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Flamenco, wie er sein soll! Der spanische Zigeuner
Rafael - Star der bedeutendsten Flamenco-Clubs in Madrid - singt mit
rauer Stimme jene Schlangenlinien, die ihren arabisch-maurischen Ursprung
nicht verleugnen können. Rhythmisch knallhart und exakt die Gitarren,
das Händeklatschen. Leidenschaft pur.
the projectWorld music has become fashionable only in the past
few years—despite the fact that cross-cultural music has been
around for centuries. In Spain, the sounds of the Iberian Christians,
the Sephardic Jews, and the Moorish invaders percolated together for
hundreds of years, but it was the arrival of the gypsies in the 1700s
that provided the catalyst for the evolution of a new musical style.
That style is Flamenco. Today, the signature sounds of flamenco are
easy to recognize; the rapid-fire guitar strumming, the ecstatic hand
and foot percussion, and most of all, the fiery, passionate vocals.
Rafael Jiménez Jiménez is a gypsy singer who has mastered
the distinctive sound of flamenco singing a style often referred to
as the torn throat because of its raw, emotional impact. ¡Cante
Gitano! is a remarkable collection of original works for voice,
flamenco guitar, and percussion that continues the great tradition
of Flamenco while at the same time subtly extending the boundaries
of the style.
From the opening seconds of the recording, when the tabla drums of India enter, it is obvious that ¡Cante Gitano! is part of a living heritage, not a museum piece. India, of course, is where the gypsy culture is thought to have begun; the use of Indian drums here is untraditional simply because no one had apparently thought of it before. For the most part, though, the music centers on Jiménez Jiménez and his guitarist, the redoubtable Canito. Perhaps the most striking composition on the recording is the last one, A Enrique El Mellizo, a tribute to one of the great singers of Flamenco's Golden Age in the nineteenth century. El Mellizo, the story goes, was inspired by the chants of nearby Cadiz cathedral to write his famous Malaguena. Rafael Jiménez Jiménez and a full Gregorian Choir perform a moving tribute and at the same time create a unique sonic tapestry. Rafael Jiménez Jiménez has carved a place for himself. Unlike some of his colleagues, he has not fused or diluted Flamenco with rock, salsa, jazz, African, or classical music (all of which have been done within the past decade). But he has allowed the shrinking, cross-cultural world all musicians now inhabit to color his work, without resorting to electronics or studio gadgetry. Recorded in Madrid by Juan Antonio Suarez, who co-composed most of the music, ¡Cante Gitano! bears the unmistakable stamp of authentic Flamenco music, and the equally unmistakable sound of that music in the twentieth century. the artistRafael Jiménez Jiménez has been performing in Flamenco clubs in Spain since he was a child, including several formative years at the famed Enrique Mórente club, where he was able to meet Flamenco dancers, singers, and guitarists from Andalusia and beyond. He has toured throughout the world with several leading Flamenco dance companies. Rafael is still in his early 30s; his experiences in Spain and on the road have broadened his view of the Flamenco heritage, while he stays firmly rooted in that tradition. biographytracklist
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