Flamenco Blogs – My Flamenco Diary

29 Monday Apr 2013

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My Flamenco Diary was established on Posterous on 8 July 2009 after an inspiration concert of Pepe Habichuela at the Barbican in London.

Sadly Posterous is closing down on 30 April 2013 and so My Flamenco Diary is moving to WordPress.

As Posterous closes, I decided to have a look at the statistics from My Flamenco Diary: there have been 53,019 site views and some quite impressive statistics for some of the individual blogs; I am mentioning only the ones that passed the 5,000 views mark:

Eva Yerbabuena – Cuando yo era… 6306 views

Flamenco Festivals – Flamenco Festivals London 2012 8577 views

Flamenco Festivals – Festival de Jerez 8862 views

Flamenco cantaor – Enrique Morente 10045 views

Flamenco Film Night – Flamenco Flamenco 6366 views

Flamenco Film Night – Carmen 7465 views

Flamenco bailaor y bailarín – Antonio Gades 8311 views

Flamenco on television 5251 views

Understanding Flamenco – Siguiriyas 12543 views

Flamenco Blogs – Andrés Batista 12453 views

Flamenco Film Night – Café de Chinitas 12754 views

La Guitarra Flamenca – Juan Manuel Cañizares 12942 views

Dance Marathon in Madrid 7470 views

Flamenco percussion – castanets 8769 views

Flamenco piano – Diego Amador 7206 views

Flamenco Film Night – El Embrujo del Fandango 6157 views

Understanding Flamenco – Fandango 6402 views

Latin GRAMMY Nominations – Best Flamenco Album 5226 views

La Guitarra Flamenca – Andrés Batista 6209 views

Thank you to all my readers; I hope you continue to find the blog interesting!

Cante Flamenco – Estrella Morente Autorretrato

17 Sunday Mar 2013

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cante flamenco, Enrique Morente, Estrella Morente, Ketama, Lola Flores, Michael Nyman, Montoyita, Paco de Lucía, Tomatito, Vicente Amigo

The flamenco singer Estrella Morente will be performing at Sadler’s Wells on Monday 18 March 2013, presenting her latest recording called Autorretrato.

The CD cover shows a photograph of Estrella Morente in her dressing room at the Teatro Española in Madrid, with her father, the flamenco singer Enrique Morente (1942–2010) standing behind her. When he died unexpectedly on 13 December 2010, he still had a few more voices to add to certain tracks but the final track, Adagio, was complete.

Autorretrato (Self-portrait) (EMI Spain) was released in October 2012 and is her fourth studio recording. The guest artists include guitarists Paco de Lucía (Seguirillas de la Verdad), Tomatito (Bulería del Amado), Isidro Muñoz – the brother of Manolo Sanlúcar (Como la Corriente) Vicente Amigo (La Habanera Imposible and En un Sueño Viniste), her grandfather José Carbonell ‘Montoyita‘ (a Lola) dedicated to Lola Flores, Alfredo Lagos (Fernando Camisa), Antonio, Josémi and Juan Carmona (Ketama) (Tangos Toreros and La Estrella), as well as the Cuban jazz musician Alain Pérez (Cuba – Cái), Pat Metheny (En tus Sueños) and the composer Michael Nyman who has orchestrated setting of poems by San Juan de la Cruz (Pregón de la Moras and Le Di a la Caza Alcance). On the final track, Adagio, Estrella Morente sings with her father, Enrique Morente.

Estrella Morente – Autorretrato from Flamenco Festival on Vimeo.

Estrella Morente’s performance is part of the annual Flamenco Festival London at Sadler’s Wells from 15–27 March 2013.

For more details of the 10th anniversary season of Flamenco Festival London at

Sadler’s Wells, Rosebury Avenue, London EC1R. Tel. 0844 412 4300.

Flamenco Festival London 2013

14 Thursday Mar 2013

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Eva Yerbabuena, Flamenco Festival London, Sadler's Wells Theatre

The annual Flamenco Festival London at Sadler’s Wells is from 15–27 March 2013.

Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena presenting her show called ¡Ay! (Friday and Saturday 15–16 March); Farruquito (Sunday 17 March); Estrella Morente presenting music from her album Autorretrato (Self Portrait) (Monday 18 March);

the flamenco dancer Rocío Molina will work with video artist Yoav Segal and the hip hop artists Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang, presenting Danzaora (Tuesday 19 March);

the flamenco guitarist, José Fernández Torres ‘Tomatito’ performing with El Cristi on second guitar, singers Simon Roman and Kiki Cortinñas, dancer Paloma Fantova and percussionist Lucky Losada (Wednesday 20 March 2013);

Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía (Thursday to Saturday 21–23 March); Lenacay (Thursday 21 March); Romances (Friday 22 March);

‘In Progress’ featuring the flamenco dancer and choreographer Olga Pericet, who will be working with designer Holly Waddington alongside musician and choreographer Juan Carlos Lérida, (Saturday and Sunday 23–24 March);

Israel Galván (Sunday 24 March);

Gala Flamenca featuring Antono Canales, Carlos Rodríguez, Belén López, Jesús Carmona and Sol Picó, Directed by Angel Rojas (Monday to Wednesday 25–27 March 2013).

The Instituto Cervantes in London will also host two ‘Meet the Artists‘ events:

on Thursday 14 March 2013 at 6.30pm with the UK première film screening of Cuando yo era … by José Sánchez Montes, followed by conversation with flamenco dancer and creator of the flamenco show Eva Yerbabuena

and on Thursday 21 March 2013 at 6.30pm Flamenco Dialogues: Olga Pericet, dancer and choreographer with Rosalía Gómez, Director of Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla and dance critic

at Instituto Cervantes, 102 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AN. Tel. 020 7235 0353

also on Thursday 21 March 2013 at 8pm Beyond Flamenco: Lenacay

at Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3PQ

For more details of the 10th anniversary season of Flamenco Festival London visit

Sadler’s Wells, Rosebury Avenue, London EC1R. Tel. 0844 412 4300.

Flamenco Film Night – Antonio Gades documentary

01 Friday Feb 2013

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Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura, Corral de la Morería, Cristina Hoyos, Flamenco Film Night

With the close of the Semana Antonio Gades de Getafe in Madrid, one longs for more of Antonio Gades and his dancing. This documentary, Antonio Gades, La ética de la danza was written and directed by Juan Caño Arecho for Spanish television (TVE) in 2007.

Not only do we have the great pleasure of hearing Antonio Gades speak throughout but there are interviews with flamenco dancer Cristina Hoyos, the tenor Plácido Domingo, the film director Carlos Saura, the writer José Manuel Caballero Bonald, the composer Antonio García Abril, Gades’ daughter the actress María Esteve and many others that have been a special part of his life.

Baile Flamenco – Flashmob Flamenco

28 Monday Jan 2013

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Antonio Gades

Flashmob Flamenco is becoming more and more common these days. On Sunday 27 January 2013, ending the Semana Gades en Getafe, a week celebrating the work of the flamenco dancer Antonio Gades (1936–2004), a Flashmob session was planned for outside the Teatro Federico García Lorca in Madrid.

The Flashmob session was very well organised and the choreography for a tangos and pasodoble were available for participants:

Here Miguel Lara and María José López of the Antonio Gades Dance Company demonstrate the choreography. This flashmob is organised in the spirit of Antonio Gades, in his own words:

‘Bailar es expresar un sentimiento, y lo puede hacer cualquiera’

La Guitarra Flamenca – Manolo Sanlúcar’s Medea

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Ballet Nacional de España, Manuel Barrueco, Manuela Vargas, Medea, Tenerife, Victor Pablo Pérez

The classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco will be performing as the soloist in Manolo Sanlúcar’s Medea for guitar and orchestra on Friday 30 November 2012 at the Auditorium ‘Adán Martín’ in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Pablo Pérez.

The flamenco guitarist and composer Manolo Sanlúcar wrote Medea for the Ballet Nacional de España which they premièred in the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid on 13 July 1984 with choreography by José Granero (1936–2006) and the lead roles were danced by Manuela Vargasand Antonio Alonso.

Manolo Sanlúcar’s ballet was inspired by Seneca’s portrayal of the Greek myth of Medea.

On 2 October 2002 a new version of Medea for guitar and orchestra was premièred at the Maestranza in Seville during the Bienal de Flamenco. Manolo Sanlúcar was the soloist for this première, performing with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Malaga, conducted by Leo Brouwer.

Manolo Sanlúcar with Manuel Barrueco in Cordoba

Manuel Barrueco’s performance of Medea with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Pablo Pérez is on Friday 30 November 2012 in the:

Auditorium ‘Adán Martín’ in Santa Cruz, Tenerife.

Flamenco piano – Dorantes Sin Muros!

19 Monday Nov 2012

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Carmen Linares, Dorantes, Enrique Morente, Estrella Morente, flamenco piano, José Mercé, Miguel Poveda

The flamenco pianist and composer, Dorantes has released a new recording called Sin Muros!

on Universal Music Spain, which features an outstanding list of guest artists, including the singers: Enrique Morente, Esperanza Fernández, José Mercé, Carmen Linares, Estrella Morente, Miguel Poveda, Arcángel, Noa, and Pedro María Peña (guitar), Renaud Garcia-Fons (double bass), Marcelo Mercadante (bandoneón). The result is superb recording and it would be difficult to say which track moved me the most but Enrique Morente’s tientos Refugio was spin-chillingly good.

David Peña ‘Dorantes’ is a flamenco pianist who leans more towards jazz than to flamenco, although the both styles are inextricably linked in his work. He was born in Lebrija, Seville and belongs to a fine flamenco family: his grandmother was the cantaora La Perrata, his father was the guitarist Pedro Peña Fernández (who performs the seguiriya Aliento on Sin Muros!), his uncle is the cantaor Juan Peña Fernández, ‘El Lebrijano’, his great-aunts were Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera. Dorantes started out as a guitarist, like his father, but was strongly attracted to the piano, which he first encountered in the house of his grandparents.

Here is a programme with lots of historic footage of his family and where Dorantes speaks about how much he has learned from his family, particularly from his father Pedro Peña Fernández, and of his own work:

This is Dorantes’s third record release. His first release, Orobroy, remains on the ‘hit list’ for flamenco piano.In the documentary above, he speaks about how the composition came to him one Christmas, when all the family were together; initially he was thinking of bullfighters but then it developed …

Dia del Flamenco – 16 November 2012

16 Friday Nov 2012

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The Minister of Culture for the Junta de Andalucía, Paulino Plata, announced in 2011 that 16 November will be celebrated as el Día del Flamenco, each year in Andalucia, Spain. That date was chosen as it was the 16 November 2010 when UNESCO added Flamenco to its Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, to be protected and preserved.

I am celebrating by seeing Paco de Lucía at the Royal Festival Hall in London!

Flamenco Latin Grammy Winner 2012 – Paco de Lucía

15 Thursday Nov 2012

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Antonio Cortés, Best Flamenco Album, Diana Navarro, Flamenco Latin Grammy, Niño Josele, Paco de Lucía

The 13th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held today on 15 November 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

The Latin Grammy Nominations in the category of Best Flamenco Album were:

Antonio Cortés Cuando Quieras

Paco de Lucía En Vivo Conciertos España 2010

Niño Josele El Mar de Mi Ventana

Diana Navarro Flamenco

Various Artists México Flamenco

THE WINNER IS:

Paco de Lucía En Vivo Conciertos España 2010

En Vivo Conciertos España 2010 was released as a two-CD and DVD collection and was much awaited by fans who hadn’t seen a recording release since Cositas Buenas in 2003 (which also won a Latin GRAMMY as the Best Flamenco Album in 2004). The recording were made ‘live’ (en vivo) during his concerts in 2010. Paco de Lucía said he missed doing a recording and enjoyed the spontaneity and fun of making the recording live. In his own words:

Ya echaba de menos hacer un disco en directo. Una grabación en vivo es un lujo, puedes sentir la respiración de los músicos que están a tu lado, es espontáneo, festivo, te lo pasas bien.

A veces hay fallos, pero te encuentras en un estado de excitación, en el que la adrenalina te ayuda a encontrar soluciones, casi siempre sorpresivas y que a veces superan la composición original. Lo que sucede es real.

La energía que se crea en el escenario nunca se conseguiría en un estudio de grabación. Allí te puedes acercar a la perfección, pero el alma de la música, es más probable que aparezca en un directo. Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía was not present in Las Vegas to collect his Award (I am very pleased to say, otherwise he would not be performing for us in London on 16 November, El Día del Flamenco) but was collected by his son, Francisco Sánchez Varela.

www.latingrammy.com

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Latin Grammy Trustees Award – Juan Habichuela

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by My Flamenco Diary in Flamenco guitar, La Guitarra Flamenca

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Alejandro Sanz, Antonio Carmona, Bernarda de Utrera, Carmen Linares, Chano Lobato, Fosforito, Juan Carmona Habichuela, Juan Habichuela, Juanito Valderrama, la guitarra flamenca, Latin Grammy Award, Manolo Caracol, Paco de Lucía, Pansequito, Tomatito, Torres Bermejas, Trustees Award

The Latin Grammy Awards are a week-long celebration by The Latin Recording Academy and include not only the 13th Latin Grammy Awards, but also the Lifetime Achievement Awards and Trustees Awards.

On 14 November 2012 the flamenco guitarist Juan Carmona Habichuela was presented with The Latin GRAMMY Awards^®’s Trustees Award in a special ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas.

Photograph courtesy of Universal

The Trustees Award: ‘This Special Award is presented by vote of The Latin Recording Academy’s Trustees to individuals who have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording during their careers.’

As Juan Habichuela was unable to attend the ceremony, his Trustees Award was collected by his son, Antonio Carmona.

Here is a clip of Juan Habichuela accompanying Antonio Carmona, singing a Fandangos de Huelva:

Juan Habichuela (Juan Carmona Carmona) was born in Granada in 1933. His father, the flamenco guitarist José Carmona Fernández (1909–1986), had plans for his son to become a flamenco dancer, but Juan’s heart was with the guitar and he was particularly drawn to accompanying cante. He was taught by his father and by the guitarists Juan Hidalgo López, ‘El Ovejilla’. At the age of 16 he moved to Madrid and starting working in the famous flamenco tablao Torres Bermejas, where he accomapnied many of the famous flamenco cantaores of the time, such as Manolo Caracol and Juanita Valderrama; he performed with Fosforito at the World Fair in New York in 1964.

Juan Habichuela has recorded with an equally impressive and long list of cantaores including Bernarda de Utrera, El Chocolate, El Lebrijano and Pansequito. He has released two recordings under his own name: De la Zambra al Duende (Universal, 1999) and Campo del Príncipe (Universal, 2002), where he accompanies cantaores such as Carmen Linares, Enrique Morente, Chano Lobato and Potito, as well as performing with other guest flamenco artists, such as Paco de Lucía, Tomatito and Alejandro Sanz.

www.latingrammy.com

My Flamenco Diary

~ Flamenco News and Events

Flamenco Blogs – My Flamenco Diary

Cante Flamenco – Estrella Morente Autorretrato

Flamenco Festival London 2013

Flamenco Film Night – Antonio Gades documentary

Baile Flamenco – Flashmob Flamenco

La Guitarra Flamenca – Manolo Sanlúcar’s Medea

Flamenco piano – Dorantes Sin Muros!

Dia del Flamenco – 16 November 2012

Flamenco Latin Grammy Winner 2012 – Paco de Lucía

Latin Grammy Trustees Award – Juan Habichuela

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