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March 27, 2006
Flamenco and Peña Camarón de la Isla
On Saturday a week ago, my language class teacher invited us to go with her to the town of San Fernando to hear her mother sing flamenco. Most everyone in the class was interested, and we traveled the 15-minute bus-ride together at around 9:00 in the evening. It was a surprise to find out how big of a deal this event was.
Flamenco music found its beginning here in Andalucía and has been developed and spread nationally and even internationally. San Fernando has a special claim to modern flamenco music, being the city of the late Camarón de la Isla. Camarón, whose real name was José Monje Cruz, gained his nickname because of his light skin and his town, which used to be called Isla de León. He played guitar for years, and when he began to sing flamenco in the 1980s, he incorporated accompaniment in addition to the guitar and popular rhythms with his songs. At first he was looked down on by the traditional flamenco world, while young people were gaining interest in flamenco. In time more and more people began to honor his work, and when he died in 1992 the flamenco club Peña Camarón de Isla was founded.
When we arrived at the peña, we learned that entrance is free, but somewhat by invitation, so we were honored to be attending. We found a table towards the end of the main hall and ordered local drinks and tapas of cheese and fish. The walls were covered with memorabilia, paintings and pictures of Camarón. The first song began only at around 11:30, and afterwards, we had another surprise. Since the following day was José's saint's day, the peña celebrates annually by recognizing a few of their regular performers. Our teacher's mother was one of the recipients, and they let her and the two other recipients sign their book of honor. A journalist and photographer from local newspaper were there to document the event as well.
After the prizes, each of the three recipients preformed two selections. The singing is passionate, and to the foreigner's ear sounds almost more like hollering than singing, but the music is actually full of fairly complicated rhythms and melodies that the singer modifies throughout his or her performance. Locals and people who understand the art of flamenco singing can distinguish between the ordinary and the exceptional. I enjoyed watching the skills of the guitarists.
We actually left before the end, which carried on until around 3:00 a.m. I believe. Our teacher told us that this is where the roots of flamenco performance are. They aren't shows as fine-tuned as what you would see in the Cádiz Theater, but this is what real flamenco looks like. It was a real privelege to be able to be there for the event and experience flamenco in its hometown.
Posted by Derrick at March 27, 2006 01:36 PM
Comments
I must say that I'm jealous. I'm a big Paco DeLucia fan and know that Camarón de la Isla was one of his heroes. I'm sure that being there in the peña to hear flamenco in a more intimate setting (sipping some Spanish wine), was a ton better than the big-stage touristy shows that about in Andalucia.
Sounds like a lot of fun!
Posted by: Mike Eberly at April 11, 2006 04:28 PM