“We did that bulería some
time ago for the (television) program ‘Únicos’
on Antena 3. To me, it’s the hardest song to sing
because it has some changes in tone... A fellow cantaor,
Matías de Paula, tells me it’s impossible
to sing. I listen to it and I say, my God, how did I do
that? It caught me with a very good day on vocals... Juan
Carmona says the same; that it can’t ever be sung
like that again. I don’t say so, but Juan
Habichuela and Juan Carmona consider the song a ‘Leyenda
del tiempo’. And it’s totally soulería.
There are moments that go through Caracol,
others that I sound like Stevie Wonder. Crazy. You see
Pitingo’s madness there. I consider myself a mad
artist, but in a good way, a music crazy. I’m thinking
about it all day long. One day I think of something and
the next day I say “no, Juan, we’re going
to do it this way, let me try”. And I think flamencos
are really going to like the song because of the way it’s
sung, because of how hard it is; the rhythm’s really
good and that’s the hardest part”.
-Is it scary to be creative in flamenco,
especially in cante?
“What should be frightening is
not creating anything. But it’s also true that there
are people, a great many people, who create without realizing
it. There are cantaores who are creating simply with their
voice. You don’t necessarily have to stick things
in with a shoehorn. There are people who create just by
having their instrument, like Camarón, like Enrique
Morente... has created music by his way of singing,
more than by doing this or that. He’s created a
style, which is the most important thing. Camarón
soaked up stuff from Enrique in many things and you can
tell. The beginnings of all the seguiriyas are Morente’s,
from one period onward. Estrella also has a style of her
own; she sounds a lot like La Niña de los Peines,
but she’s also created her own style. And Miguel
Poveda with that tango argentino he did, he’s
one of the first flamencos to do it like that in such
a nice way. They’re cantaores who create without
the need to prove anything”.
"I’m
more and more at ease with what I’m doing,
since I’m creating a following"
“I didn’t want to prove anything
either; it came about like that. I didn’t say I’m
going to do soul now, I pick up a record by Aretha Franklin
and I start to do soul; the thing is I’ve been singing
it since I was eleven. Enrique used to ask me how I could
turn from flamenco to soul so quickly. And the thing is
that I grew up with both types of music together. If it
weren’t so clear to me, I couldn’t change
from one scale to the other. If it were forced, it wouldn’t
work. I not trying to prove anything; what I’m seeking
is good stuff, doing what I feel like. I come out on stage
happy. When I see the crowd applauding, how happy I am.
I don’t give explanations like at the beginning;
I used to justify myself out of fear. I’m more and
more at ease with what I’m doing, since I’m
creating a following. I don’t care if it’s
big or not, but it’s always there. Things are good
with the flamencos now; I’m no longer bothered by
their comments. I don’t give importance to it because
they do. I’m calm”.
‘Yo no te he dado motivo’
“To me, it’s turned out like
a work of art. I did La Niña de los Peines the
way I think her cante is, respecting her way of singing
in tune. And I like it because the tientos are very classical,
very old-time. What changes is that at the end a drum
loop comes in, but the cante doesn’t have even a
tinge of soul. I also like doing it like that, the thing
is that at the end I have to give it a ‘pitingada’.
I think of the flamencos who’ll say “do you
see, this is the way, yes”. And when it reaches
the end... with the wild choruses. Ha ha ha. I’m
really happy and they include a lot of troubles sung”.
-What reaches you about La Niña
de los Peines?
Pitingo (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
“The best moan is that of La Niña
de los Peines. Nobody in the history of flamenco has ever
moaned like her. Besides her moan, the intonation and
her perfect rhythm. When she moans, she stabs you. I listen
to her, she moans and I cry my eyes out... It hurts you
because she isn’t just singing, but rather she’s
telling you about it. And that’s really important”.
‘Sólo sé
que no sé nada’
“It was in that so screwed-up period
in my life. It’s also sung with difficulties. At
first, there was a chorus which Juan and I did, but it
sounded too Ketama-style. We decided to get rid of it
and stick in a gospel choir, but simply doing the melody.
I’m happy, it’s one of the singles and we
also do it in the show. It sounds very flamenco, but it
isn’t flamenco. It’s a song with a flamenco
hue; it isn’t any flamenco style”.
‘Gwendolyn’
“This is one of the songs I became
better known for, together with ‘Los quereles’.
People either know me for these two songs or for ‘Yesterday’.
I have a lot of affection for it and I really like how
it’s harmonized. The choruses sounding there...
which, moreover, since I didn’t have the means back
then, I did them all myself. And every time I listen to
it, I say what a lot of work I put into it to do the vocals.
It’s the recording which was done back then; I didn’t
want to touch it. I could have stuck in more choruses,
but I like it the way it is”.
‘A Fernanda de Utrera’
“I’m just going to say one
thing. When Juan Habichuela heard it he was completely
beside himself. And it’s something you can ask him
about. He cried listening to this soleá because
he’s played for Fernanda
for a long time, and he asked me how I could do it the
same, because like her, my voice breaks upwards. The thing
is that I love Fernanda, I’ve listened to her a
lot and I’ve studied her a lot. And the cante is
done in just the same measure as what she used to do.
I’ve even stuck in the ‘bebeos’, which
I’m not the kind of cantaor to do, but I liked it
there. The only thing is that at the end in the response
to ‘Qué dolor de madre mía’,
I get away from it... I have to give it my touch; if not,
it isn’t Pitingo”.
‘Yesterday’
“It’s now a classic; we’ve
done it in all the concerts. I really like how it’s
turned out musically, it’s very flamenco because
it has a bulería beat, but it sounds like a movie
soundtrack to me. What’s more, it might be played
in Televisión Española’s series ‘Cuéntame’.
The Bautistas sing great there. Then, at the end, we stuck
in some flashes of vocals in the choruses, recalling the
sudden vocals which Whitney Houston does. And it’s
turned out really nice with those colors by that genius”.
‘Me rindo ante ti’
"Never
in the world could I have imagined that I was going
to record a song by Boyz II Men"
“It’s a song by Boyz II Men
which I have great regard for because I’ve been
singing it for years now. My older brother gave me that
album as a gift when I was thirteen and it really impressed
me; it was the first time I’d listened to them.
Who would have ever told me that it was going to appear
on my second album? It was adapted to Spanish and sent
to Boyz II Men, who were delighted. They liked it a lot
and gave us permission. And I really like how it’s
turned out, with the gospel choir from London. Never in
the world could I have imagined that I was going to record
a song by Boyz II Men. I used to sing it with guitar,
like medio tangos. And much less that they were going
to give me permission. They’ve shown that they’re
good enthusiasts. Ha ha ha”.
‘Los tiempos están
cambiando’
“They’re flamenco tangos,
they’re really for a request, for a party. No sooner
do you hear the guitar and the thing is that you’re
ready to party it up. It’s a song for a wedding,
a birthday, to dance to, to party it up. That’s
all”.
‘Taranta al Tío
Juan Habichuela’
“I’m singing there with a
lot of difficulties because when I sing with Juan Habichuela
I get really moved. Besides, it isn’t normal for
him to play the way he does at his age. What staccatos
he does, what tremolos he does. I’m really happy
to sing with him, the only maestro in cante accompaniment
of his age who’s left. I was really afraid to do
a taranta which Juanito
Valderrama made popular, thinking about what Uncle
Juan was going to say to me. But he turned out really
happy and besides there’s an ‘olé’
there in the middle of the taranta which remained because
of the truth he says it with. Uncle Juan doesn’t
say olé very often, but when he says it, he does
so at the right time. He’s always backed me, he’ll
always back me... and we’ve already arranged to
record more stuff. He says he wants to leave me something
recorded before he dies. And Uncle Juan is going to bury
us all!”.
