Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician

Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician

Daniel Lorrain University of New Orleans December 2011

2

Steve Masakowski

Give an overview of the history and evolution of Flamenco music. Discuss how this music has influenced you and your music. Also identify prominent jazz artists that may have been influenced by Flamenco music and artists.

“Desengañao de la vida, ay, ay, yo busco mi soleá hasta que me llegue el día que Dios me quiera llevar.”

(“Disillusioned with life, ay, ay, I search for my solitude until the day arrives that God wants to take me.”) -José Monje Cruz, Camarón

Daniel Lorrain 2011 3

Flamenco is an incredibly profound, complex, and expressive genre of music.

Regrettably, it is not very well understood outside of the Flamenco world, and the term itself is often associated with ambiguous, pseudo-Andalusian music with no roots in the Flamenco tradition. The genre’s lack of international exposure has precluded it from the kind of fruitful collaborations with outside influences that have been enjoyed, for example, by Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, or Indian Classical music.

This paper is written for the Western musician as an introduction into the broad world of Flamenco. After a brief discussion of the history and origins of

Flamenco, we will examine the tradition through the study of eight of its most important palos or song forms: Tonás, Seguiriyas, Soleares, Tangos, Bulerías, Alegrías,

Fandangos de Huelva, and Rumba. Each of these will be discussed using Western notation and from a theoretical perspective not necessarily intrinsic of the way this oral tradition is traditionally taught. Each palo will be defined by the rhythmic clave on which it is built, and we will identify the basic harmonic rhythm of each as well as traditional cadences typical of each form.

Each of these subgenres constitutes a broad family of music spanning across several generational and geographic interpretations; here we will only examine the basic, foundational qualities of each. The material in this paper is not a substitute for the study of the recorded music itself, and, as with any music, Flamenco can only be understood and internalized through extended listening.

The introduction to these palos is followed by a brief look at musicians that have worked to fuse elements of Flamenco with Jazz, and the paper concludes with a reflection on the effects that this tradition has had on the music of the author.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 4

Flamenco is the international music of the Old World. The heritage of this

Gypsy music belongs to Andalusia, a place that has historically been a meeting place of different peoples and cultures. The location of Andalusia on the southern portion of the Iberian Peninsula places it at the meeting place of two continents. 8.9 miles separate Europe and Africa here at the Straight of Gibraltar, where Roman mythology places the Pillars of Hercules and to which Renaissance sailors pinned the name Nec Plus Ultra (“Nothing Further Beyond”), an allusion to the location’s status as a symbolic end of the Western world. The geography of the region made it a cultural crossroads through which East met West and by which the Arab world was connected with Western Europe. Later, the location of the Iberian Peninsula would serve as a connection to new and younger cultures from the Americas.

In the 8th century the Moors; Muslims from Northern Africa of Berber, Black

African and Arab descent; conquered an Iberia previously ruled by the Germanic

Visigoths and the Romans. The Moors would go on to rule Andalusia, Al-Andalus in

Arabic, for nearly 800 years, during which their culture—and art—coexisted with that of the Christians and Sephardic Jews.

The Moorish influence is critical to the development of the music that would evolve to become Flamenco. Of note are the melismatic vocal styles that Andalusian and Arabic musics share. Also particularly important are the impressions that

Arabic modalities would leave on Castilian song forms, an influence of which

Flamenco is the most indicative. Arabic music is built on a system of melodic modes called Maqamat (s. Maqam) to which we can attribute much of what separates

Flamenco melodies from those of other Western European folk traditions. Together

Daniel Lorrain 2011 5 with Western modal customs, two particular Maqamat are likely contributors to the

Phrygian-like or “Phrygian-Dominant” qualities that characterize Flamenco tonality.

(Manuel, Modal 72) Here we have the Bayati and Hijaz Maqamat illustrated in the key of E.

The Bayati mode is congruent to our minor scale. The Hijaz ascends like a

Mixolydian scale with a flat 2nd (or a Phrygian scale with a major 3rd and a major 6th) and descending, parallels the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale. The complexities and nuances of Eastern scales are reflected in Flamenco’s intricate melodies that fail to conform to a simple diatonic collection of notes.

Ojesto writes that, harmonically, Flamenco can be analyzed as the coexistence of two tonal systems that are simultaneously different from and related to one another. (Ojesto 36) What we find are Arabic-influenced modalities paired with European harmonizations. The traditional Flamenco tonality is harmonized in the following way (in the key of E):

E F G Am (BØ) C Dm

I bII bIII iv (vØ) bVI bvii

Daniel Lorrain 2011 6

From here we derive the classic Andalusian cadence (Am G F E). In the Phrygian-like

Flamenco tonality, the bII and bvii chords (here F and Dm) assume the function of the dominant chord. (Manuel, Modal 72) Additionally, we find the use of secondary- dominant harmony, especially preceding the bVI (in E, G7 preceding C) and bII (in E,

C7 preceding F) chords.

Some have labeled the Phrygian mode with an added major 3rd as the

“Flamenco Scale.”

Perhaps there is pedagogic value in such a definition, but it is the opinion of the author that codifying Flamenco modality into such a diatonic collection is incongruous to the way in which the music is composed.

Flamenco is Gypsy music. In the early 15th century, as Moorish rule in Spain approached its twilight, Romani people began to immigrate to Spain from the rest of

Europe by way of the Pyrenees. (Ojesto 21) The history of the Gypsy people is one of exile and marginalization, and Flamenco music is characterized by an underlying, sometimes overwhelming, sense of pain and of suffering. Federico García Lorca called it duende, and it can be compared to the sorrow that permeates blues music or the concept of saudade in Brazilian and Portuguese music. Understanding this theme is central to understanding the music whether as a musician or as an aficionado. Ojesto writes, “deep down, Flamenco is the yell of a rebel, a protest, a grievance.” (22)

Daniel Lorrain 2011 7

The Gypsy fusion of musics with Castilian, Moorish, and Sephardic roots along with the influences they brought with them from the rest of Europe and sounds from the New World began to take shape as Flamenco music proper in the

18th century in Andalucía. (Cobo 4) It’s during the late 1700s that we find the first references to “Flamenco” which would become a well-documented genre during the

19th century and be first recorded in the beginning of the 20th century. (Ojesto 11)

(Caballero 7)

As Flamenco develops so do its various palos, sub-genres based on rhythmic, structural, geographic, harmonic, and thematic elements of the music. These palos evolved from the styles that were performed in different areas of Andalusia, sometimes integrating influences from other regions of Spain or from Spanish colonies in the Americas, and oftentimes originating in a specific city or even neighborhood.

There has been much written by flamencologists detailing the chronological development of Flamenco’s palos by region beginning with the a cappella Tonás up through modern fusions with world musics. Here we will focus on a few of the more important palos that are central to the contemporary Flamenco musician’s repertoire and of which a basic understanding is indispensable to the discerning listener. It is important to note that these palos are borne of the various cantes or songs of Flamenco and that the song as performed by the cantaor (flamenco singer) is at the base of each palo, even when interpreted instrumentally. Flamenco musicians are quick to point out that Flamenco is rooted in cante and that the role of the guitar (toque) or dance (baile) did not appear until later.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 8

We can classify the palos of Flamenco into four distinct categories or groups, the first of which is formed by the four basic cantes: Tonás, Seguiriyas, Soleares, and

Tangos. (Serrano 10) These are followed by cantes influenced by or derived from the four basics of which we will examine the Bulerías, Alegrías. Thirdly, we have cantes derived from the traditional Andalusian Fandangos including the popular

Fandangos de Huelva. Finally, we have cantes derived from non-Andalusian influences whether from other regions of Spain or from the music of the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The latter of these are called palos de ida y vuelta (literally

“of roundtrip”) of which the Flamenco Rumba has become particularly popular.

Tonás

“In the beginning there were the Tonás.” (Caballero 7) The progenitor of all subsequent styles of Flamenco cante (cante jondo or “deep song”) is the Toná.

(Ojesto 24) This early style, sung a cappella, is a Gypsy derivation of the Spanish

Tonadas, a name given to various folkloric and popular songs from the 17th, 18th, and

19th centuries. (Caballero 8) The Tonás were sung in intimate Gypsy circles and family gatherings and reflected the harsh life of the Andalusian Gypsy. (Ojesto 24)

Within the family of Tonás we have the Carceleras, Tonás sung by incarcerated Gypsies in the prisons. (Caballero 10) Also in this family are the

Martinetes, a style sung by Gypsy blacksmiths in the forges. The Martinete was sung to the beat of the hammer or martillo against an anvil, a pulse that eventually was adapted to the rhythm of Seguiriyas. (Ojesto 24)

Daniel Lorrain 2011 9

Seguiriyas

The Seguiriya is a deeply profound and tragic palo wherein we find a “full expression of the tragic element in Flamenco.” (Peña 8) According to Caballero, the

Seguiriya, which he considered the most difficult of the cantes, is the most emotionally taxing genre in Flamenco. (47) He writes, “the cantaor that sings por

Seguiriyas leaves in each verse some part of his soul.” (48) The lyrics of this palo, comprised of three or four verses, are usually centered around death and loss, and the Seguiriya gives us the foundation for the rhythmic structures of many other palos.

Flamenco musicians and dancers traditionally describe the slow compás

(rhythm) of Seguiriyas as a repeating pattern of five “beats.” (Peña 8) These five

“beats” are actually the accents of a clave that occurs over a rhythm in twelve. The clave of Seguiriyas is as follows (underlines denote accents):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

This rhythm is best described in the notation as written above. The peculiarities of the harmonic rhythm and placement of accents in Seguiriyas as well as Flamenco’s evolution as an oral tradition make the palo comparatively awkward to notate in standard western notation.

Yet, as Western musicians, it can be useful for us to transcribe Seguiriyas and other Flamenco palos as a tool for the study of Flamenco forms especially when the intention of such study is the fusion of Flamenco with other styles such as jazz.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 10

Seguiriyas have been notated in various ways: in four measures of 3/4, in

12/8, and even as alternating measures of 3/4 and 6/8. Though sometimes facilitating the reading of this compás, it is the opinion of the author that such notations risk obscuring the rhythmic feel of this palo. Ojesto notates Seguiriyas as follows: (100)

The Seguiriya is traditionally performed in the key of A “Dominant Phrygian.” When we add the harmonic rhythm, it reads:

The cierre is tied to the harmonic point of resolution. Notice that the harmonic resolution does not fall on the first beat of the rhythm nor does it coincide with the break or remate. Likewise, neither of the main accents, including the remate, fall on beat one. (Ojesto 101)

Daniel Lorrain 2011 11

Soleá

The Soleares are related to the Seguiriya and trace their roots to the neighborhood of Triana, on the west bank of the Guadalquivir River in Seville.

(Caballero 55) The name Soleares and it’s reduction, Soleá, is an Andalusian derivation of the Castilian Soledad meaning solitude or loneliness and shares etymology with the Portuguese Saudade, a central theme in many Portuguese and

Brazilian musics. Soleá is regarded by Flamenco musicians as Flamenco’s “mother” palo due to the number of important palos that have evolved out of this form.

Soleá is based on the following rhythmic clave:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Notice that this rhythm is essentially the inverse of the Seguiriyas clave, though the two could not feel more dissimilar. In the Flamenco world, this compás is counted the following way, by which generations of singers, dancers, and guitarists have learned the palo and through which we may begin to gain an organic understanding of Soleá:

un dos tres cuatro cinco sies siete ocho nueve diez un dos

(one two three four five six seven eight nine ten one two)

Replacing eleven and twelve with the single-syllabic “one” and “two” (or “un dos”) make for a more natural verbal count, but they also point to an critical aspect of Soleá. In Soleá, the harmonic resolution or cierre occurs on the tenth beat. This cierre (literally “close”) can give the last two beats a sense of being added or tagged on. (Ojesto 116) They function as a sort of punctuation to the music of the previous

Daniel Lorrain 2011 12 ten beats and sometimes have a gravity similar to that of the fourth and fifth beats of

Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” vamp, for example.

Like Seguiriyas, there are many ways in which to notate Soleá on the staff

(four measures in 3/4, two measures in 3/4 followed by three in 2/4, in 12/8, in

12/4, or with alternating measures of 6/8 and 3/4). Here we will notate the compás using measures of 3/4 time in keeping with traditional practice while remembering that the Soleá is not a waltz but is indeed “in twelve.”

The Soleá is performed at a moderate to slow tempo and is traditionally interpreted in the key of E “dominant phrygian.” It’s basic harmonic rhythm, with chord changes on “three” and “ten”:

There is an interesting and unique feature of the feel of this palo that key to its understanding. Often the feel of the form places the beginning of the groove on the 12th beat of the compás. That is to say, the 12th counted beat is feels something like the downbeat and the starting point of the rhythm. Transcribed according to this feel, Soleá would look like this, with the harmony displaced by one beat:

Daniel Lorrain 2011 13

The harmony of Soleá is best understood when examined in the traditional analysis, yet the rhythm and groove are often best internalized from the second point of reference. The two starting points are not mutually exclusive; the same Soleá could be felt or analyzed from either point of view. Ojesto claims that the Soleá is a form that has developed with two centers of gravity (or beat “one’s”), one harmonic and one rhythmic. (Ojesto 118) A deep understanding of the palo requires a sense of both starting points, and this dual-gravity makes Soleá and its derivations very peculiar and complex music to internalize.

Bulerías

Perhaps the most famous of these derivations are the lively Bulerías. One of the most popular genres of contemporary Flamenco, we can trace the roots of the

Bulería to the occidental city of Jerez de la Frontera circa 1870. (Caballero 96) The

Bulería is based on the clave of the Soleá from which it descends, only interpreted at a much more vigorous tempo. This compás is counted in the same way as the Soleá and shares the same enigma with regard to the starting point of the rhythm. Due to the more lively tempo, the 12th denominated beat in Bulerías takes on a more pronounced role as the starting point of this compás. (Ojesto 142) Again, the harmony changes on the 3rd and 10th counted beats (felt as the 4th and 11th beats).

Daniel Lorrain 2011 14

The tempo and rhythmic character of Bulerías make it suitable for notation in alternating measures of 6/8 and 3/4, though, again, this is one of many options. The basic clave of Bulerías and typical harmony in the key of A “Dominant Phrygian”:

A common alternate interpretation of Bulerías displaces the third accented beat of the clave:

12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Again, since the 12th pulse acts as the “one”, this popular variation might read as follows:

In both variations, we can identify a “two-side” and “three-side” to this rhythm, as with the Afro-Cuban claves. As an interpreter of this music, one may observe the slightly more busy nature of what we will call the “three-side”, a busy- ness that propels the rhythm forward with a charge of energy.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 15

The rhythmic pulse is paramount to the interpretation of Bulerías just as it is for Afro-Cuban music or Swing, and this style lends itself to dynamic rhythmic expressions. Unlike the rhythmic interpretation of the music of the Americas, however, it is “ok” (and often required by the song form) for the tempo of a palo like

Bulerías to accelerate, particularly at the end of a piece.

Bulerías can be felt or internalized in several ways. We can feel the form as four up-tempo groupings of three, on every other beat, or as two halves each of a deep 6/8 feel. In other words, as an interpreter or listener of Bulerías, we may choose to “feel the big beats” so long as always with a rigid sense of the five-pulse clave, even when the clave is not explicitly being played. Flamenco guitarists, singers, and dancers are trained to keep this pattern with the tapping of one foot as they interpret and elaborate on its rhythm.

Bulerías, like many of the styles in our discussion, are commonly accented with palmas, (handclaps, literally “palms”) the oldest and most important percussion instrument in Flamenco music. A very common palmas pattern played over Bulerías, Alegrías, and other forms derived from and including Soleares reads as follows (again, beginning on “12”):

Daniel Lorrain 2011 16

Alegrías

Like Bulerías, a similar form evolved from Soleá in the port city of Cádiz in the early 19th century. This festive form, called Alegrías (from the Spanish Alegría, meaning joy), is built on the same clave and harmonic rhythm as Bulerías and

Soleares and is performed at a moderate tempo. In Alegrías (part of a larger family of palos called Cantiñas), Flamenco tonality is replaced with major harmony, usually in the key of C or A, a reflection of its perceived relation to the popular Jota dance of

19th century Spain:

Tangos

The final of the four basic cantes are the Tangos. The evolution of this palo is somewhat obsure. It may have its origins in the Zambra dance traditions of the

Moriscos (converted Christians of Muslim heritage) and is believed by some to have developed from an Afro-Cuban dance music also called Tango. (Ojesto 64) A third possible predecessor is the Cuban Habanera, an ancestor the palo possibly shares with the Argentine genre of the same name.

What we do know is that the form is first referenced in the mid-1800s and that its rhythmic signature extends through almost all Flamenco music performed in

Daniel Lorrain 2011 17 four. (Caballero 106) The basic rhythm of Tangos is played on beats two, three and four:

This basic clave is the foundation for the guitar rhythm and can be played by the palmas or interpreted with a variety of palmas patterns. The typical Tangos cadence is as follows:

This progression begins on the chord that functions as the dominant and resolves harmonically in the second measure, an example of a common characteristic of this form—dominant or secondary dominant chords placed in odd measures and resolutions that occur in even measures. (Ojesto 65) In Tangos, the remate is accented on the third beat of the even numbered measures.

A recent evolution of the Tangos form is the incorporation of the Cuban

Tumbao pattern as accents in the guitar accompaniment, in the bass notes of the cajón pattern, or in the palmas:

Daniel Lorrain 2011 18

Fandangos

The third group in our classifications of cante is an extended family of

Flamenco forms descended from the Andalusian Fandango tradition. The Fandango has its roots in the music of the Iberian Moriscos. (Ojesto 24) Over time, Morisco music was adapted to the local folk music traditions of Spain and Portugal and by the 17th century had become a popular Iberian dance form in triple meter. In the latter half of the 19th century, Flamenco begins to incorporate elements of

Andalusian Fandangos and cities in southern Spain begin to develop distinct styles of interpreting this folk tradition.

Many of these forms bear the name of their city of origin and amongst them we count the Fandangos de Almería; Fandangos de Lucena; Cartagenas (from

Cartagena) Murcianas (from Murcia), the Bandolás, Verdiales, Jaberas, and

Malagueñas from Málaga; the Taranta and the Taranto; the Granaína (Granada), and many others. Today, the most popular of these are the Fandangos de Huelva.

Harmonically, these Fandangos from Huelva are centered in the Phrygian

Dominant, Flamenco tonality (usually in the key of E) and modulate to the IV major for each verse (from E phryg to A maj, for example) before returning to the Phrygian base.

The Fandangos de Huelva are built on the following two measure rhythmic sequence in 3/4 time:

Daniel Lorrain 2011 19

This palo is instantly recognizable by its characteristic harmonic rhythm:

As with Soleares, Bulerías, and Alegrías, the harmony resolves on a “weak” beat, not on the one. Here the harmonic resolution occurs on beat three of the first measure and is followed by a strongly accented remate on the beat two of the second measure of the compás, giving the rhythm a very interesting quality of unevenness.

The final of the four groupings of Flamenco palos is a loose family of forms descending from non-Andalusian musical influences. Amongst these we count forms influenced by other Iberian musics including: the Farruca (from Galicia or Asturias), the Garrotín (from Asturias), and Sevillanas (from Castile, rather than Seville.)

(Ojesto 26)

Palos de Ida y Vuelta is the name by which we refer to Flamenco forms derived from Ibero-American influences, particular those from Cuba. In the 18th and

19th centuries, the port city of Cádiz was at the center of travel between Spain and its American colonies and became a focal point for the development of these genres.

(Caballero 153-4) The Guajira is a fusion of the Cuban Punto form (itself an evolution of the Peninsular Tonadillas and Décimas) with the rhythmic structure of

Soleá. (Manuel, Guajira 143-5) The Colombiana form is a derivation of the Guajira to

Daniel Lorrain 2011 20 the rhythm of Tangos. (Ojesto 82) Other Palos de Ida y Vuelta include Milongas and

Vidalitas. (Caballero 154)

Rumba

Without a doubt, the member of this family that has had the biggest impact on the evolution of this music is the Flamenco Rumba. The first Rumbas, were probably brought to Spain from Cuba in the latter part of the 19th century, but the

Rumba Flamenca that we know today was first played in the region of Catalonia in the 50s and 60s. The Rumbas recorded by Catalan musicians like Peret and El

Pescaílla became immensely popular in Spain and by the 1970s the style had conquered an enduring place in Spanish pop music. (Ojesto 80) Some of the music that falls under the umbrella of Rumba is pop music in the absolute sense, and the genre’s development apart from that of the traditional cantes makes it the subject of debate on whether the genre is Flamenco at all. Regardless of whether the style is authentically Flamenco, Rumba has done a great deal to spread Flamenco music across the world through the success of groups like the Gipsy Kings and is often listeners’ first exposure to Flamenco-like music. Musically, the genre has had an undeniable effect on the development of Flamenco, most notably on that of Tangos.

This upbeat, festive style is the mixture of a broad source of Cuban influences played with Flamenco phrasing and sensibilities and interpreted through the lens of the compás of Tangos. We might say that it is an impression of Cuban music interpreted by musicians who naturally feel music in four as Tangos. As with Tangos, the Flamenco Rumba pulse can be felt on beats two and four, instead of on the first

Daniel Lorrain 2011 21 and third beats that are stressed in “down-beat oriented” Afro-Cuban music.

Employing palmas patterns taken from Tangos, this style uses guitar rhythms built on the Cuban Tumbao, and is often contains basslines based on the following rhythm:

Due to these rhythmic characteristics, it is the opinion of the author that the

Flamenco Rumba has more in common with New Orleans music than with the Cuban genres from which it is derived. Consider the pattern of the bass, a rhythm found in the bass of several Latin American genres and in the music of New Orleans. What separates New Orleans music and the Flamenco Rumba from these other musics, and consequently links the two together, is the prominence of a pulse felt on beats two and four—no matter how different the music is swung. The palmas, accented on two and four, play the role of the splash cymbal on the bass drum of a New Orleans drummer. The most significant rhythmic difference that distinguishes the two genres is the difference in the interpretation of eighth notes and the characteristic way in which they are swung in New Orleans music.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 22

In the 20th centurty, a few musicians and listeners began to notice the many similarities between Flamenco and Jazz. Both are rhythmically driven musics. Both value creativity while maintaining almost reverent respect for tradition. Both involve improvisation and the ability to accompany an improvising soloist, and both are the music of marginalized racial minorities. Jazz and Flamenco both evolved in nightclubs or taverns and each is considered to require some sort of duende or emotional feeling on the part of the performer, each aiming to elicit an emotional reaction from the listener, an “unh” or an “ole.”

The first recorded attempt at the fusion of these two traditions was led by

Navarrese saxophonist Pedro Iturralde in 1967. His Jazz quintet was joined in Berlin by a 20-year-old Paco de Lucía to record Jazz Flamenco, released on Hispavox and currently available on Blue Note. This initial experiment, comprised of two of

Iturralde’s compositions and two arrangements of pieces by early 20th century

Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, is a pairing of two very separate musical voices.

The Jazz quintet plays like a Jazz quintet and de Lucía plays like a traditional

Flamenco guitarist. Often, long stretches of “straight-ahead” playing by the quintet are followed by very Flamenco solo guitar passages by the guitarist from Algeciras.

A year later, Jazz Flamenco Vol. 2 was recorded with the same lineup in Madrid.

Forty years later there has been a renewed interest in the marriage of these two genres, and there have been several recordings of Jazz musicians paired with

“Flamencos” from Spain, most of which have come in the last decade.

In 2000, flamenco guitarist Tomatito and Dominican pianist Michel Camilo released Spain, a collection of duets that won “Best Latin Jazz Album” at the 2000

Daniel Lorrain 2011 23

Latin Grammy’s. Six years later, the duo would release Spain Again, an album that featured three compositions by Astor Piazzolla.

In 2003, cantaor Diego “El Cigala” paired with Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés

(father of Chucho) to record an immensely well-received album titled Lagrimas

Negras. This record, which features an appearance by Paquito d’Rivera, is a collection of Latin-American boleros or ballads sung in the Flamenco style of cante jondo. The album won a Latin Grammy in 2004 and sold nearly a million copies.

In 2010, bassist Dave Holland and guitarist Pepe Habichuela joined to release

Hands, which is essentially a Flamenco record that includes two more western-style compositions by Holland.

Each of these is a very interesting record, but the music on these albums can largely be labeled as either Flamenco or Jazz, the basic bond between the two being the pairing of textures as developed under the umbrella of one of the two genres.

Perhaps a more elusive, and in my opinion more exciting, blend of the two can be found in music that can be called both Flamenco and jazz, music that may be a more profound fusion of the two and that might be owned, or claimed, by interpreters and fans of both art forms.

One of the first records to attempt this union is Chick Corea’s Touchstone, released on Warner Brothers in 1982. This album features a lineup of veterans of

Corea’s bands with the addition of Paco de Lucía on two tracks and includes two

Bulerías. “Yellow Nimbus” is the more overtly Flamenco of the two with palmas parts and guitar recorded by de Lucía. The second tune, “Dance of Chance,” is a

Corea jazz fusion piece composed over the Bulerías clave. In 2005, the Touchstone

Daniel Lorrain 2011 24 group, this time including Flamenco musicians Carles Benavent (fretless bass), Jorge

Pardo (sax, flute), and Rubem Dantes (percussion) released Rhumba Flamenco, a two-disc set recorded live on a 2004 European tour that explores more fusions with palos like Bulerías, Tangos, and Rhumba and includes a version of the de Lucía compostion “Zyriab.” A year late, Corea was joined by the same three Spanish musicians (all veterans of de Lucía’s band) on The Ultimate Adventure, again using

Flamenco claves along with influences from Arabic and African musics.

The most skilled attempts at the fusion of these two genres have likely been recorded by a pianist and composer from Cádiz named Chano Dominguez. The son of an avid Flamenco aficionado, Dominguez’s first instrument was the Flamenco guitar, which he began to study at age 8. At 12 he switched to the piano and set on a path that would lead to a successful career as a Jazz pianist. Beginning with 1992’s

Chano, Dominguez would release several albums that paired the Jazz creative process together with Flamenco rhythms and forms in a way that captures the spirit of both traditions. His bands, built around the traditional piano trio instrumentation, incorporate Flamenco textures like palmas, guitar, cajón, and cante, and his compositions take on several palos beyond the popular Bulerías and Tangos. Notable releases include Hecho a Mano (1992), Imán (1999), Oye Como Viene (2003), New

Flamenco Sound (2006), and Piano Ibérico (2010).

In my opinion, what’s makes Dominguez’s music such a successful marriage of these two worlds is a sense that he comes out of both of these traditions. He doesn’t appear to be the interpreter of one, looking at the other from the outside. He

Daniel Lorrain 2011 25

“gets” both genres in a way that most who have aspired to blend the two have not, and his music is respected by people within both worlds.

In recent years, several others have joined Corea and Dominguez in creating new and interesting blends of jazz and Flamenco. In 2004, trumpeter/percussionist

Jerry González, formerly of the Fort Apache band and currently residing in Madrid, released Jerry González Y Los Piratas del Flamenco. This album, recorded without piano, bass, or drums, put together some of the top names in contemporary

Flamenco and features a great Bulerías interpretation of “Monk’s Dream” titled

“Monk Soniquete.”

In 2007, Flamenco guitarist Niño Josele released Paz, a collection of eleven pieces composed or recorded by Bill Evans including the “title” track “Piece Peace.”

In 2010, Wynton Marsalis released Vitoria Suite (named after the birthplace of my mother), a Jazz work influenced by Flamenco and Basque musics in which the Jazz at

Lincoln Center Orchestra is joined by Paco de Lucía, Chano Dominguez, “El Piraña”

(percussion), “Tomasito” (baile), and Blas Cordoba (jaleo, palmas). On the concept of the Suite, Marsalis comments, “As outsiders, it's not possible for us to play this music in the same way that a Spanish musician would, so instead I've tried to take elements of the music of the region and translate that into the sound of Jazz."

(wyntonmarsalis.com)

Just this year, two albums have been released that bring together the Jazz and Flamenco worlds. The first, Miles Español, is a tribute to Miles Davis and Gil

Evans’ 1960 release Sketches of Spain. Recorded in New York in May of 2010, this album brings together jazz giants Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Ron

Daniel Lorrain 2011 26

Carter, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Eddie Gomez with Flamenco musicians including

Niño Josele, Chano Dominguez, Carles Benavent and Jorge Pardo to interpret classics from the 1960 release as well as new original material.

A second project, New York-based, Catalan bassist Alexis Cuadrado’s Noneto

Ibérico, is a nine-piece suite, each part of which interprets a different palo of

Flamenco. The compositions on this album are built on the rhythms of these palos and are written in a way that respect the harmonic and thematic elements of the forms while incorporating contemporary jazz harmony and textures. Cuadrado is joined by Spanish jazz musicians Perico Sambeat (sax/flute) and Marc Miralta

(percussion) and New York based musicians including Alan Ferber (trombone) and

Avishai Cohen (trumpet).

It is worthwhile to mention the scores of Flamenco musicians in the past two generations that have drawn upon jazz music to expand Flamenco tonality and enrich what was once a very homogeneous genre with regard to harmony.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 27

My first, casual exposures to Spanish music must have taken place at a young age while growing up in a Spanish-American home, but none of my family members are aficionados of true Flamenco music. As a youth, I never had any relationship with Flamenco other than through the rumbitas that my mom would put on

Saturdays when it was time to clean the house. My relationship with Flamenco began when I was an undergraduate accounting student and a close friend of mine lent me an mp3 disc containing the complete catalogue of a cantaor named Camarón de la Isla. This Camarón, it would turn out, was the most influential Flamenco singer of the last 50 years, and listening to those records would leave an impact on my ears that will shape my personal, artistic journey for the next 50 years.

The spirit and attitude of Flamenco music is so distinctly Spanish, and it is one to which I feel a strong cultural connection. More than anything, I think this connection is rooted in language, and it comes from the nuance and spirit of the

Castilian Spanish that I learned as a boy. Maybe it is subjective, but in some small way the reason I identify with this music has to do with the cadences and tones in which my mom would get on to my brothers and I when we were being knuckleheads around the house years ago!

Technically, the discovery of this music has led me into a deeper exploration of the nylon-string guitar. Today, this instrument spends more time in my hands than the Jazz archtop guitar, and my playing and phrasing is becoming more influenced by the Flamenco guitar tradition. The challenge becomes balancing proficiency on these two vastly different instruments and in two traditions with notably different interpretations of time.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 28

Do I want to be a Jazz musician, or do I want to be a Flamenco musician? This is the artistic problem I have to deal with. The ideal answer is “both,” but it is a complicated one.

I have decided that the only way to create a credible fusion of the two genres is to achieve a certain level of proficiency in the interpretation of each in its pure form. There have been so many awful attempts at mixing the two by very good

Flamenco or Jazz artists, that I am convinced that the only way to be successful is to be both a Flamenco musician and a Jazz musician. This is a difficult goal; countless musicians dedicate their lives to the interpretation of either. But there is the possibility that a unique cultural background and connection to both traditions might grant me the chance to at least approach an honest marriage of the two.

If I want to be a Flamenco musician, I have to go to Spain. That much is clear.

In September of this year I will be making the move to Madrid to immerse myself in the Flamenco “scene” and culture and where I can also be active in a small Jazz community. Beyond these plans, my artistic dilemmas will have to find answers with time.

Daniel Lorrain 2011 29

___Bibliography___

Caballero, Angel Alvarez. Historia del Cante Flamenco. Alianza Editorial, Madrid 1981.

Cobo, Eugenio. “Una Aproximación a la Historia del Flamenco.” In: La Caña. No. 3. Asociación Cultural España Abierta, Madrid 1992.

Manuel, Peter. “The Guajira Between Cuba and Spain: A Study in Continuity and Change.” In: The Latin American Music Review, Vol. 25, No. 2. University of Texas Press 2004.

Manuel, Peter. “Modal Harmony in Andalusian, Eastern European, and Turkish Syncretic Musics.” In: The Yearbook for Traditional Musics, Vol. 21 International Council for Traditional Music 1989.

Ojesto, Pedro. Las Claves del Flamenco. Ediciones Autor, Madrid 2008.

Peña, Paco. Toques Flamencos. Musical New Services, London 1976.

Serrano, Juan. Flamenco Guitar. Mel Bay, Pacific, MO 1979.

“Vitoria Suite EPK.” wyntonmarsalis.com. http://wyntonmarsalis.com/videos/view/vitoria-suite-epk

Daniel Lorrain 2011 30

___Recommended Listening___

- Tonás

o “Las Doce Acaban de Dar (Martinete)” Camarón de la Isla 1973; Guitar

– Paco de Lucía

- Seguiriyas

o “Las Penas de Mi Mare” (“The Pains of My Mother”) Camarón de la Isla

1974; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Recuerdo a Garcia Lorca” (“In Memory of Garcia Lorca”) El Pele 1986;

Guitar – Vicente Amigo

o “Bajamar” Chano Dominguez 1999

- Soleá

o “Y Tu No Me Respondias” (“And You Didn’t Answer Me”) Camarón de la

Isla 1969; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “El Espejo en Que Te Miras (“The Mirror in Which You See Yourself”)

Camarón de la Isla 1971; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Caracoleando” (“Snail-ing”) El Pele 1986; Guitar – Vicente Amigo

o “Gañania” Diego de Morao 2010

o “New Soleá” Chano Dominguez 2006; Cante – Blas Córdoba “El Kejio”

- Tangos

o “Y Me Gustan Las Mujeres” (“And I Like Women”) Camarón de la Isla

1972; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

Daniel Lorrain 2011 31

o “Que Desgraciaítos Son” (“How Disgraceful They Are”) Camarón de la

Isla 1974; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Madera Negra” (“Black Wood”) Niño Josele 2003

o “Tangos del Fuego” (“Tangos of Fire”) Chano Dominguez 2006; Cante -

Blas Córdoba “El Kejio”

- Bulerías

o “Dame un Poquito de Agua” (“Give Me a Little Bit of Water”) Camarón

de la Isla 1973; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Dance of Chance” Chick Corea 1982

o “Potro de Rabia y Miel” (“Of Rage and Honey”) Camarón de la Isla

1992; Guitars – Paco de Lucía, Tomatito

o “Monk Soniquete” (“Monk’s Dream”) Jerry Gonzalez 2004

o “Bulería del Garraf” Chano Dominguez 2006

o “Autorretrato” (“Self Portrait”) Vicente Amigo 2009; Cante – Enrique

Morente

- Alegrías

o “Barrio de Santa María” (“The Santa María Neighborhood”) Camarón

de la Isla 1969; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Bahia de Cádiz” (“Bay of Cádiz”) Camarón de la Isla 1979; Guitar -

Tomatito

o “Puerta del Principe” (“The Prince’s Door”) Manolo Sanlucar 1988

o “Huellas de Gaviota” (“Seagull Footprints”) El Pele 1986; Guitar –

Vicente Amigo

Daniel Lorrain 2011 32

- Fandangos de Huelva

o “Llorando me lo Pedía” (“Crying, He Asked Me”) Camarón de la Isla

1969; Guitar – Paco de Lucía

o “Sentao en el Valle” (“Sitting in the Valley”) Camarón de la Isla 1981;

Guitar – Paco de Lucía, Tomatito

o “Calle Real” Camarón de la Isla 1983; Guitar – Paco de Lucía, Tomatito

- Rumba

o “La Primavera” (“Spring”) Camarón de la Isla 1992; Guitars – Paco de

Lucía, Tomatito

o “Lo Voy a Dividir” (“I’m Going to Split it Up”) Siempre Asi 1992

o “El Dengue” Paco de Lucía 2004

Daniel Lorrain 2011 33

___Non-Exhaustive List of Flamenco Palos___

Alboreá Liviana Alegría Malagueña Bambera Mariana Bandolá Martinete Bulería Media Cabales Minera Campanilleros Mirabrás Cantes de Málaga Petenera Cantes minero-levantinos Polo Cantiñas Romeras Caracoles Rondeña Carcelera Rosas Cartagenera Rumba Caña Seguiriya Colombiana Serranas Corríos Sevillana Debla Soleá Fandango Tangos Farruca Taranta Galeras Tientos Garrotín Toná Granaína Trillera Jabegote Verdiales Jabera Zambra Mora Jaleo

Daniel Lorrain 2011