Farru: «Paco de Lucía confessed to me one day that he didn't like dancing»

Articles Related

Hermina Borja and La Tana, with Paco de Lucía. Photo: HB

Herminia Borja: «Paco said that the artist who loses his fear of the stage should retire»

'Christmas with the family' by Farrucos and Fernández

Farrucos and Fernández's 'Christmas with the family' presented

Grandson of the great Farruco, brother of Farruquito, Antonio Fernandez Montoya farru He appears as the dancer who accompanied Paco de Lucía on his last tours. An honour that this Sevillian from 1988 takes great pride in, and which even led him to dedicate a show to him, directly inspired, according to him, by the genius from Algeciras. During a break from his work at the Sevillian Tablao de las Setas, he agrees to share his memories with the readers of Expoflamenco.

–What is your first memory of Paco?

–The link with Paco comes from long before I worked with him. I have to go back to my grandfather Farruco's company, of which Paco was a part as a guitarist for the dance. And from there comes the link with the Sánchez family, with Paco, with uncle Pepe, with all of them. And then I discovered Paco de Lucía on a record, the first one I listened to consciously, which was Zyirab. I went crazy. I am a frustrated guitarist, and since then I got hooked on that sound, on that new way of expressing the flamenco guitar with the bass, the cajón, and I fell in love with it all. I remember that I went with my grandfather Farruco and my father, may they both rest in peace, to a concert he gave at the Maestranza, I think it was the last one with the old sextet, and it was amazing. They were beyond everything, and as a child I started to play at being Paco, Camarón and my grandfather.

–Did they talk a lot about him at home?

–Very much, he was one of the family. We were very fond of him, and every time we did things in Madrid he came to see us. There was a show that my brother did called old soul, which premiered at the Teatro Albéniz, and they told us “Paco de Lucía is in the stalls.” Our legs all started to shake. I remember that I was doing a taranto that ended with tangos, and when I was leaving the dressing room I found him face to face. I didn’t know what to say, I just stared at him, speechless, and he said to me: “How beautifully you have danced taranto and tangos, and how original.” He had an impressive presence, it’s just that… it was Paco. And you saw him there, in front of you… I never imagined, nor dreamed that I would throw myself in, that I could one day belong to his story.

–How was that incorporation?

–I am one of the few who were lucky enough to have him call them directly. My phone rang, “Who is it?” “Farru, it’s me, Paco.” “Which Paco?” “Paquito el Chocolatero,” he said, and started laughing. And in the laughter I recognized him, “Man, maestro, how are you?” I was there, I remember him perfectly in an internet cafe sending some documentation, I went outside and he said to me, “I’m starting the tour and I’d like to bring someone…” He left it there, I think it was like a first contact. But he didn’t say to me “I want you to come” at that moment. The fact is that in the film Flamenco, flamenco I did the production of a song by Carlos Saura with Isidro, it was a week of ten or eleven hours a day without stopping. And when it was over, Isidro comes and says to me: “Farru, I’m going to talk to production to see if they can pay you.” I told him that it wasn’t necessary, that I had done it from the heart and to learn, but that I had a favor to ask. “I know that Paco is coming to record for the film, call me because I want to be there when he comes, just to see him.” “Oh, of course.” When he called me, it turned out that they needed some extras from one day to the next, and I got them for them. I saw Paco, we greeted each other, and at the buffet, when I was eating, he says to me: “I’m already getting ready for the tour, and this year I’m thinking about bringing someone…” I was silent, imagine. “Let’s see who I can find…” And after a while, when I was about to sit down, he says to me, “Well, what’s going on, are you coming with me or what?” I stared at him and couldn't even answer. My brother Juan, who was standing next to me, replied: "Of course, maestro, of course he's leaving. Aren't you going to leave?" I was like that until we left. I got up at three in the morning and said, "Is this true? I wouldn't tell anyone until the office called me and sent me the dates. And that's what they did. I had the dates printed in my car, and everywhere I went I told everyone "I'm leaving with Pacoooo."

«They are called by God for eternity. Paco is eternal, my great-grandchildren and my great-great-grandchildren will listen to him and continue to be amazed by him. They are artists who have not only left a musical legacy, but a legacy. It is for eternity. The next geniuses, who will take time to be born, will be a consequence of the legacy of Paco de Lucía»

Farru and Paco de Lucia — Antonio Fernandez Montoya 'El Farru' and Paco de Lucia.

–You were aware that throughout his career Paco had had great dancers, Manolito Soler, Juan Ramírez, El Grilo… Do you have a strategy to be up to par and at the same time leave your mark?

–At that time I didn't think about what to do either. I tried to prepare myself as much as possible and give my heart and my one hundred percent every day, with enthusiasm, with desire, with respect, with preparation, but I don't remember having a tactic, just going with an open heart to learn and give the best of myself.

–Then there was the time constraints on Paco, who was a human metronome and was obsessed with not falling. How did he cope with that?

–I learned a lot, just imagine, I was 20 years old. I learned artistically and personally. I have no criteria to define what Paco was as a musician, it escapes me. But as a person he was even more impressive. He loved music a lot, and in dance it is more difficult to be musical. I think one of the things I added to my dance was musicality, dynamics and spaces, silences, structure… Many things.

–What kind of conversations do you remember with him?

–It was four years, but I lived with Paco. And since he and I were the only ones who didn’t travel from Barcelona or Madrid, we always got together to travel together, him from Mallorca and me from Seville. But he wasn’t the kind of person who gave you advice, like “what you have to do is…” No, he simply gave you an example, and you took it as you wished.

–He never climbed into the pulpit.

–Not at all, never. I remember one day he told me: “Youth is good for learning, not for stagnating. You are dancing on a marble slab right now and you are breaking it, but your strength will go away one day, so you have to look for something else.” Receiving that advice at 20 makes you think a lot.

–And were you talking about something that had nothing to do with music?

–It was the funniest thing in the world, very funny. One day I had a gig at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, and I asked the office for that day off. They told me that if Paco didn’t object, there was no problem, so I said to him “Maestro, I have to talk to you.” And he said, “Don’t ask me for more money, ok?” I sat down with him and said, “Maestro, I have a show that you know about… They’ve offered me a date in Barcelona and it coincides with our date in Berlin.” “Are you going to leave me hanging?” “No, maestro, if you think not, you’re first.” “Well, okay, what do you think?” “I’ll prepare a dancer for you, whoever you tell me, I’ll give him two dances and that’s it. Whoever you tell me.” “Whoever you tell me, don’t you have anyone in your family who’s good?” “I have a cousin of mine, El Barullo, who also lives next door to me.” And so I did. Anyway, he goes to Berlin, and two days later we had another performance. We meet at the airport in Mallorca and I ask him, “Maestro, what, how was the kid?” And he answers me: “Ugh, the kid, when he came out everyone started chanting, 'Barullooooooo… Barullooooooo…' We're going to have to talk, because we might have to change dancers' [laughs]. And I'm left with a white face, and after a while he says to me: “You're scared, huh? Don't leave me hanging any longer.” He would tell you things like that so seriously that you had to believe them.

«Defining his genius is very difficult, if not impossible. But I think it is the flamenco who has been most sure of the genius of this art, who has most trusted in the potential of flamenco. And he has never forgotten the flamenco, and has never been a prostitute. He believed so much in the flamenco, whose passion made him see that by playing that music he could conquer the world"

The Farru — El Farru, in the Caracolá Lebrija. Photo: Vicente Pachón

–He loved to stir up trouble, didn't he?

–What happens to me is that, since I am from down here and I understand the age, I realized very soon. But I would fight the others, but hard.

–He also took his brother, El Carpeta, to some performances…

–One day I took Manuel to the Castle of Cadiz and we danced together, but he was still very young. In fact, Manuel was already on the next tour in 2014, but he didn't make it because he died. He only did a little dance at the Maestranza.

–What kind of people did the teacher like?

–He liked good people. Simple, noble, humble people. He avoided sensationalism, popularity. He liked to sit in a corner talking, telling a joke or an anecdote, listening to you…

–And he loved football. Were you a football fan?

–A lot. I have a very good anecdote about him. In Ipanema, Brazil, we had three days off, and since I know people from there, I took my courses in the morning. One day I arrived and saw Piraña, irritated, lost, “Where were you?!” “Dude, I was taking my courses…” “We played a football match and they beat us, because Paco said 'the payos against the gypsies'. And we ended 6-3. But tomorrow we met at 11 in the morning, and we were playing for dinner at the sushi bar next door.” When I arrived, their team was Pepe Cervera, the sound technician, Paco, Antonio Serrano, Antonio Sánchez, his son Diego… And we were David de Jacoba, Piraña, Duquende, Rubio de Pruna and me. And I tell them, “Compadres, this is very easy, you stay back, you a little bit to the center, and all the balls for me…” We finished 15-2, you should have seen Paco, scorched, sweating, saying to Antonio Sánchez “but put your foot in!”, and Antonio, “but Tito, how am I going to put my foot in, if he’s the dancer?”. “It doesn’t matter, put your foot in!” [laughs] I have that, Gabriela recorded it! He spent three hours running!

–Did you fit in well with the group?

–Of course, I have known Piraña for as long as I can remember, I was the one who brought Rubio in… I didn’t know David as well, but there were some very nice things in that group, we got along well and we all admired each other, which is something very important. We went up on stage and it was always about sharing, never competing.

«I remember one day he told me: 'Youth is good for learning, not for stagnating. You're dancing on a marble slab right now and you're breaking it, but your strength will go away one day, so you have to look for something else.'»

–How did that Paco change in shorts when he went up on stage with the guitar in his hand?

–He was very impressive. He gave you complete confidence, he would always be at your level, but of course, the respect we had for him as an artist made being out there the best for us.

–And how did the public behave?

–As soon as he came out, without touching anything, he would stand next to the chair and the theater would fall down. I would see him and say, “Now you can go inside, maestro, it was worth it.”

–Like those who paid just to see Curro Romero walk the catwalk…

–Geniuses have that, it's not just their music, it's their aura. Paco has not only been the best guitarist of all time, he has been responsible for the before and after of flamenco. We are talking about something very big. He was not the best, he was the Messiah.

–Did he ever talk to you about the guitarists of today that he liked?

–He didn't get involved much. When names were mentioned he would give his opinion, but he rarely said who he liked. He would talk about Vicente, Tomate... But I knew his favourite by the way he spoke about each one.

–Vincent?

–He liked Vicente a lot, I think he was his natural successor, his favourite. He talked about Diego, but only about the rhythm. “Diego has a lot of rhythm.” And then there were many children that he liked… But as a guitarist, he talked about Vicente.

«His singer was of course Camarón, but of the living his favorite was Duquende. He also liked El Capullo, Luis el Zambo… And one day he confessed to me that he didn't like dancing. 'Until I saw your grandfather. He's the only one who sparked my interest in dancing. Do you know why? Because of the finish. I've never seen anyone finish like that. Many times in the falsetas, in the closings, I've remembered your grandfather.'

–And what about singers?

–His singer was of course Camarón, but of the living his favorite was Duquende. He also liked El Capullo, Luis el Zambo… And one day he confessed to me that he didn’t like dancing. “I never paid much attention to it, until I saw your grandfather. He’s the only one who sparked my interest in dancing. Do you know why? Because of the finish. I’ve never seen anyone finish like that. Many times in the falsetas, in the closings, I’ve remembered your grandfather, that pt-pá-pt-pt-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… That’s when I remembered your grandfather.” I thanked him, and he said something very nice that I’m going to keep to myself, in my heart, and I know that he meant it because when he spoke he wasn’t from Ojana.

–What did you enjoy most about the repertoire?

–I really enjoyed the rondeña. I would get behind the scenes, and you know, the tour, the monotony, not sleeping… So to concentrate from the beginning and be in the mood, I would always get dressed and I would always, always, I didn't miss a single one, to listen to him in the rondeña. I would get into the story. Then I really enjoyed it because he would take me out to play the songs. palmas in that mythical bulería that we have heard so much…

–Was it possible to prepare ahead of time?

–No way, I didn’t even rehearse! Well, we did a little thing in Javier Limón’s studio, nothing, half an hour, we watched the dance for a bit and… When he called me he said “Farru, I’ve seen your videos, and I’ve noticed that in the dances you do I see that you change a lot, you change to bulería, to tango…” Then he sent me a seguiriya that changed from soleá to bulería, to tango and to bulería. That’s all we saw, then everything from the concert, I’d known that since I was ten years old. The cuts, how he wanted things… Everything.

–You traveled around the world together, which trip do you remember most?

–I remember a very special one we did in the United States on one of those buses that had a bed, a TV, a living room… Those nights travelling, finishing the concerts, getting on and normally we all fell for it, but there were times when we took out the guitar and it was wonderful. We did Route 66, we stopped at the typical bars there to eat, in the motels… “Come on, get up!” Every day with him was an anecdote.

–How did you find out about his death?

–Look, I got up very early, I looked at the phone and I had about 60 or 70 missed calls at eight in the morning. I opened them and I had about ten from my brother Juan, so he was the first one I called. “What’s going on?” “They told me that Paco has left.” “Don’t tell me that, Juan…” My first move was to grab the remote and turn on the television, TVE news… I dropped the remote, I went outside, I called Antonio Sánchez, we couldn’t even talk. Look, we had left him playing football in Ipanema, running, that was October 2013! It’s true that he smoked a lot, maybe one day he had a couple of drinks, but then he spent a week eating well, drinking water…

«Geniuses have that, it's not just their music, it's their aura. Paco has not only been the best guitarist of all time, he has been responsible for the before and after of flamenco. We are talking about something very big. He was not the best, he was the Messiah.

–Have you ever wondered what Paco would have left to do?

–I am sure that Paco would have lived 200 years, he would have given 200 years. These are inexhaustible sources, people who should last a lifetime to continue to excite and make hearts vibrate. They are called by God for eternity. Paco is eternal, my great-grandchildren and my great-great-grandchildren will listen to him and continue to be amazed by him. They are artists who have not only left a musical heritage, but a legacy. It is for eternity. The next geniuses, who will take a while to be born, will be a consequence of Paco de Lucía's legacy.

–How many times do you remember it?

–Every day. I swear by my children. I always get his attitude. Then I learned a lot about keeping my feet on the ground, never believing myself… Because Paco was more of a genius in that, you almost forgot his size, how he was. How little he thought and how much he took advantage of being Paco de Lucía. If they name you something or give you a prize of I don’t know how much, and you start to see yourself as… That’s when you have to stop and say “is this guy calling me? I’m going. Is this going to come out even if it’s something modest? I’m going.” Because Paco was like that, the most down-to-earth, noblest and simplest person in the world.

–You also caught him at a very special moment, didn't you? He had gone, he had come back and he was in a calmer, more mature moment…

–I think we got the wisest and calmest Paco. Not with regard to music, eh? But well, I have spoken with people who were with him in other times, and his attitude was always the same, simple, noble, earthly…

–You came to premiere a show inspired by an idea of Paco, For a dream. Can you remember what it was like?

–It was an idea of his that he told me, but I didn’t pay much attention to it while he was alive, because you can’t imagine the responsibility that he was putting on me. He told me during a sound check, “I spent the whole night dreaming about you today.” And he left it there. And I didn’t even want to ask him, “let’s see, this man, what did I do yesterday…” And when the test was over I said to him, “maestro, please tell me what you dreamed about, what has me feeling bad here.” “No, I was dreaming, I woke up, got up to drink water and started dreaming again. And I saw you on stage dancing, singing, playing the guitar, doing everything by yourself. Do it, you can do it. Get going, because you are the only one who can do this show.” At the time I was grateful, but I didn’t pay much attention to it, until after a while it started to work on my head. Of course I'm not a singer or a guitarist, but I did it, and in some way it made me at peace with him, I did it for and for Paco.

–As an amateur guitarist, could you tell me what made Paco so different from the others?

–Defining his genius is very difficult, if not impossible. But I think it is the flamenco who has been most sure of the genius of this art, who has most trusted in the potential of flamenco. And he has never forgotten the flamenco, and has never been a prostitute. He believed so much in the flamenco, whose passion made him see that by playing that music he could conquer the world. ♦

→ See here the installments of the series THE CHOSEN ONES, by Alejandro Luque, about Paco de Lucía's collaborators: