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.

Thanks to Flamenco Peña Chacón

We owe a big thank you to flamenco Peña Chacón.  We filmed there five times, three of those times for several hours.  The peña has been very nice to us, and we are very appreciative.  A lot of the great reception the peña gave us is due to Ali de la Tota, a palmero (flamenco percussionist) who is in charge of day-to-day operations.

Thanks, Ali.

Ali de la Tota.  He also plays a part in the film.

 In addition, we wouldn´t have been able to use the peña without the agreement of its president, Julian Azcutia.  Thanks to him, as well.

A flamenco peña is a flamenco club.  Peña Chacón is named after the flamenco cantaor (now deceased), Don Antonio Chacón.  There are about a dozen flamenco peñas in Jerez de la Frontera, including six or so in or near the city center.  Peña Chacón is one of those in the center, in the historic district.

The flamenco  peñas, as you might guess, are composed of people interested in preserving flamenco, and enjoying flamenco.  Normally, each peña selects a month, or a period of 4 weeks, in which to present flamenco performances.  These are free and open to the public.

Peña Chacón has a great collection on its walls of photos of flamencos.

Peña Chacón´s main period is May-June, and although it focuses on the cante (flamenco singing), it also presents some dance performances.   This year, however, due to the economic crisis, it was unable to present any performances.  The peña has only about 50 members, and there simply wasn´t enough money to pay for performers.

In the past, in addition to the May-June series, the peña used to present young artists it thought had promise.  These performances were scheduled for February, but again, the peña has been unable to hold these events for the past several years.

This is the stage, with a photo of Don Antonio Chacón on the wall.

It does, however, still present zambomba (flamenco Christmas celebrations, with people singing Christmas songs to a bulerias rhythm, and occasionally, dancing as well).  Hopefully, when the crisis ends, it will again be able to present its other performances.

I asked Ali de la Tota what characterizes the peña, and he said the respect that the members give to the cante (flamenco singing). They listen well.

Here we are, shooting a scene.

Three footnotes:  the peña is named after cantaor (flamenco singer) Don Antonio Chacon.  It has been in its present location (near calle Francos and the Fundación of flamenco) for about 20 years.  Formerly, it was in a building in calle Carmen.  And Ali has been working there for the past 15 years.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the banker as speculator and villain..

Some thanks are due here: Mateo Solea & Bar Gitaneria

We had a important scene that we needed to film, where Luis meet with his former boss, Javier.  We were fortunate enough to have the owner of the Bar Gitanería offer to lend as his bar. He also ended up playing the roll of the bartender.

This wonderful person was and is Mateo Solea.

Mateo Solea behind the bar

We asked Mateo Soler to tell us a little bit about his bar, and his life. He explained that he opened Bar Gitanería three years ago. I can tell you from personal observation that it is popular. It's located close to the Iglesia Santiago in the Barrio Santiago in |Jerez.

Inside the bar, as in many bars in Jerez, there are lots and lots of photos on the walls. Most are of flamencos, but there are also some matadors.

Note all the great photos on the wall

This brings up the topic of flamenco. Mateo Solea is also a cantaor, a flamenco singer. He sings in flamenco peñas (flamenco clubs), in local events, and on stage with some of the most important flamenco companies in Jerez.

He is also the brother.in-law of our star, Antonio de la Malena.

Here we are, filming.

We want to express a sincere thanks to Mateo Solea. It was very nice of him to lend us his bar and he did a great job acting as the bartender.

A NEXT POST will be about the current economic situation in Spain (this time, for real).

Shooting for sound

In mid-July, we recorded some of the background music for "Domino," the short independent film I´m working on in Jerez de la Frontera.  We have several scenes in bars, which is an ideal place to introduce background music...and the bar scenes are for the most part followed by street scenes, an ideal place to continue the background music.

Since some of you have never been inside a recording studio, it occurred to me that you might be interested in what it's like to do a recording.

--NOTE:  "Domino´s" YouTube trailers are on LINK

What we recorded was based on the voice of our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena, who is also a well-known flamenco cantaor (singer).  We recorded two numbers, one a purely flamenco one (a tarantos, for readers who are knowledgeable in flamenco) and the other a somewhat modernized number (granainos por buleria).

Antonio de la Malena and Luis de la Tota in front of the sound studio.

The first, the tarantos, went very rapidly.  There was only the singer and the guitarist, a father-son team who have worked together for years.  (The father is, of course, Antonio de la Malena.  The son is Malena Hijo.  Both tour internationally.)  First, the two of them ran through the number in order to warm up.  The sound tech recorded it, I'm happy to say, since the first part was great.  The second half was fine but there was a change that didn't go well...but this was ok, since they were just warming up.

Next, they went through it "for real," and it came out beautifully.  End of recording.

The second number, the granaina por bulerias (ending in a minera as a macho), included not only voice and guitar, but also percussion--palmas (rhythmic hand clapping), cajón (that wooden box you used to only see used in Latin American music, but is now used world wide) and something called a tinaja (a ceramic jug turned into a musical instrument by adding sound holes and the like).

Inside the sound studio.  My camera doesn´t give good flash photos.  Oh, well.

 I´ll mentioned here that the palmeros were Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, and Alex de Moneo.  The cajonista and tinajista was Alex de Moneo.  The first two (the de la Totas) are very well known.  Alex is a young fellow, more at the beginning of his career.

Well.  I´ve very little experience in recording sessions and had no idea why they usually take so long.  Now I know.  The voice and guitar were recorded together, and the singer was done.  But then the percussionists--in groups, first the palmeros, then the cajón, then the tinaja--were given ear phones and told to do their part.  The palmas turned out to be particularly tricky and had to be repeated many, many times.  It was a question of getting three people to clap out the rhythm at EXACTLY the same moment in a musical number with a pretty complex rhythm, being sung freely.

After a little over four hours, we had our six minutes of music recorded, put onto a CD, and handed over to me.  I found the experience very interesting.  Being musically inclined, I also enjoyed listening and watching and yes, getting things just right is NOT easy.

Ali de la Tota, with Luis´ girlfriend in the foreground and Antonio de la Malena in the background.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Spanish Gypsies (Gitanos).

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).