We're talking... about flamenco compás

With a little help from Enrique Morente, 'Cale-calé' makes the objectives of the Taller de Compás de Almanjáyar become a reality

Zata para Flamenco-world.com

Artistic director: José Luis García Puche. Percussion: Natanael Santiago, Encarni Cortés, Manuel Cortés, Juan de Almería, Andrés Jiménez, Israel Muñoz. Cante: María Cortés, Carmen Jiménez, Zaira Santiago, Andrés Jiménez. Trumpet: Eric Sánchez. Bass: Miguel Pérez, Julián Heredia. Piano: Pablo Rubén Maldonado. Guitar: Emilio Maya.
Special guest artist: Enrique Morente

Taller de Compás' members with Puche
(Photo Estela Zatania)

In the gypsy language Caló, "Anaquerando" means "we're talking". This label which denotes communication is the banner of an international socio-educational project extending from Romania to Madrid, Huelva and Granada, passing through Italy, and which was set up to "promote intercultural cooperation and tolerance". Within this framework, several programs built around cultural expresssion have been put into motion to stimulate social integration in underprivileged neighborhoods. Following the lead of Los Activos from Huelva, the Taller de Compás has distilled the flamenco rhythms that fill the streets of Granada's Almanjáyar housing development. After four years of work, the youngsters now turned into adolescent percussionists, and with the helping hand of Granada singer Enrique Morente, the workshop project has borne fruit in the form of a recording, 'Cale-calé'.

Granada... The very name conjures up romantic images of Moorish kings, perfumed gardens and opulence, aesthetic richness and an exquisite cultural level. But the reality of life in the marginal neighborhood of Almajáyar where the members of the Taller de Compás live, is a far cry from that dreamscape. Starting in the 1960's low-income families, many of them gypsies from Sacromonte or the Virgencica slum and small towns surrounding Granada, came to this development just a few minutes from the capital city in search of a better life.

In mid-afternoon, with the Andalusian sun beating down and the Sierra Nevada as backdrop, the struggle to achieve this goal is an ongoing battle in this place that looks like a ghost town in a desert of weeds and rubbish. One must wait until dusk to see the streets fill up with life: everything is bought and sold, anything is fixed or mended, the neighbors sit around talking, whiling away the time. And there are children, and there is music. The same children and music which José Luis García Puche - just 'Puche' for his friends - producer and group monitor of the Taller de Compás has managed to bring together by force of sacrifice and love in a first independently-produced recording.

Puche, what does 'Cale-calé', the title of the record mean?

As everyone knows, calé means gypsy, and cale means rhythms, so it's like 'gypsy rhythms'.

Where did the idea for setting up the Taller de Compás originate?

It comes from an undertaking already carried out in Huelva, Los Activos. I contacted this group and they told me how to do it, they gave me ideas... We have our own way of doing things, there are always subtleties. The Taller de Compás exists because Los Activos exist. I had really never worked with young people, I was a percussionist. This thing has changed my life and I like the way it's turning out.

Carmen [Jiménez, cantaora], where did you learn these songs that are on the record?

Well, from some of the artists around here, from my mom and my grandfather, from listening to people... I really like Estrella Morente a lot.

What music do you listen to when you're at home?

[All in unison]: El Barrio! [Carmen]: I listen to Estrella a lot, and Enrique, and also Niña Pastori.

What do your families think about what you're doing?

[Puche answers] They think it's very very good. The families are delighted. Four or five years ago they had their doubts you might say, but now they see we're on the right track, that this is a group with lots of potential and that has a future. You just have to be brave and keep plugging ahead.

Does the group receive any kind of subsidy?

The group itself doesn't receive any subsidy, but the Taller de Compás project does, from municipal institutions, from the Junta de Andalucía...

Did the youngsters have to be taught what they do on the record, or was it music they had always done?

On the recording there are things they've always done, and many which they've learned in the period the workshop has been up and running. These boys and girls possess an intimate knowledge of flamenco rhythm, something they have lived as part of a heritage almost exclusive to their ethnic group, and when I began to work with them they were already familiar with some of the forms. As you can hear from the record, and in the show, there are Caribbean rhythms, Brazilian and African, in addition to flamenco. All that is actually a product of my teaching, although the thing I'm proudest of is having been able to teach and reflect self-esteem, professionalism, and respect for others, whatever their origins might be.

Why was the decision taken to record live?

Yes, we recorded everything straight through, start to finish, without dubbing. It's more difficult, but that way it's more alive.

How did you manage to get Enrique Morente to pitch in? Did he already know about the project?

He knew about it through Harold Burgon and Katrina Edbrooke, our producers, since Harold is the sound technician for Enrique Morente and Estrella Morente. It was Kate who put it to him. [Kate speaks]: Harold was recording with Enrique and Estrella, at the same time he was recording the children. We asked permission to include one of his arrangements on 'Cale-calé' and he accepted so quickly I got my nerve up and asked if he would be willing to sing directly with the kids... and again he accepted without skipping a beat!

Carmen, what has your participation in this project meant for all of you?

We really like music, and we have a lot of fun... we would like it to move on to something bigger and for people to know about what we do.

The efforts that Carmen wants the world to know about are much more that just social good works. With the added attraction of Morente's collaboration, the recording is an irresistible banquet of exotic sounds wed to a familiar flamenco essence. Bulerías songs that sound like primitive chants, tangos with mysterious rhythmic and melodic variations, a rumba with trumpet which is reminiscent of the Cuban 'son', and the fandangos where Morente applies his velvet touch to wrap and sooth the raw voices of the chorus. Lively contagious music, brimming with energy and life, as youth itself.

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