Carmen Linares, flamenco cantaora. Interview
10th Anniversary of ‘Antología. La mujer
en el cante’
“The stagnation in flamenco
is
neither good nor genuine”
Silvia Calado. Madrid, June 2007
Translation: Joseph Kopec
One decade. And time proves her
right. The anthology which Carmen
Linares dedicated to the female cantaora in 1997 has
become a work of reference, like Hispavox’s ‘Antología
del cante flamenco’ was in the past. The Jaén-born
cantaora still blushes when she reads the praise for this
album which, she admits, she feels entirely satisfied
with. And she believes the key to that success, an entirely
unexpected success, is freshness: “They’re
really old cantes, but done by a young cantaora, with
guitarists of today”. Besides marking a turning
point in her career, it has created a trend in flamenco,
not just by vindicating long-forgotten voices, but by
encouraging a new generation of cantaoras. As she is an
untiring worker, she is constantly surprising us with
new projects both live and at the studio. Together with
the touring shows ‘De aire y madera’ and ‘Desde
el alma’, she is preparing a new album with Juan
Carlos Romero based on verses by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
Her wings are always ready for the next flight.
Carmen Linares (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
A decade of ‘Antología.
La mujer en el cante’
“That some people use the
anthology to acquire knowledge of flamenco is my success
with that album”
Silvia Calado. Madrid, June 2007
How would you size up ‘Antología.
La mujer en el cante’ ten years later?
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| "I
wouldn’t change anything about the concept
of the anthology in itself" |
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Curiously, every time you record an album
time goes by and you say “oh, I might have done
that differently...”. But not with the anthology.
It’s so thought-out, so well-wrought, between José
Manuel Gamboa, my husband (Miguel Espín)
and me, that I wouldn’t change any guitarist, any
cante, or anything that we’ve done. Logically after
ten years, I might do the cantes a little bit differently.
There are cantes which I have improved in time. That’s
what I might like to change. When you get a record ready,
you don’t really make it your own until you really
have it down pat. But I wouldn’t change anything
about the concept of the anthology in itself; the guitarists
are really well-chosen, everything’s really good.
I’m really happy. It’s the album I’m
most satisfied with, which has been a turning point. I’ve
been recognized a great deal more. I’m really satisfied
to have made those two discs. It’s been very important
to my career.
Carmen Linares (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
Did that work make you evolve
as a cantaora?
I think it did, but above all the thing
is that after recording that, nothing scares me any more.
We spent an entire year recording, though we would rest,
take it up again, close a section, now the cantes by La
Mejorana... Do I have to make an album? Well, let’s
do it. After the anthology, I’ve taken it differently.
And it was relatively easy, in the sense that we would
record live. I’m really a live artist; I always
give much more live than in a recording. And we took that
recording that way. It wasn’t as elaborated or as
complicated as records are done nowadays; now the guitar
is recorded separately... And that helped me a lot. José
Manuel knew that I always used to record like that and
I continue to record that way. I like having the guitar
there, even though we are, of course, separated by a booth.
There are things that I record on top, but we always do
some takes and then work is done on top of that. Things
turn out really warm that way. Thank God we did it like
that, because with so many cantes, so many guitarists,
till we got everyone together, till we managed to coordinate
everything... But it’s really gratifying.
What have you included in your
repertoire from the anthology?
There are things which I sing less often.
For example, I don’t do jaberas, which is a really
nice cante, because it’s really hard. I get really,
really tired and not everyone knows how to do the accompaniment...
But in general, when I sing live, I do a lot of repertoire
from the anthology. There are a lot of cantes but, for
example, I’ve done ‘Toma ese puñal
dorao’ a lot, which I recorded with Vicente
Amigo. Everybody likes those alegrías. Also,
the ones by Pastora, ‘¡Vivan los toreros!’.
I’ve also done a lot of bulerías, I’ve
sung the soleares by La
Serneta a lot, the tarantas, the bulería I
recorded in memory of Camarón’s
mother, ‘La Tana y la Juana’...
Carmen Linares
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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As a novelty, it’s being
released accompanied by a DVD which has...
The anthology comes with a DVD that includes
a documentary my son Miguel has done with interviews with
people who took part in the anthology, among which are
Tomatito,
Morao, José Manuel, me... sizing things up, weighing
them up, now that ten years have gone by. And it also
comes with the recording of the presentation concert we
did at Madrid’s Teatro Monumental, whose rights
were granted to us by Televisión Española
(Spanish Television). Well now, performing are none other
than Tomatito, Moraíto, Enrique de Melchor...
What was that concert like for
you?
Oh man. I had butterflies in my stomach.
You’ll see it on the DVD; it turned out really well.
I finally relaxed when I saw that everything was in its
place. Oh, Manolito
Soler was also there with the clapping and percussions.
And it turned out really well. It was a very, very exciting
night for me. Now then, it was a lot of work. I obviously
didn’t do every cante; otherwise I’d still
be there now. But I think it was really good, the theater
was full... It was very exciting.
With so many artists stopping
in at the studio, there are probably endless anecdotes,
aren’t there?
Well, for example, to record the clapping
there was Javier
Barón – who, though he’s a bailaor,
came to collaborate very affectionately, he can really
do the clapping well - and Manolito Soler. And one of
them is a Betis fan and the other’s a Sevilla fan
(rival soccer teams from Seville). And they were always
at it. One day Manolito wore Sevilla socks... Well, we
were always laughing about it. It was a very nice personal
experience, because I think that all the guitarists who
came really got involved. They saw that it was a very
special album and I moreover sincerely believe that they
all felt completely at home. We gave each one their thing;
we knew what their specialty was. Pepe Habichuela is a
great guitarist, but in my opinion, his style is alegrías
played halfway and the soleá halfway. When we called
him up he asked us: “What is it, a soleá
halfway or upwards?”. And when he was told it was
halfway, he thought it was great. It wasn’t a coincidence,
since those of us who are in this line of business know
what it’s all about. I know that Enrique
de Melchor plays soleá upwards... Juan
Habichuela is the one who best knows his aunt Marina’s
tangos. La Perla’s bulerías are played by
Paco Cepero, who was her guitarist. Everyone is really
satisfied with the work they did. We gave them a treat.
Perico
el del Lunar played the lullaby … And he gave
Pepa Oro’s milonga some personality … I mean,
the anthology is made with some really ill intentions,
ha ha ha.
What do you feel in view of descriptions
such as “classic”, “historic work”...?
I still see it in writing and I get like
… I really didn’t know the repercussions it
was going to have. I did it as an album which I devoted
all my tender loving care to, but without the intention
of vindicating anything. Well, there are cantaoras who
have come out there and who do vindicate themselves. Nobody
knew cantes like ‘Toma ese puñal dorao’
which La Mejorana used to do. Pastora
doesn’t need to be vindicated, but she has been
made known to many cantaoras through that anthology. And
look at the nice repercussions it’s had since they
were really old cantes, but done by a young cantaora with
guitars of today. All the fantastic anthologies that were
already there were older, and there wasn’t that
youth in the guitars. That’s why it’s become
a reference. For them to say it’s a classic is the
best compliment they can pay me. That some people use
the anthology to acquire knowledge of flamenco is my success
with that album.
And it even sold well for flamenco
levels...
And it’s still selling. I’m
really very happy. We got it right and we did so with
all the responsibility we had at that moment. And then
it turns out to be a very pleasant anthology because they’re
different guitars and that gives it a different color
than if it’d been the same voice with the same guitar.
It isn’t cumbersome.
It’s also had repercussions
within flamenco. Young cantaores, especially cantaoras,
have started to look back …
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| "A
lot of cantaoras have come out. There are a lot
now" |
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I think you’re right, there. A
lot of cantaoras have come out. There are a lot now; there
didn’t use to be so many. I don’t want to
put on airs, but it’s like too much of a coincidence.
I’ve been to festivals and girls have come up to
me telling me they also sang for me to autograph the anthology
for them. I think it’s had some influence. I’m
not the one to say so, but since you’ve asked, I
think it’d be false modesty not to recognize it.
And especially, women who’ve decided to devote themselves
to cante jondo, because there were a lot of women who
used to sing copla and other stuff. Now there’s
an incredible group of young cantaoras.
For example, on Estrella
Morente’s album, ‘Mujeres’, there
are cantes by Pastora, La Perla, La Repompa…
Yeah, it’s a trend. Tributes started
to be paid to women in flamenco, festivals just with cantaoras…
I think it’s something we’ve fought for and
everyone’s jumped on the bandwagon.
... and Carmen Linares. How do
you take a tribute like that?
It makes me really happy. In short, what
I’ve always pursued in my career is to set flamenco’s
sights very high, for flamenco to be valued, for women
to be valued and for what I’m doing to mean something.
And if it’s been good, coherent work, then may young
people look into it. It’s great satisfaction to
me. The years go by, but since I do it with the same excitement
as when I was twenty years old... When I take a look back,
I say my goodness, I’ve done so many things, it’s
unbelievable. But I’ve been singing professionally
since I was seventeen. And as an artist, since I was a
little girl. I’ve already done a lot of things.
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