BAJARI
Flamenco in Barcelona
Bajari: Barcelona in Gypsy
Flamenco and Barcelona
BARCELONA, due to its strategic location in the Mediterranean, has had a port connected to the world for hundreds of years, which has allowed it to collect the testimony of various cultures, races and religions.
As the engine of industrialization and its consequent economic and artistic development, it gave rise to new leisure proposals, with a clear innovative and urban perspective. The city has built up a reputation for offering excellent service, with the ability to seduce its guests.
If we add to the previous factors, that it has a settlement of gypsy population, rooted in the city for more than 500 years, we will verify that it meets all the requirements to be one of the main capitals of Flamenco.
PRE-FLAMENCO
As a starting point for this history we will go back to the year 1425, this is the first documented date of the presence of the gypsy population in the peninsula, as recorded in the Archives of the Crown of Aragon, and the city chosen for it was Barcelona.
These were times of change, the “Andalusí” and Sephardic cultures went into decline due to the persecutions caused by the Christian kingdoms, in a period of expansion. These, not content with the reconquest of the south of the peninsula, undertook the adventure of crossing the Atlantic towards the Indies, they found a new continent which they called America, which meant a new world order. Over time, a new route was born that linked the Mediterranean, Barcelona, with America and its consequent economic and cultural exchange.
The gypsy people were in charge of preserving for four centuries: the "Andalusian", the Sephardic and the African legacy, due to the coexistence of these peoples in the outskirts of the cities, in situations of marginality. This legacy, combined with the musical genetic memory that they carried from the trip from India to our homeland, the seasoning of the cultural diversity of peninsular folklore and the influences of the new Creole music, secretly macerated within the gypsy families. But it will not be until the nineteenth century, as a result of the travels through these lands of European Romantic artists, that we find the first traces of a new musical phenomenon. Fleeing from the prevailing classicism, the intelligentsia found in popular characters of our iconography, in particular, in the gypsy world and its surroundings, a great source of inspiration. Thanks to a large part of his works, this art emerged from intimacy, leaving the first traces of what a few years later would have the name of Flamenco.
FLAMENCO:
In the mid-nineteenth century, as a crossroads of different cultures: Mozarabic jarchas, Greek cymbals, Gregorian chants, seguidillas and Castilian romances, Sephardic laments, black sounds, folklore from the north, back and forth music with America and the orientalism of the Gypsy people, they mix to give rise to a new musical style that came to be called FLAMENCO. It is expressed mainly through singing, playing and dancing, with different styles or palos, which form the complex family tree of Flamenco.
It will be in the year 1846 when for the first time there is written testimony, as such, of this new musical genre. Serafín Estébanez in his novel, “Escenas Andaluzas”, gives us a costumbrist portrait of Andalusia at the time, introducing the gypsy singers: “el Planeta” and “el Fillo”, explicitly citing that the musical style they perform has the name of flamenco, thus remaining for history.
In that same year, 1846, Prosper Mérimée, author of the novel: "Carmen", wrote a letter to the Countess of Montijo, on the occasion of one of his visits to Barcelona:
“Yesterday they came to invite me to a gathering on the occasion of the birth of a gypsy. We were about thirty people in a room. There were three guitarists, and they sang at the top of their voices, in Caló and Catalan… “
We can appreciate, since there is written evidence that flamenco exists, that Barcelona is fully connected to that musical frequency. Comparing the testimonies of Estébanez and Mérimée, we find very similar elements: the fourth, the shout, the playing of the guitar, the clear differentiating element is the language used, in Barcelona Caló and Catalan were part of the way of interpreting cante , in Andalusia it was Castilian, Caló did not play a leading role.
"CHINATOWN"
the flamenco district of Barcelona
It was one of the hottest neighborhoods in the world, where all the permitted or not leisure formulas had a wide offer in its premises. The neighborhood comprised the triangle formed between: Colon, El Liceu and El Molino, where there were many flamenco venues, offering one of the best deals in the country. It was also known as District V, Sebastián Gasch, describes it to us in one of his chronicles:
“It is precisely in this District V where you are persecuted, implacable and obsessive, insistent, by the heartrending moans of the marvelous cante, and where the moving and painful echo of the trembling stages constantly reaches you, which complain pathetically when being whipped vigorously by the heels ardent and desperate, exasperated, by so many bailaoras, subjugated and hypnotized, by a dry and precise rhythm, amazing. Our people ignore that it is precisely in this district where Flamenco, without a drop of scenery, manifests itself with terrible crudeness and moving pathos. Perhaps more purely than in Andalusia itself.”
MODERNISM and FLAMENCO
In the period between 1888 and 1929, Barcelona hosted two International Exhibitions, which led to the city breaking out of its walls. On the occasion of the economic boom, due to the contribution of capital and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indianos, motivated by the loss of the last colonies, accompanied by a powerful industrialization process, Barcelona became an enterprising city, with a rich cultural activity and leisure. The "Rosa de Foc", as it was known in those years, will be the protagonist of a new cultural and social phenomenon: Modernism.
Modernism is manifested by the freedom it brings to artistic creation, seeking authenticity above beauty. This makes artists who follow this trend extraordinarily interested in popular music and, in particular, in Flamenco.
Bohemian life becomes one of the great myths of modernity, inspired by the idealization of the bohemians, of the Gypsy people, of which the history of art has always typified as a symbol of a life without rules and without ties, free of institutional conventions.
Although the most famous Modernists are architects, the first Catalan artists who took on this trend were Santiago Rusiñol and Ramón Casas, both Flemish.
Ramón Casas, gained fame at the Salon des Champs-Élysées, in Paris, by exhibiting his "Self-portrait dressed as a Flamenco", with which he obtained an invitation as a member of the salon of the "Société d'artistes françaises".
Of Santiago Rusiñol, it is worth highlighting his knowledge of Flamenco, which led him to participate in the cante jondo contest in Granada, with the nickname "Niño de Barcelona" or to organize popular flamenco sprees in Sitges.
There were many other artists who sought their inspiration in the gypsy world and Flamenco, highlighting:
Juli Vallmitjana, playwright of the underworld, guided Nonell and Picasso through the gypsy neighborhoods, where he learned to speak the language of underground Barcelona: Catalan Caló, leaving testimony in his many works, without a doubt it was a clear Lorca precedent .
Isidre Nonell, gave a face to the Barcelona gypsies, highlights in his work the portraits of Somorrostro, as well as his love affairs with some gypsy.
In the musical world of classical training stood out: Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados or Enric Morera, who include passages from the flamenco tradition in their compositions.
SINGING CAFES
Flamenco comes from the family nucleus, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the first formula to market it was: the Cafés Cantantes, where the artists began to professionalize. Entrepreneurs of the Barcelona show bet on this formula, opening businesses, mostly in the area between Plaza Palacio and the Chinatown; some ventured to install these businesses in other cities of Catalonia and in the rest of the country. The Cafés Cantantes had a foyer, where they alternated, offering coffee and restaurant service, always accompanied by gaming tables, called at the time, pateras. In the private rooms or rooms, the revelry could last until the wee hours of the morning.
We will mention some places where Flamenco was the attraction: Cal Manquet, La Taurina, Los Cotos, Veloz, Granada in Catalonia, El Chiringuito, Ca L'Escanyo, Candelas, El Cangrejo or Casa Juanito El Dorado. But the place that enjoyed having the best parties was the Villa Rosa, on arc del teatre street, where the Moog techno club is currently housed. The venue run by the guitarist Borrull, became one of the attractions for anyone who visited the city, enjoyed international fame, having the best artists in its group.
THE FIRST RECORDINGS
Coinciding with the arrival of the 20th century, a new factor came to contribute to the presence of flamencos in Barcelona being even greater, the installation of record companies, through which they went to record their songs. With commercial dissemination, the phonograph and the gramophone became a great revolution in flamenco. The voice of the artists, their songs and their different styles easily reached homes, being able to be heard, over and over again, in bars and taverns. The Manquet jukebox became famous by reproducing fashionable flamenco singers.
Flamenco had a new disseminating channel, it lost in spontaneity but gained in popularity. The artists will leave their personal styles engraved for posterity: Antonio Chacón, Manuel Vallejo, La Niña de los Peines, El Cojo de Málaga, El Gorito, Antonio Merino, Niña de Linares, Niño de Almadén, Niño de Lucena, El Pena Son, Pepe Pinto, Manuel Torre, Juan Varea, Corruco de Algeciras or José Palanca, went through the Barcelona studios. These artists took advantage of their recording periods to perform in Barcelona venues.
FLAMENCO OPERA
The decade of the twenties, coinciding with the First World War, the city received a large number of European bourgeois and intellectuals, fleeing from the war and wanting to have fun, it was a period of true splendor for flamenco in Barcelona. Venues that offer performances by flamenco artists go up towards the center and premises open up around Plaça de Catalunya. The one that achieved the greatest fame was the Bodega Andaluza, a place opened on the ground floor of the Colón hotel, currently the headquarters of Apple, run by Miguel Borrull, son. Another famous hotel, the Ritz, also had a space for flamenco, El Farolillo, which had its own flamenco group, directed by Rayito.
Also around this time a new form of dissemination arises, the Flamenco Opera, with shows being held in bullrings and theaters. The idea had nothing to do with the Opera and a lot with flamenco, it was merely an economic issue, less taxes were paid. The most outstanding promoters of the show, most of them from Barcelona, such as Carcellé, Verdines or Montserrat, the latter an amateur singer, organize tours throughout Spain with companies, hiring new figures and established artists. They stood out at that time: Manuel Torre, Antonio Chacón, Pepe Marchena, Manuel Vallejo, Niña de los Peines or Manolo Caracol.
FLAMENCO AFTER THE CIVIL WAR
The city, despite going through bad times in the post-war period, always maintained its Flemish offer, although nothing was the same anymore. One of those responsible for maintaining this life were the escapees from the Second World War and the American troops, who visited the city looking for a moment of fun. With them also came the fashionable American music, which was reproduced in the places where they alternated, being a source of inspiration for local musicians. Among the sailors, Flamenco was an attraction of the first kind, they frequently frequented the places with a flamenco atmosphere, in search of party and fun. It will not be until the end of the Second World War that the city will begin a slow economic recovery and the gradual arrival of emigration from the rest of the state.
Flamenco Jazz
The HOT CLUB in Barcelona was a pioneer club of Jazz in Europe, founded in 1935, with performances by the gypsy guitarist: Django Reinhardt, father of Jazz Manouche; it returned to recover its programming once the civil war was over.
In 1955, Lionel Hampton performed with his band, where he met pianist Tete Montoliu. After a 48-hour party in a flamenco tablao, Lionel Hampton conceives the idea of joining flamenco with jazz. Hampton is quick to grasp the similarity in rhythm, color, feeling, and emotion that these two kinds of music have. This is how the first work recorded under the title: “Jazz Flamenco” arose, with the collaboration of Tete Montoliu.
Barcelona has continued to cultivate Jazz, producing musicians who have collaborated in flamenco projects with repercussions, such as Carles Benavent, Jordi Bonell, Amargos or Raynald Colom.
The flamenco clubs
The boom of the clubs began after the approval of the Law of Non-Political Associations of 1964. As a result of the economic improvements of the sixties, workers from all over the peninsula arrived in Barcelona, it will be a time of recovery of the flamenco scene in the city . The center of the city will lose its hegemony, to emerge a flamenco more linked to the outskirts of the city, new neighborhoods emerge: St Roc, La Mina, Nou Barris, Hospitalet..., and others like Somorrostro or Can Valero disappear; Chinatown will go into notable decline. The needs of these neighborhoods for flamenco gave rise to a new scenario: the Peñas Flamencas, through which the best of the local scene passed. They contributed to spreading and creating a pool, particularly of singers, in the city. Many adopted the names of the outstanding singers of the time, such as that of Antonio Mairena, inaugurated in 1968, in the neighborhood of Florida, Hospitalet and which continues its excellent mission today. The most notable cantaores, sons of this stage of the peñas, will be Juan de la Vara, Chiqui de la Línea, Duquende, Blas Córdoba, Mayte Martin or Miguel Poveda.
THE TABLAOS
Since the 1960s, the Tablaos Flamencos have been part of the most important flamenco tradition in our country, replacing the hitherto called Cafés Cantantes. They are places with an intimate and cozy atmosphere, where the duende del Flamenco is the only protagonist. They are called “flamenco temples”, it is the place where, what is a flamenco party, is transported to a stage; the inspiration and the ability to transmit of the artists is the only premise. A telluric magic, the duende, is the only objective, to be able to transmit to the spectator, that anthropological truth that Flamenco has. In the Tablaos, it has been the space where, outside the family sphere, Flamenco has continued to be transmitted, in a pure way, without microphones, or large stages, where the closeness with the spectator makes him feel inside that ceremony. It has served, so that the artists can pass on to each other that legacy that is still alive, becoming the only flamenco school outside the family sphere.
