The Sound Of Flamenco by Los Morenos; Elena Marbella Prestige International (INT 13052)

 

PRESTIGE/INTERNATIONAL 13052  

THE SOUND OF FLAMENCO  
LOS MORENOS with ELENA MARBELLA and FERNANDO “EL PINTOR”  


LUISA VERETTE, dancing and castagnettes  
ANTONIO DeJESUS, dancing and singing  
DAVID MORENO, guitar  

with  

ELENA MARBELLA, dancing and singing  
FERNANDO “EL PINTOR”, guitar  
Recorded July 22, 1961  


Side A  
. FERIA DE ABRIL (sevillanas)  
. RECUERDC GADITANO (alegrias)  


. TANGO EXTREMENO  

. GRANAINA  

. FIESTA JEREZANA (bulerias)  
. EL CABRERILLO  


Side B  
. PETENERA CON BAILE  
. FANDANGOS VARIADOS  
. DOBLARON LAS COMPANAS (siguiriyas)  
. LA FARRUCA  
. SOLEA APOLA  


Flamenco should not just be listened to. It should  
be experienced, As you hear the music, and feel the  
pulsating rhythms, your whole body will want to  
respond. Let ii. For Flamenco traditionally has trans-  
cended the barrier between audience and perform-  
ers. Back in the caves of Sacromonte the joys and the  
sorrows of the gypsy soul found their expression in  
the disciplined yet passionate forms of Flamenco.  
Hundreds of years of tradition have distilled its es-  
sence. Flamenco is group experience. It is emotional  
communication to the deepest sub-conscious self. As  
you listen to these highly sensitized players and sing-  
ers reacting and interacting to each other’s beat and  
melody, the Flamenco spirit will communicate itselft  
to you. You will become part of the group. As -you  
hear it again and again, you will find yourself becom-  
ing more and more sensitive to the haunting melodies  
and throbbing rhythms, Flamenco will say more to  
you on a deeper, richer, more emotional level.  


Now, imagine in the mind’s eye, the physical set-  
ting. It is late at night and in the cafe the heady smell  
of wine blends into the sensual background. The night  
is hot and outside the insects’ faint chatter underlines  
the emotional forces building up inside. Gypsy and  
non-gypsy alike await the “duende”, the mystic spirit  
of Flamenco. Suddenly a chord sounds and an in-  
voluntary sigh rises from the crowd. Someone says  
“Olé guitarista” in a low gravelly voice and the guitar-  
ist starts to weave a melodic variation on the chord.  
A dark-haired girl leaps to her feet and catching the  
rhythm of the guitar starts a pattern of taconeo (heel-  
beats) while moving her body with tremendous control-  
led passion. The crowd spurs her on as the music grows  
faster and faster. The guitar and dancer are as one,  
acting out a story of life and love and death. A voice  
from the table near-the bar starts the traditional wail  
of the cante, and as the singer develops the tapestry  
of melody a man comes forward and joins the frenzied  
rhythms. The crowd and the performers are swept up  
in an ever increasing torrent of sound. Their eyes shine  
with inner fire. Sweat runs down a dozen faces. The  
dance moves faster and faster as it builds up each  
climax. The duende carries the crowd ever higher, far  
into the night.  

This is Flamenco, the living spirit, the incarnation  
of life itself. Blood, tears, and agony, joy and the trans-  
‘cendence of thé every day world.  


The escape world of Flamenco has been an integral  
part of the Spanish gypsy culture for hundreds of  
years. In his need-for artistic expression beyond the  
poverty of his everyday life, the gitano has borrowed  
from each culture to which he has been exposed .. .  
from the Moors, the Jews, the Spaniards. Taking a  
little from each, but blending it into something new  
and distinctive. Something his own. Approach this  


Printed in U. S. A.  





music with more than just an open ear, open your  
mind and your heart and be swept up by the duende  
of Flamenco.  

Los Morenos is a young trio -of Riieioricos: Luisa  
Verette, who dances like a flame, Antonio De Jesus,  
strong, ‘elegant, a faint scar accentuating the regular-  
ity of his dark gypsy face, David Moreno, the guitarist,  
dedicated to the music he loves. With them, Elena  
Marbella who came here in February 1961, the win-  
ner of many honors in Spain including honorable  
mention at the National Cante Jondo contest in Cor-  
doba and Fernando “El Pintor”’ an artist’ with both  
brush and guitar. The group made its New York debut  
in May 1961 to an extremely enthusiastic audience.  
The critics were equally enthusiastic. The New York  
Herald Tribune said, “The authentic flavor of gypsy  
Spain was evoked last night — All the songs and  
dances were of gypsy derivation and emphasized the  
stormy and tempestuous nature of that melancholy  
race.  

Here, then, is the music that excited New York.  
Feria de abril (sevillanas)  

Of classical origin, this dance has become so influ-  
enced by the gypsies that it is a standard in any Fla-  
menco program. Sevillian children learn the gay, lilting  
“coplas”, or verses, and intricate steps at an early age,  
and their impromptu singing and dancing in the streets  
is one of the delights that adds charm to this. enchant-  
ing city.  

Here the entire group works together to recreate the  
vibrant atmosphere of the April Fair, where the hand-  
clapping and castanets do not cease during five unfor-  
gettable days.  


Recuerdo gaditano (alegrias)  

This musical form bears the same rhythm as the me-  
lancholy “Soleares”, but is lively and optimistic in  
character (The very name means happiness). Here, the  
gypsy, inspired by the saline breezes and bustling  
activity of the ancient Phoenician seaport of Cadiz,  
frees himself from his tradition of sorrow. Antonio de  
Jesus executes this dance with exuberance in the  
“salida” (entrance), and elegance in the slow melodic  
section, before abandoning himself to the contagious  
rhythm of the final “Bulerias”. The songs express, with  
lighthearted clarity, the pains and passions of love  
and the affectionate praises of “The Little Silver Cup”  
as Cadiz is foundly called.  


Tango extremeno  

Improvisation and mischievous humor are the key-  
notes of this gypsy dance in 2/4 time. It is derived  
from the more sober “Tientos’” and very popular  
throughout Spain, where it is performed with ritual-  
istic fervor at every “fiesta”, or gathering of the “afi-  
cionados”, The first song style is from Extremadura, a  
province to the west of Andalucia, and the others are  
traditional.  


Granainas  

Delicate and haunting, this guitar solo suggests all  
of the mysterious beauty of Granada with its Alhamb:  
ra, its caves of the Sacromonte, and the breathtaking  
surrounding landscape dominated by the snow-capped  
Sierra Nevada. The notes evoke the ever-present poetic  
inspiration of the Moorish city which sleeps and  
dreams of glorious past.  


Fiesta jerezana (bulerias)  

Quintessence of the fiesta! Translated from the Ro  
many tongue, the word means ‘lies’, for the gypsy  
enters the realm of gaiety, but his joy is bitter-tasting  
and razor-edged. He loses himself in a frenzied and  


“ uninhibited parody of life and love in this fiery rhythm.  


One of the most popular of Flamenco styles, it is cha-  
racterized by a naivete which is disarming to even  
the-most sophisticated. The dancers alternate to exhibit  
their virtuosity and unrestrained sense of humor in  
rapid “desplantes”. The greatest interpreters have  
been from Jerez de la Frontera, known also for its  
excellent wines and cognacs, (and, who -knows what  


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PRESTIGE  
INTERNATIONAL  


subtle influence the latter may have exerted upon the  
explosive quality of the “Bulerias’’?).  
El Cabrerillo  

This is a pastoral romance, also in the gypsy Tango  
rhythm, which tells the story of a goatherd’s love for  
his flock, and causes his jealous sweetheart to turn to  
another man’s affections in her search for attention.  
Elena Marbella sings and dances this Andalusian folk  
song accompanied by Fernando “El Pintor”  

Petenera con baile  

Named after a famous courtesan, “La Paternera”,  
which means, innocently enough, “The Woman from  
Paterna”, the verses usually tell the tale of the legend-  
ary antics of “La Perdicion de los Hombres”, (The Per-  
dition of Men) as she was commonly called. Here Luisa  
and Antonio act out the pagent of this wicked wo-  
man and one of her spurned lovers, while the guitar  
of David Moreno interprets the traditional melodies,  
retaining all of the sentiment and emotional depth of  
the primitive songs.  

Fandangos variados  

Fandangos are popular throughout Andalusia, though  
the best-known and loved are those of the province of  
Huelva. These four “coplas” represent different styles  
from thai region, and are danced with enthusiasm and  
vivacity by Luisa and Antonio.  

Doblaron las campanas (siguiriyas)  

Relatively new as a dance form, the “Siguiriyas”,  
deepest of the “deep songs”, stems from an ancient  
mourning chant. In this number, dancer Luisa Verret-  
te interprets with sinuous grace the infinite jlament  
expressed in the immortal verses of the famous gypsy  
“cantaores”, “El Marruro’” and Tomas “El Nitri”. The  
first verse: “If in life | am not avenged, you will pay  
me in death — I'll search for you amongst the sepul-  
chers until | find you!” the second: “The bells of San  
Juan tolled! How they tolled, Oh! How they tolled  
for the mother of my heart and soul!’ While her feet  
mark continuously the relentless beat and her castanets  
answer with intricate counter-rhythms, the lithe body  
of the lovely young “bailaora” weaves a tapestry which  
reflects the inner conflicts of the human soul.  

Farruca  

Once a song of Galician origin, the 2/4 rhythm of  
the “Farruca” has evolved into a virile dance solo  
characterized by powerful stacatto heelwork, finger-  
snapping, and slow, marking sections where the  
“Bailaor’ awaits, with feline grace, the moment of  
“attack”. Antonio de Jesus, dark, handsome, and  
supple as a panther performs with male aggressive-  
ness this “tour de force” which establishes the gypsy’s  
skill and technique and offers the same feeling of  
challenge present in primitive war eee  
Solea apolé  

“Solea” means “loneliness”, but the emotional con-  
tent of this sad modality, often referred to as the  
“Mother of the Cante” extends far beyond mere lone-  
liness, Manuel Benitez Carrasco, the Flamenco poet,  
best describes its elusive character in the phrase “La  
Muerte Pequefia” — “the little death of a chant’. “’Sole-  
ares” describe with brevity, painful as a knife wound,  
the agonizing moments of life’s fleeting tragedies and  
accept these experiences with philosophical resigna-  
tion. In this sequence, the unfaithful lover, Antonio de  
Jesus succmbs to the charms of Luisa Verrette, while  
singer, Elena Marbella challenges his fidelity in the  
first verse, “May.God permit that, if you deceive me,  
the ground open up and swallow you”; and later  
declares that, “When the great earthquake took place, .  
(an actual occurrence in Seville) the waters rose high,  


‘but not as high as my agony.” The last verse, the  


“Solea apola” is a rare form usually sung as a post-  
lude to the “Polo”.  
Notes by: D. CHARNEY and E. MARTINEZ  
Recorded by: RUDY VAN GELDER  
Album conceived and arranged  
for by: DON SCHLITTEN  
‘Produced by: CHRIS ALBERTSON  


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