Sevilla

in this province, the attribution of the songs is distributed among four large places: Triana, Utrera, Alcalá and Lebrija. The toná comes from the Sevillian suburbs, soleá and its variants, tango and various styles of seguiriya. From there, where they forged their art Frasco el Colorao, the Ollero, the Caganchos, the Andonda, Uncle Noriega, the Matrona, Tomás and Pastora Pavón, the Buttstock, The Sandbox, Marquez the Shoemaker, El Sordillo, Manuel Oliver or Paco Taranto, the singing leaves for other towns, so that in Alcalá a characteristic style of soleá emerges from the hand of the Gordos.

Another case is that of Utrera, where Mercé la Serneta from Jerez settles to create a legitimate and genuine soleá melody which is later joined by Rosario la del Colorao or the Perrate, as well as the Girls of Utrera, Fernanda and Bernarda. This population has always maintained direct contact with Lebrija thanks to the railway., hence, For example, the Pinini saga, started by Popá Benito, is divided between both locations. The figures of Diego the Lebrijano or Juaniquín, this last owner of a style of soleá, like those of Antonia Pozo, La Rumbilla -where the Valencias come from-, Malena and the Perrata, mother of Juan Peña el Lebrijano.

Málaga

This province is the most opulent in abandolao styles. Starting from legendary Juan Breva, In Malaga you can review a multitude of good singers, but, first of all, It is necessary to distinguish between the three dominant stylistic groups: la verdial - folk songs typical of Axarquía- the fandango abandolao and the malagueña. In this last song it is necessary to talk about Trini, The Pena, The Canary, El Perote, Master Ojana, Baldomero Pacheco and the Lame One from Malaga, although it is also mandatory to mention other non-Málaga artists such as Peñaranda -Cartagena-, The Little Person -Jaén- o, above all, the Twin -Cádiz- and Antonio Chacón -Jerez-.

Nonetheless, In the section on the abandolaos we must differentiate between the fandangos of the mountains - bandolás and small and large rondeña- and those from the coast -jabegote or cante del marengo-, plus another native of the capital: the jabera.

As for the festive songs, Málaga is also the birthplace of the Piyayo tangos and some styles of the Repompa.. The creation of polo and cane is also attributed to this province., since Tobalo, the singer who supposedly shaped them, was from Ronda.

Jaen

The creative core of the province of Jaén revolves around the Linares axis – Carolina. As in Almería, singing comes to this area thanks to the mining boom., so its main style is taranta, led by Tonto Linares, the Girl from Linares, Basilio, The Cabrerillo, Gabriel Moreno and, at the moment, Carmen Linares.

Temporary songs also occur in this area., highlighting the olive tree. One of the most important representatives of its history was the Andújar singer Rafael Romero El Hen.

Huelva

Huelva is the birthplace of fandango. Throughout the province They distinguish several creative nuclei: Alosno -the oldest and head of the entire Andévalo-, the Sierra and the capital. All the rich folkloric heritage of the province began to become an expression of Huelva from the 1800, when the French archaeologist and engineer Ernesto Delgny rediscovered the Alosno mines. From there, an infinite number of different styles have been studied., highlighting four leading artists in its execution: Jose Rebollo, Paco Isidro, Antonio Rengel and Paco Toronjo.

Among the best known styles are those of Alosno, the shockers, those of Almonaster, those of Santa Eulalia, those of Cerro del Andévalo, those of Encinasola, those of Calañas and those of Cabezas Rubias.

Granada

This province deserves a unique study, because there continues to exist an eminently folkloric style that has not yet been elevated to the category of artistic genre: the zambra. In reality, this is the generic name given to both the shows performed by gypsies in Sacromonte and the rooms in which they take place.. One of the first known zambra performers is El Cujón., but you can also talk about the Swallow, I'm sorry Amaya, Lola Medina, Rosa the Guinea Fowl, María la Canastera and, more recently, the beans, saga led by Tía Marina.

Also a must-see is the fandango singing created by Frasquito Yerbagüena and, Of course, granaína and half granaína, that although they do not have their origin in Granada, because they were created by Antonio Chacón, Yes, they have been welcomed by the province as songs of the land.

Finally, Another style with its own stamp from the area is the Graná tango., a variant with a slower rhythm and low cadences. At the moment, one of the greatest representatives of this province is Enrique Morente, also highlighting the Eva la Yerbabuena dance.

Córdoba

The first great singer known in Córdoba was also a matador of Bulls. His number was Ricardo Moreno Mondéjar, also known as Juanelero el Feo and the first link in a chain of artists known as the “Mediaoreja” or the “Onofre”. This artist collected the solearero style of Triana in Ramón El Ollero's version and adapted it creating a Córdoba style., as also happened with the joys of Cádiz, that Mondéjar qualified to create ones with their own name.

But Córdoba also stands out for its wide variety of fandangos, all cut abandon. In Cabra there is a style whose greatest architect is Cayetano Muriel, while in Lucena you can see a range of songs that differ in the fandangos of Dolores de la Huerta, those of Rafael Rivas and those of Rute Street. All of them have been magnificently interpreted in recent times by Antonio Ranchal and Pedro Lavado.

Finally, The drone is created in Puente Genil, piece that Fosforito published in the sixties and that José Vedmar El Seco bequeathed. In addition, In the province of Cordoba there is also an extensive glossary of peasant songs, like threshing, the seasonal and the pajarona. Besides, the creation of the serrana is attributed to this province. Today, with Phosphorite already removed, the most important representatives of This area is El Pele, Luis of Córdoba, Antonio de Patrocinio, The Calli, Inmaculada Aguilar, Concha Calero, Mario Maya or Joaquín Cortés.

Cadiz

Cadiz is the mother of cantiñas, name that brings together other songs like the joys, the romera, the mirabrás or the caracoles. In addition, The round-trip styles are due to this province, that entered from America through the Port of Cádiz, and the tanguillos, in addition to the creation of tangos together with Triana. Here there are singing centers like Sanlúcar, Port, San Fernando, the Campo de Gibraltar or Jerez de la Frontera, which, due to its significance, deserves separate mention. Many gypsies ended up in Jerez and its countryside in search of work., situation that led to the arrival of singing more than two centuries ago. In this land the seguiriya is born and, probably, the bulería, and there names like those of Paco la Luz were raised, Crazy Mateo, el Marrurro, Manuel Molina, Sernita, Juanichi the Manager, Maria Borrico, Uncle Gregory, the Pyrenees, Mine, Joaquín Lacherna, Uncle José de Paula, Manuel Torre…

Almeria

The reason why the westernmost province of Andalusia is a creative enclave in flamenco is absolutely clear and defined: in 1838 The Jaroso vein is discovered in the Sierra de Almagrera, a mining center where multitudes of workers will begin to arrive, and with them, the singing. From there arises the taranta, which is mainly attributed to Rojo the Alpargatero, who probably recast the so-called madrugá songs with other styles from the area and created this free style. Something later is the taranto, which follows the same scheme of the taranta but adjusts to what is danceable. Its origin may be in Pedro el Morato, The Cabogatero, The Blind Man the Beach, Chilares, El Tonto de Linares… Today its greatest representative is José Sorroche.

A tourist and cultural vision of flamenco

Plains and rocky terrain, hills and slopes, cistus and almond trees… Andalusia is a melting pot. When the Despeñaperros gorges send the first beam of light to other people's eyes, the blackness of infinity is reflected in them. But diversity protects that void. Cavernaries, Phoenicians, greeks, Romans, arabs, Christians and converts have trodden the lands of southern Spain. And in their journey they have forged the path of their own expression: the flamenco.

Andalusian art may date its baptism only two centuries ago, As some experts have pointed out. But the singing, the playing and the dancing are much more than the feeling of a people widely scattered around the world and that has only been able to produce flamenco within our faithfuls.. Gypsies are responsible for a generous part of the Andalusian musical heritage, but they are not the immanent piece that justifies its existence. The "black sounds"" those that Lorca spoke about in reference to Manuel Torre have been born by the culture of a people with a peculiar history. They are children of folklore, although, like every good descendant, They have known how to fly from the nest to acquire their own identity.

All you have to do is listen to the trill, over whose rhythmic accent always finds meaning the jingle of the mules that once ruled the lands of the farms of Jerez with their work., Utrera or Lebrija. And the tune? Is it not born from the people the sonorous lament of the calamity that so many amphorae modeled in Triana?? Same with the soleá, born from the suburbs to seek fortune in Alcalá de Guadaira, Utrera, Cadiz… Or with the seguiriya, that complaint that settled in the throats of the Planet, the Fillo, Silverio, El Gordo or El Nitri looking at each postulate to the forge master, the weak of the Cava, the jailer and the cabal. Let's see who says that only the people of Almería live in the taranto., or in the fandango but the Tharsis alosnera, or in Cartagena but the Murcian string…

Cádiz is expressed in cantinas; Malaga by jaberas, jabegotes and verdiales; Córdoba by drones and fandangos of Lucena; Grenade by zambras, rose, granainas and stockings. And if there were no heterogeneity, on the other side of the pond they lend us the guajira, the milonga, the vidalita and the rumba so that later Pepe Marchena invents the Colombian one.

Indeed, Andalusia is a melting pot whose understanding goes beyond acorns and chestnuts, of seines and traps. A part of his soul is built on cave melopeas, Phoenician, greek, novel, arabs, Christians and converts, bricks of a musical wall to which the gypsies later added their battlements: the complainer.

The Guitar, last to join.

The analysis of the guitar in flamenco deserves a different section, since it is the last of the components that the genre acquired but, at the moment, one of the more revalued. According to studies carried out by various experts, Everything seems to indicate that one of the first references is located in “The explanation of the guitar”, work published by Juan Antonio de Vargas y Guzmán from Cádiz in 1773. However, At this time we can only talk about what would later be called the existence of guitarists “por lo fino”.

Actually, the first signs of the approach of the six strings to flamenco come with figures like those of El Murciano, Trinitario Huertas, Bernardo Troncoso, José Toboso and, above all, Julián Arcas from Almeria, father of a soleá that bears his name. To this first era of guitarists still located between the playing “for the fine” and “for the Flemish", They are followed by those of the so-called Eclectic School, in which the inventor of the cejilla stands out, Maestro Patiño -Cádiz-, Antonio Pérez -Seville-, Paco el Barbero -Seville- and Paco el de Lucena -Córdoba-.

From this moment on, the first specialists in the flamenco style began to emerge, as Juan Gandulla Habichuela, from Cadiz, Javier Molina, from Jerez, and Miguel Borrul father, from Castellón. But the great guitarist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is Ramón Montoya Salazar (Madrid, 1880-1948). He is responsible for the creation of the vast majority of flamenco styles for the guitar and is considered the first revolutionary of technique and harmony, to the point where he became the first flamenco concert performer in history. His legacy is taken advantage of by a generation of unparalleled guitarists who have shaped the era of great personal creators..

At this time, Niño Ricardo, Manolo de Huelva, Perico el del Lunar, Esteban Sanlucar, Melchor de Marchena, Sabicas and Diego del Gastor emerged. The greatest teacher of all time is inspired by all of them, Paco de Lucia, undisputed leader of the latest generation of guitarists. Along with him, we must highlight Manolo Sanlúcar and Víctor Monge Serranito, a triangle of players who revolutionized the concept of flamenco guitar by coming into contact, especially in the case of Paco de Lucía, with other music like Brazilian, jazz, rock…

To this school, indisputably, new touch values ​​belong, like Tomatito from Almeria, Gerardo Núñez from Jerez, the Catalan Juan Manuel Cañizares or the Cordoban Vicente Amigo.

The history of flamenco with respect to its geographical distribution

In parallel to the course of the different stages mentioned, flamenco has lived another very interesting story: that of each geographic nucleus. The creation of the different palos is due to the varied ways of expressing oneself musically in each area of ​​Andalusia. That's why, the study of the flamenco allows us to make a classification by provinces.

Almeria
The reason why the westernmost province of Andalusia is an enclave creator in flamenco is absolutely clear and defined: in 1838 The Jaroso vein is discovered in the Sierra de Almagrera, a mining center where multitudes of workers will begin to arrive, and with them, the singing. From there arises the taranta, which is mainly attributed to Rojo the Alpargatero, who probably recast the so-called madrugá songs with other styles from the area and created this free style. Something later it's taranto, which follows the same scheme of the taranta but adjusts to what is danceable. Its origin may be in Pedro el Morato, The Cabogatero, The Blind Man the Beach, Chilares, El Tonto de Linares… Today its greatest representative is José Sorroche.

Cadiz
Cadiz is the mother of cantiñas, name that brings together other songs like the joys, the romera, the mirabrás or the caracoles. In addition, The round-trip styles are due to this province, that entered from America through the Port of Cádiz, and the tanguillos, in addition to the creation of tangos together with Triana. Here there are singing centers like Sanlúcar, Port, San Fernando, the Campo de Gibraltar or Jerez de la Frontera, which, due to its significance, deserves separate mention. Many gypsies ended up in Jerez and its countryside in search of work., situation that led to the arrival of singing more than two centuries ago. In this land the seguiriya is born and, probably, the bulería, and there names like those of Paco la Luz were raised, Crazy Mateo, el Marrurro, Manuel Molina, Sernita, Juanichi the Manager, Maria Borrico, Uncle Gregory, the Pyrenees, Mine, Joaquín Lacherna, Uncle José de Paula, Manuel Torre…

Córdoba
The first great singer known in Córdoba was also a matador of Bulls. His number was Ricardo Moreno Mondéjar, also known as Juanelero el Feo and the first link in a chain of artists known as the “Mediaoreja” or the “Onofre”. This artist collected the solearero style of Triana in Ramón El Ollero's version and adapted it creating a Córdoba style., as also happened with the joys of Cádiz, that Mondéjar qualified to create ones with their own name. But Córdoba also stands out for its wide variety of fandangos, all cut abandon. In Cabra there is a style whose greatest architect is Cayetano Muriel, while that in Lucena you can contemplate a range of songs that differ in the fandangos of Dolores de la Huerta, those of Rafael Rivas and those of Rute Street. All of them have been magnificently interpreted in recent times by Antonio Ranchal and Pedro Lavado. Finally, The drone is created in Puente Genil, piece that Fosforito published in the sixties and that José Vedmar El Seco bequeathed. In addition, In the province of Cordoba there is also an extensive glossary of peasant songs, like threshing, the seasonal and the pajarona. Besides, the creation of the serrana is attributed to this province. Today, with Phosphorite already removed, the most important representatives of This area is El Pele, Luis of Córdoba, Antonio de Patrocinio, The Calli, Inmaculada Aguilar, Concha Calero, Mario Maya or Joaquín Cortés.

Granada
This province deserves a unique study, because there continues to exist an eminently folkloric style that has not yet been elevated to the category of artistic genre: the zambra. In reality, this is the generic name given to both the shows performed by gypsies in Sacromonte and the rooms in which they take place.. One of the first known zambra performers is El Cujón., but you can also talk about the Swallow, I'm sorry Amaya, Lola Medina, Rosa the Guinea Fowl, María la Canastera and, more recently, the beans, saga led by Tía Marina. Also a must-see is the fandango singing created by Frasquito Yerbagüena and, Of course, granaína and half granaína, that although they do not have their origin in Granada, because they were created by Antonio Chacón, Yes, they have been welcomed by the province as songs of the land. Finally, another style with its own stamp of the area It is the tango of Graná, a variant with a slower rhythm and low cadences. At the moment, one of the greatest representatives of this province is Enrique Morente, also highlighting the Eva la Yerbabuena dance.

Huelva
Huelva is the birthplace of fandango. Throughout the province They distinguish several creative nuclei: Alosno -the oldest and head of the entire Andévalo-, the Sierra and the capital. All the rich folkloric heritage of the province began to become an expression of Huelva from the 1800, when the French archaeologist and engineer Ernesto Delgny rediscovered the Alosno mines. From there, an infinite number of different styles have been studied., highlighting four leading artists in its execution: Jose Rebollo, Paco Isidro, Antonio Rengel and Paco Toronjo. Among the best known styles are those of Alosno, the shockers, those of Almonaster, those of Santa Eulalia, those of Cerro del Andévalo, those of Encinasola, those of Calañas and those of Cabezas Rubias.

Jaen
The creative core of the province of Jaén revolves around the Linares axis – Carolina. As in Almería, singing comes to this area thanks to the mining boom., so its main style is taranta, led by Tonto Linares, the Girl from Linares, Basilio, The Cabrerillo, Gabriel Moreno and, at the moment, Carmen Linares. Temporary songs also occur in this area., highlighting the olive tree. One of the most important representatives of its history was the Andújar singer Rafael Romero El Hen.

Málaga
This province is the most opulent in abandolao styles. Starting from legendary Juan Breva, In Malaga you can review a multitude of good singers, but, first of all, It is necessary to distinguish between the three dominant stylistic groups: la verdial - folk songs typical of Axarquía- the fandango abandolao and the malagueña. In this last song it is necessary to talk about Trini, The Pena, The Canary, El Perote, Master Ojana, Baldomero Pacheco and the Lame One from Malaga, although it is also mandatory to mention other non-Málaga artists such as Peñaranda -Cartagena-, The Little Person -Jaén- o, above all, the Twin -Cádiz- and Antonio Chacón -Jerez-. Nonetheless, In the section on the abandolaos we must differentiate between the fandangos of the mountains - bandolás and small and large rondeña- and those from the coast -jabegote or cante del marengo-, plus another native of the capital: the jabera. As for the festive songs, Málaga is also the birthplace of the Piyayo tangos and some styles of the Repompa.. The creation of polo and cane is also attributed to this province., since Tobalo, the singer who supposedly shaped them, was from Ronda.

Sevilla
in this province, the attribution of the songs is distributed among four large places: Triana, Utrera, Alcalá and Lebrija. The toná comes from the Sevillian suburbs, soleá and its variants, tango and various styles of seguiriya. From there, where they forged their art Frasco el Colorao, the Ollero, the Caganchos, the Andonda, Uncle Noriega, the Matrona, Tomás and Pastora Pavón, the Buttstock, The Sandbox, Marquez the Shoemaker, El Sordillo, Manuel Oliver or Paco Taranto, the singing leaves for other towns, so that in Alcalá a characteristic style of soleá emerges from the hand of the Gordos. Another case is that of Utrera, where Mercé la Serneta from Jerez settles to create a legitimate and genuine soleá melody which is later joined by Rosario la del Colorao or the Perrate, as well as the Girls of Utrera, Fernanda and Bernarda. This population has always maintained direct contact with Lebrija thanks to the railway., hence, For example, the Pinini saga, started by Popá Benito, is divided between both locations. The figures of Diego the Lebrijano or Juaniquín, this last owner of a style of soleá, like those of Antonia Pozo, La Rumbilla -where the Valencias come from-, Malena and the Perrata, mother of Juan Peña el Lebrijano.

The present and future of the genre. The Fourth Golden Key of Singing.

Since 1979 , when Jose Monge Cruz, Camarón de la Isla, recorded “The Legend of Time”, the future of flamenco has another appearance. In that Ricardo Pachón production there were many new things: Kiko Veneno, Rafael and Raimundo Amador, Pepe Roca, Omar Kayan's lyrics, Lorca and Fernando Villalón, Tomatito instead of Paco de Lucía, Rafael Marinelli's keyboard, Antonio Rodríguez's drums... And, however, nothing stopped sounding flamenco. Previous experiences like those of Smash in “Behind de Stars”, the subsequent edition of the rocker garrotín that the Sevillian group structured around the voice of Manuel Molina and the incipient curiosity of some very young Pata Negra came together to bet, definitely, for the “New Flamenco”, a project also strongly supported by the work of Paco de Lucía and his septet. This trend has found its reward in the delivery of the Fourth Golden Key of Cante posthumously to Camarón de la Isla, who received the award after his death from the Department of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía for the influence that, according to this organization, the islander has exerted himself on the young flamencos.

As a result of all this, the great debate arose between orthodox and heterodox, a conflict that highlights the vividness of a genre that does not resign itself to stagnating in repetition and that tries to open paths by expressing itself in a multitude of formats..

At the moment, the two trends have managed to find their place, although the disputes have not ended nor will they end, for the sake of an art that, after a long history behind him, continues to give reasons for the cycle not to close. Flamenco is like Andalusia itself: a land that finds its reason for being in diversity, a place where a multitude of points of view coexist and where all its inhabitants are aware that this enriches them. Long life, well, to flamenco, because it not only represents a town: It also differentiates it from the others..