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<\/p>\nThese days, releasing music albums with specific titles seems completely normal. However, this wasn\u2019t always the norm: discography experts used to refer to any given album by its record label and catalog number. A good example of this is the LP in today\u2019s article, which has no title and was released by the Belter record label with the catalogue number 22.284, so it\u2019s would be known as Belter (22.284)<\/b>. However, to avoid technicalities, aficionados often refer to such albums by the name of its first track, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done here.<\/p>\n
\u201cEntra\u00f1as de mi cuerpo<\/b>\u201d is the first LP of Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez Montoya El Chocolate<\/i> (b. Jerez de la Frontera, 1930 \u2013 d. Seville, 2005). Previously, Antonio had recorded a series of wonderful EPs, the first one in 1963, accompanied by the guitars of Paco Aguilera and F\u00e9lix de Utrera, another six EPs accompanied by Melchor de Marchena in the years 1964 and 1965, and six more EPs accompanied by Ni\u00f1o Ricardo in the years 1966 y 1967, definitely recommended. Thus, we get to 1968, when Chocolate brings us another sublime record, the album we\u2019re featuring in this article. In this occasion, the cantaor<\/i> performed with the guitars of Manolo de Brenes and Antonio de Sanl\u00facar, which perfectly wrap Antonio\u2019s deep cante<\/i> throughout ten tracks.<\/p>\n
On the album\u2019s back cover, there is a short text written by the late flamenco critic Miguel Acal:<\/p>\n
\u201cDefining Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez Montoya \u2018Chocolate\u2019 is very difficult. In our opinion (shared by a multitude of aficionados), Chocolate is the best example of the \u2018duende cantaor\u2019. Chocolate\u2019s cante may no be precise, measured to the millionth part, but his cante reveals a man devoted to an art. Chocolate doesn\u2019t sing with his throat, he sings with his heart, with his eyes, with his hands\u2026 His whole being sings, not just his voice. Gypsy to the bone, he mixes in his soul the grace of having been born in Jerez and the duende of having grown up in Seville\u2019s Alameda de H\u00e9rcules during cante\u2019s golden age. Chocolate has come from afar, and he\u2019ll go far. He passed by, with anguish, touching us with a sorrowful duende or a joyful angel. The depth of Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez \u2018s sorrow is perhaps the expression of Gypsy sorrow, suppressed for many years. Yet, the intensity of his singing\u2019s joy, his angel, can erase the pain of betrayal. Chocolate spills out sugar. The mystery of cante\u2019s duende takes hold of his soul, shaking it. This is perhaps the most perfect definition of Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez. Genius: that\u2019s what Chocolate is<\/i>\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a bad description of Chocolate, although we shall recall what this cantaor<\/i> said many years later: \u201cDuende doesn\u2019t just show up. It must be sought<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
This album has a double ration of seguiriyas<\/i>: \u201cEntra\u00f1as de mi cuerpo<\/i><\/b>\u201d and \u201cPor aquella ventana<\/i><\/b>\u201d, accompanied by the guitars of Manolo de Brenes and Antonio de Sanl\u00facar, respectively. In my opinion, Chocolate is one of the best performers of seguiriyas<\/i> of the last sixty years, with his voice so full of energy, so flamenca<\/i> and with such perfect vocalization. Like we say in flamenco, a \u201cmonster\u201d (as in \u201call -powerful giant\u201d), without a doubt. Chocolate avoids the excessively long notes which other artists use to perform the so-called cantes grandes<\/i>. He has no room for monotony, and his cantes<\/i> are startling, unsettling the listener at every verse.<\/p>\n
The same can be said about Chocolate por soleares<\/i>. His way of linking the verses \u201ca lo Tom\u00e1s<\/i>\u201d is truly exceptional. Chocolate always stated categorically the Pav\u00f3n siblings were the artists who influenced him the most, particularly Tom\u00e1s, something which stands out when we listen to the soleares<\/i> in this LP which, by the way, are also a \u201cdouble ration\u201d: \u201cA la mare de mi alma<\/i><\/b>\u201d and \u201cLo que yo siento de veras<\/i><\/b>\u201d, both accompanied by the guitar of Manolo de Brenes.<\/p>\n
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Attempting to dissect the different styles in flamenco is like going into a lion\u2019s den. We may find similitudes among cantaores<\/i> who recorded their cantes<\/i>, but attempting to go beyond this may cause us to fall into an endless abyss, because the numerous labels applied to cantes<\/i> turn the flamenco landscape into dreadful gibberish: was the seguiriya<\/i> of Manuel Torres a version of the seguiriya of Manuel Molina or Francisco la Perla? Was Frasquito\u2019s fandango<\/i> a verdial de V\u00e9lez<\/i>, popularized by Juan Breva? Was the sole\u00e1<\/i> of Juanichi El Manijero in fact created by Frijones\u2026? It\u2019s all a non-ending labyrinth of names. There are styles which are so similar that it\u2019s hard to believe that they were created by so many different people. That reminds me of the words that my friend Gregorio Valderrama uttered one day, during a good flamenco discussion: \u201cThose attributions bite me like wasps!\u201d. Not quite, he forgot to add spiders, centipedes, scorpions and all sort of poisonous critters.<\/p>\n
We now travel to northern Spain to enjoy a jota navarrica<\/i>, \u201cQuisiera volverme yedra<\/i><\/b>\u201d, which Chocolate performs a comp\u00e1s de buler\u00eda<\/i>. Including other musical styles in flamenco is something that many other cantaores<\/i> have done throughout history. For example, Fosforito performed rancheras<\/i>, Antonio El Chaqueta performed boleros<\/i> and Chano Lobato performed Argentinian tangos<\/i>. Chocolate had a natural voice which enabled him to sing all kinds of music. Who remembers Chocolate singing the Spanish version of Matt Monron\u2019s \u201cBorn Free\u201d in the famous TV series \u201cRito y geograf\u00eda del cante<\/i>\u201d? Phenomenal!<\/p>\n
We continue with a style where Chocolate excels: fandango<\/i>. This album includes six different fandangos<\/i> in four tracks: \u201cQue presume de saber<\/i><\/b>\u201d, \u201cLlorando me la encontr\u00e9<\/i><\/b>\u201d, \u201cNi el alcohol que haya m\u00e1s fuerte<\/i><\/b>\u201d and \u201cDe la mano la voy a llevar<\/i><\/b>\u201d, all of them very well known by flamenco aficionados. Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez grew up in Seville at the time when it had great fandango<\/i> performers, such as El Pinto, Caracol, Vallejo, El Gloria and El Sevillano, and he ended up creating his own type of fandango<\/i>, with which he enthralled audiences throughout his long career.<\/p>\n
\u201cDame la espuela<\/i><\/b>\u201d is the Taranto<\/i> with which Chocolate and Manolo de Brenes delight us in this album. That same year, this cantaor<\/i> recorded another Taranto<\/i>: \u201c\u00a1Ay! mi muchacho<\/i>\u201d, featured in the EP Belter (52.215), which probably was not included in this album for lack of space. Both of these tarantos<\/i> were performed under the shadow of the genius of Jerez, Manuel Torres.<\/p>\n
Then we have \u201cLo que yo por ti dar\u00eda<\/i><\/b>\u201d, a rare performance of the malague\u00f1a del Mellizo<\/i>, as Chocolate finishes it with an abandolao<\/i>. It\u2019s rather unusual among cantaores<\/i> to finish this type of malague\u00f1a<\/i> with an abandolao<\/i>, and it\u2019s even frowned upon by some. Yet, anarchy rules everywhere with Antonio N\u00fa\u00f1ez Montoya\u2019s cante<\/i>.<\/p>\n
With the exception of the jota por buler\u00eda<\/i> cited above, we can say that all cantes<\/i> mentioned up to now were part of Chocolate\u2019s usual repertoire, although we must add the cantes de fragua<\/i>, which Chocolate performed superbly. However, artists are prone to explore other \u201cterrains\u201d, and sometimes end up recording styles beyond their comfort zone, perhaps attempting to be acknowledged as having that sought-after encyclopedic flamenco expertise. As an example, we have \u201cCante de Levante<\/i><\/b>\u201d, jaberas<\/i>, a style which Chocolate performs as if fulfilling a duty.<\/p>\n
Overall, Entra\u00f1as de mi cuerpo<\/i> is an album which every good flamenco aficionado should have in their collection, as it showcases what, in my opinion, was the best of times in the career of an artist whose name is already etched in gold in flamenco history. Among other important accolades, he was awarded the Medal of Andalusia and the Grammy Latino, even as he used to say: \u201cIn order to sing well, I have to like my public.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a1QU\u00c9 GRANDE, CHOCOLATE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
These days, releasing music albums with specific titles seems completely normal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discos-archivo-en"],"yoast_head":"\n