flamenco association in the beautiful province of Almer\u00eda has awarded its accolade to a great cantaor<\/i> and bailaor<\/i> from Algeciras, Perico El Pa\u00f1ero, who incidentally lives in that province, although it\u2019s a given that this hasn\u2019t been a factor in the granting of such honor, which is solely based on the quality and artistry of the cantaor<\/i>. Perico is nowadays one of the most charismatic artists in cante jondo<\/i>, a cantaor<\/i> who isn\u2019t for the mainstream, the masses, but rather for the minority who are able to tell the difference between commercial flamenco and pure flamenco. El Pa\u00f1ero is pure flamenco. Yes, pure.<\/p>\n
I like to keep defining as pure<\/i> the artists in the mold of this scrawny Gypsy cantaor<\/i>, because I love the fact that there are still artists with such natural and authentic artistry, in a genre with so much fodder. I understand that art also needs a business or commercial side. This exists in cante flamenco<\/i>, in films, in theater and in literature. But the serious critics and, above all, the knowledgeable aficionados, should never allow ourselves to be carried away by commercialism, but must always support quality and authenticity. I remember when Antonio Mairena lamented that cantaores<\/i> like Tom\u00e1s Pav\u00f3n or Juan Talega passed away without their worth being properly acknowledged. Mairena himself may well have ended up destitute and forgotten if he hadn\u2019t been awarded the Golden Key of Cante in C\u00f3rdoba, by initiative of his close friend Ricardo Molina Tenor, the great writer and poet from Puente Genil.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that I mean to compare Perico with Tom\u00e1s or Juan, but he belongs to this group of odd, unusual and fragile cantaores<\/i> who are not meant for the masses. Perico has been performing on stages for a while, and when he\u2019s at ease he\u2019s able to move very well on the floor. Yet, his true element is in a private room or social gathering among good aficionados, many of them, or just a few. Few is better. There is a video that\u2019s been doing the rounds for a while in the social networks where Perico sings and dances, accompanied by Pepe de Pura in the guitar, which should be featured in universities all over the world. That\u2019s the video where he\u2019s met on stage by one of his disciples, El Purili de La L\u00ednea, another unique artist in Gypsy cante<\/i> and baile<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I believe that acknowledging the artistry of Perico El Pa\u00f1ero with an award such as the Taranto de Oro is a great step in the right direction by the directors of this pe\u00f1a<\/i> in Almer\u00eda. The artist is overjoyed, and I assume that the same goes for his fans, who are many all over Spain and even outside our country. This award will encourage Perico to remain in the path of pure, authentic flamenco, in a time when commercial flamenco has been so heavily promoted in the mainstream media. There are not many prizes honoring the artistry and work of the more modest artists, and that makes this award very valuable.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve only watched Perico perform on a stage two or three times, and I\u2019ve loved it. Yet, what I really want is to be with him in a gathering of cabales<\/i>, good aficionados, because I got bored of almost everything in commercial flamenco. These days, I cannot stand anything that doesn\u2019t move me. Congratulations, master.<\/p>\n
Translated by P. Young<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The\u00a0Taranto de Oro\u00a0is not just any award, but a prize given by one of the best pe\u00f1as flamencas in the world, and also one of the oldest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[149,148,176],"class_list":["post-7485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-archivo","tag-perico-el-panero-en","tag-taranto-de-oro","tag-perico-el-panero-en-2"],"yoast_head":"\n