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<\/p>\nCante was in the spotlight during the last days of the Festival de Jerez. On Tuesday, March 6th, at the Sala Compa\u00f1\u00eda venue, we attended the presentation of Ezequiel Ben\u00edtez\u2019s latest album, \u201cQuimeras del Tiempo – Recuer2\u201d, the second in the trilogy. This is an enthralling work, as it involves a process of deep research into flamenco styles, their creators and their performers, in order to bring them to a fresh reality in a truly pleasant voice. The biggest applause in the evening was for his sole\u00e1 in honor of T\u00eda Mar\u00eda Bala, sister of Manuel Soto Sordera, where he achieved in the lower notes the same strength as in his high notes, yet always surrounding it all with tenderness. Ezequiel also paid tribute to the cantes of the Santiago district, recalling the buler\u00edas of T\u00edo Paulera, Terremoto and T\u00eda Bolola, as well as Don Antonio Chac\u00f3n por malague\u00f1as. He was joined by the guitars of Paco Le\u00f3n and Jos\u00e9 de Pura, the baile of Mar\u00eda del Mar Moreno and the cante of Jes\u00fas M\u00e9ndez, with whom he sang, in a duet, the zambra featured in his album. Guajiras, fandangos por buler\u00edas and fandangos naturales were also performed. It was all a great success for Ezequiel.<\/p>\n
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We give the same verdict to the presentation of \u201cCon la voz en la tierra\u201d, the second solo album of David Carpio, cantaor from La Plazuela district whose skill and self-confidence are always growing. This album has a flamenco essence, where he adds, or allows to feature, other instruments such as Pablo Mart\u00edn\u2019s bass, with whom he performs a particularly charming sole\u00e1. It is true that, after many tours performing in baile companies, this cantaor has full control of tempo and tunes, as well as the stage. Manuel Li\u00f1\u00e1n didn\u2019t want to miss this event and climbed on stage to dance por buler\u00edas the lyrics composed by David himself, dedicated to his parents. Manuel Valencia enjoyed the evening with his buddy, and we enjoyed his toque, as well as the toque of Santi Lara, the album\u2019s producer, and Diego del Morao, who took part to perform some buler\u00edas dedicated to his father Mora\u00edto. Seguiriyas, tangos del Piyayo and fandangos were also performed, captivating the public. After attending this event, we can rest assured that the cante of Jerez is in good hands, and even better throats.<\/p>\n
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On Tuesday, at the Villamarta theater, Rafaela Carrasco performed her production \u201cNacida sombra\u201d, a journey through the Spanish literary legacy of the so-called Golden Century (\u201cSiglo de Oro\u201d). We can say this was among the best shows in the whole Festival, with the class and level that can be expected from an event performed at the main venue of the Festival of Jerez. It\u2019s important to give credit to Rafaela\u2019s thoughtful creativity, far removed from the frivolity of her other colleagues who focus more on putting on a show, rather than performing flamenco.<\/p>\n
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Daniel Do\u00f1a\u2019s company covered the stage with dance the following day, and Antonio Molina El Choro, from Huelva, was more liked for his baile than for the whole of his production. With \u201cGelem Gelem\u201d, the hymn of the Gypsy people, he vindicated his origins, the essence of his lineage and the reason for his art, joined by Pedro El Grana\u00edno who sang the hymn time and again. We left wanting for more.<\/p>\n
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Isabel Bay\u00f3n came at the end of the week breaking myths with DJU-DJU, a galvanizing production portraying the lack of superstitious fear. She walks under a ladder, cuts the strings of a guitar as the \u201cGrim Reaper\u201d, breaks mirrors, a porcelain cat comes out\u2026 All truly hallucinating and boundless.<\/p>\n
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El Carpeta closed the festival without the presence of Antonio Canales, due to the controversy created weeks ago by his harsh critics to the festival, although his brother Farruquito was meant to take his place. Yet, he was a no-show, too. Well, not really. He came on stage almost as the curtain fell but didn\u2019t dance due to health issues. Farruca did join her son Manuel El Carpeta, who didn\u2019t quite achieve the expected success with his show \u201cA Bailar\u201d, as his performances were far and between and not too convincing. His supporting musicians and cantaores had to fill in for half of the show.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cante was in the spotlight during the last days of the Festival de Jerez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronicles","category-shows"],"yoast_head":"\n