Pitingo plunges into ‘Soulería’
with a new studio album released together with the concert
on DVD
Juan Carmona and The London Community
Gospel Choir collaborate on the album
S.C./Flamenco-world.com, May 2008
The ‘soulería’
wasn’t a mere anecdote. What labeled an initial
trial connecting flamenco and soul on Pitingo’s
first album is now the absolute star of his new record.
On this second studio album, the Huelva-born cantaor combines
versions of songs like ‘Killing Me Softly’
and ‘Gwendolyne’, with traditional cantes
such as tientos, soleá and fandangos. He is backed
once again by the Habichuela family; especially Juan Carmona
on toque and Juan
Habichuela, who offers a special collaboration in
the final taranta. The album comes out on the market accompanied
by a DVD with the full ‘Soulería’ concert,
recorded late last year at a theater in Madrid.
Pitingo launches his second record. ‘Soulería’
delves deeper into the fusion between flamenco and soul
which he had already sized up on his début album,
‘Pitingo con Habichuelas’. Now the experiment
goes beyond that. Besides the initial bulería ‘De
Ayamonte a Mississippi’, labeled directly as a ‘soulería’,
the album includes versions of songs as internationally
famous as ‘Killing Me Softly’ by Roberta Flack,
‘Gwendolyn’ by Julio Iglesias, ‘Yesterday’
by The Beatles, and ‘On Bended Knee’ by Boyz
II Men.
And just as he sprinkles these songs
– all of them, versions in Spanish – with
flamenco quejíos, he also provides the traditional
cantes with some ‘soulero’ touch or another.
The fandango de Huelva ‘Silencio’ has a soul-style
chorus, just like the tientos ‘Yo no te he dado
motivos’ and the tangos ‘Sólo sé
que no sé nada’, including the participation
of The London Community Gospel Chorus. The cantes most
subject to the traditional canon are the soleá
‘A Fernanda
de Utrera’ and ‘Taranta al Tío
Habichuela’, which he sings accompanied on toque
by maestro Juan Habichuela. The rest of the guitars on
the album are taken care of by Juan Carmona, whom he has
shared the stage with ever since his solo début.
‘Soulería’
on DVD
Joining the thirteen songs on the album
is a DVD with the concert ‘Soulería’,
recorded late last year when the show
stayed for a spell at a theater in Madrid. The audiovisual
contains fifteen songs performed live by Pitingo, accompanied
by artists such as guitarist Juan Carmona, bailaor Simba
Gabarre, Las Bautista on choruses and the Black Heritage
Singers of New Orleans. There are also extra contents
like the audiovisual’s ‘making of’,
with interviews and previously unreleased photos of the
show’s rehearsals and preparation, which includes
juicy statements by Pitingo: “I don’t want
the soulería to be a new style, but rather a new
color for flamenco”.
Upcoming shows:
‘Soulería’
May, 10th and 11th 2008
Teatro Alameda
Málaga (Spain)
May, 14th to 18th 2008
Teatro Gran Vía
Madrid (Spain)
|
|
