INTERREGNUM AL-ANDALUS

They kicked out the Arabs awhile back.

But having once heard it, who can forget the muezzin’s call?

Or maybe the two styles have been traveling across people for centuries trying to find each other, and on southbound boats from Cádiz or Algeciras is where they meet in fascination and embrace.

you call the most elemental style of flamenco palo seco — dry stick to the literalists, with implications of outright, ‘on its own’, the thing-in-itself stripped of usual accompaniment. Ornate simplicity: an unaccompanied solo voice. Or voice alongside a hammer & anvil marking time:

Antonio Núñez, ‘El Chocolate’ – Martinete

not everybody wants el palo seco, not everybody wants their bread with neither water nor ham.

Flamenco legend Camarón from his classic album, Como El Agua

Camarón de La Isla – Tu Amor Para Mí No Es Fantasía

camarontomatito.jpg

in the foto above he appears with Tomatito, father to relative of former teen sensation Las Ketchup, and a brilliant flamenco guitarist.
Tomatito’s performance with Sheikh Ahmad Al Tuni in the opening scenes of Tony Gatlif’s Vengo is, simply, breathtaking. Even under youtube FLV compression!:

7 thoughts on “INTERREGNUM AL-ANDALUS”

  1. heya j!

    that’s actually paco de lucia in the track you’ve got uploaded. i know cuz i sent it to ya, hence the m4a-ness 😉 (it’s labeled properly in the download)

    this is a great track, but the track you mention is unbelievably awesome too…arguably cooler if only because of the harmonizing at the end and the sexy opening guitar line. please upload it if you’ve got it!

  2. Father to ‘Las Ketchup’, seriously? Hah. Puts a whole new perspective on the “Hey, I could do that too.”-thing.

    Musical integrity need not be compromised, just as long as one keeps a sense of priority.

  3. ” … regarding Tomatito being the father of “Las Ketchup”, he is just sort of his far-cousin because those girls are daughters of Juan Muñoz “El Tomate”, another Flamenco guitarist related to José Fernández Castro, also “El Tomate” which is the father of “Tomatito”, so it’s kind of confusing ’cause there’s many gypsies from Almeria, Spain who are related and have the nickname of “El Tomate” but Tomatito’s family is the “Torres”, he is family-related too to the “Habichuelas” and to “Niño Josele” also Flamenco guitarists …”

    this from a friend who clarified some things for me while discussing tomatito’s “aguadulce” album.

  4. thanks for the clarification Vera!
    me he hecho la picha un lio con tanto tomate!

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