Antonio de la Malena´s double disc of flamenco cante

The star of Domino is, by original profession, a flamenco cantaor/singer.  He has been singing professionally since he was nine years old, in public and private events in Jerez de la Frontera and making his television debut in Niños Cantaores (part of Rito y Geografía del Cante).  Yes, he was only 9 years old.

And although he has several CDs to his name (flamenco semi-fusion), plus is on lots of flamenco CDs which include several singers, he has never had a true flamenco CD of his own.

Well, we decided to change that.  We decided to change that because he is a very, very fine singer.  In addition, many people only know of his talents as a singer who provides the cante for dancers, and aren´t aware of the fact that he´s a great soloist as well.

The CD cover:  Antonio de la Malena with his father, el Morao.

When we started recording several months ago, the idea was to produce a CD with 10 cantes (flamenco songs).  The word on the street is that anything less than 10 tracks is not taken seriously.  But when Antonio sings, he keeps on singing.  The result is that some tracks were more than 10 minutes long, and the bottom line is that there was no way to put 10 tracks onto one CD.  You simply couldn´t fit them all in.

As a result, we recorded some more and are coming out with a double CD--two CDs in one package.  There are a total of 16 cantes in this package, 8 on each CD.  The title of the album is Para ti mi cante, que es mi libertad.  (I give my song to you, my song which is my freedom.)

The album is currently being manufactured, and when that process plus some legal details have been taken care of, we´ll have the album in our hands.  We´re talking about one week or so.  We´re hoping to release it at an event in southern France on June 30.  We don´t know if we can make this deadline or not, but we´re trying.

One way or another, if you live in Europe, once it is actually available, you will be able to purchase it on-line at the web site http://AntoniodelaMalenaCD.com.

Antonio de la Malena--photo:  Martin Guerrero y Casa Patas

  We´ll release it in the U.S. later, when we have solved a couple of other legal problems plus acquired enough money to pay for production in the U.S..

For flamenco buffs, the album starts with a trilla plus estribillo, the estribillo being something that Antonio wrote (both the music and the lyrics).  Other tracks include 3 seguiriyas, a soleá, a soleá por bulerías, a bulerías a golpe, a regular bulerías, a fin de fiesta, an alegrías, etc., etc..  Very compete.

Guitarists are Manuel Parilla, Domingo Rubichi, Malena Hijo and Santiago Moreno.

Antonio´s brother Manuel de Malena joins Antonio in the tarantos, with each of them singing a section.  And in the fin de fiesta plus the estribillos, other singers join in, such as David Carpio, el Nono del Periquin, etc.

I promise you, if you like flamenco, you´ll love this.  If you don´t know anything about flamenco, you still might well like it.  Antonio has a great voice, great pitch, and puts lots of emotion into his singing.

The official producer of the album is Palomino Productions.  Co-producers are Jerez Puro and el Rincón Andaluz.  We also have a partially completed, very simple web site for the album at http://AntoniodelaMalenaCDs,blogspot.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about adding Domino´s last scenes, and the background music--end of a long road.

The actors, part 1A--our hero, lead actor Antonio de la Malena

I recently interviewed Antonio de la Malena in  his home town of Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).  He's the actor who plays the lead character, Luis, in our short independent film, "Domino:  caught in the crisis."  Here, translated from Spanish, is his answer to the first of five questions.  The other four will be in the next blog.  NOTE:  I've put some additional information inside of brackets [  ].

Eve Ma:  Give us a brief outline of your professional career.

Antonio de la Malena:  I'm a cantaor.  [Usually cantaor is translated as "flamenco singer," but Antonio de la Malena doesn't like the word "flamenco:"  it's a long story to explain why.]  I don't sing what is called "flamenco."  Instead, I sing the traditional songs of Andalucia, which is in southern Spain.  I've sung for many ["flamenco"] dancers and now I have the luxury of being able to sing for a dancer who allows me to feel the true art and essence of this dance form.  Her name is Maria del Mar Moreno.

I've also sung many solo recitals.  I've taken my singing to many different countries throughout the world where people are interested in listening to and feeling the pure and essential form of my art, of my native land.

Antonio de la Malena.  photo:  Martin Guerrero-Casa Patas

My career began when I was 10 years old and sang for a famous television production, made by TVE [Televisión Española].  It was recorded in one of the "patio de vecinos," [These were the old-style buildings in which many families lived, each in their tiny apartment, and shared a common patio].  The production is called "Rito y Geografía del Cante."  I am in the part called "Niños Cantaores" ["Child Professionals"].

Currently, I am continuing my artistic career in the performance company, Jerez Puro.

Singing in an event in Jerez de la Frontera in 2010.

Our NEXT BLOG will present the remainder of this interview.  (The actors, part 1B).