Antonio de la Malena´s double CD is out: flamenco por derecho

Palomino Productions has had the privilege of producing a double CD of the flamenco cante (singing) of Antonio de la Malena.  I say "privilege" because he is a very fine singer, and the double CD is excellent.  It includes a full two hours of singing, with 16 tracks, 8 per CD.

(Antonio, as you will surely remember, is the star of Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.)

Cover of the double CD:  Antonio with his father.

It will be formally presented to the world in the famous annual flamenco festival in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013...just a few weeks from now.

The presentation, as organized by Antonio, will be really fine.  In the fin de fiesta of the double CD, lots of family and friends joined him and they will all be in the discs' presentation.  From what I understand, there will be 14 people in all.

Of course, Antonio himself will sing.  I asked him what he was planning to sing, and he answered "Whatever I feel like at the time."

In addition, at least some and perhaps all of the others will sing at the very beginning, and in the fin de fiesta, so it´s going to be really lively.

Antonio de la Malena singing.

And Maria del Mar Moreno, the dancer with whom Antonio has collaborated most closely these past few years, will dance one number accompanied, of course, by Antonio.

The guitarists will be Malena Hijo and Santiago Moreno.  Other well-known performers who will participate include Luis de la Tota and el Bob.

If you are planning to attend the festival, you'll certainly not want to miss this performance.  It'll be in Sala la Compañía.  I believe it starts at 8pm but am not absolutely positive, so check the festival program.  Here´s a LINK to Flamencomania´s announcement of the event.

In the meantime, to enjoy a sample of Antonio de la Malena´s singing, go here:  www.AntonioMalenaCD-ENG.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about why Domino is relevant to people in the US.

Flamenco & flamenco fusion for background music

Background music adds a great deal to a film.  It connects scenes, it strengthens the emotion of scenes (or sometimes, actually tells the audience what emotion they should be feeling), it helps keep the audience from losing interest in slow sequences, and it simply adds another layer of beauty and art.

In Domino:  Caught in the Crisis, we used two kinds of background music:  instrumental, and voice supported by instrumental.  And as you will see, we kept the musical part all in the family, relying on a very, very musical family.

The voice supported by instrumental music is flamenco, sung by Antonio de la Malena (who is also Luis, the lead character, although we don't see Luis singing).  Malena has a beautiful voice, and a strong and pure flamenco sense of interpretation.  He wrote the lyrics for some of what he sings, and in other parts, he interprets traditional verses.  The verses, whether his own or traditional, are directly related to the action we are seeing, something that Spanish speakers will be aware of and appreciate.

Antonio de la Malena (photo:  Miguel Angel Gonzales)

We chose him because our director (yours truly) admires his voice and interpretation.  In addition, he has three solo CDs to his name, in addition to being one of several singers on many CDs that are collections of flamenco singing.  (His most recent solo CD came out in Spain this past summer.)

In Domino, we hear his original lyrics in the final scenes, where he sings about the Indignados (Movimiento 15-M--similar to our Occupy Wall Street) and about recent problems in Spain. 

The instrumental background music is in some cases traditional flamenco, and in others, flamenco fusion composed by Malena Hijo.  Malena Hijo is a very fine, young guitarist who is the eldest son of Antonio de la Malena.

Malena Hijo

Whether for purely musical numbers or as accompaniment to Antonio de la Malena's singing, all of the guitar in Domino is performed by Malena Hijo.  All of the singing is Antonio de la Malena, although in one of the instrumental pieces, there is also a voice that works as an instrument, going "le, le, le, le...."  That voice is Antonio de la Malena's second son, Diego de Malena.

Some of the music also includes percussion instruments, played by Alejandro de Mateo (nephew of Antonio de la Malena), electric base played by Malena Hijo, and palmas (hand clapping) performed by Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, and Diego de Malena.

All in all, the music is great.  It does just what it is supposed to do, beautifully complementing the visuals and the narrative line.

OUR NEXT POST will be about getting that post-production work done.

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).

Antonio de la Malena's upcoming CD

You might well be interested in learning that our star, Antonio de la Malena, is about to come out with a CD of flamenco cante (singing).  It's title will be Para ti mi cante, que es mi libertad (My song is for you, my song is my freedom.)  Palomino Productions is producing it jointly with a Spanish company, Jerez Puro, a flamenco performance company that tours all over the world and that also has dance academies all over the world.

Antonio de la Malena, a singer known the world over.  He has toured throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.  He has sung in Egypt.  He has been to almost every place where flamenco is loved.  This will be his first, purely flamenco CD.  He has two other CDs to his name, but they are not flamenco cante.

Antonio de la Malena.  (photo:  Martin Guerrero and Casa Patas)

We recorded this back in October, before I left for California, and planned to have it out in February.

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.

Turns out Antonio sang a bit too much.  First of all, he recorded another 5 cantes while I was in California.  Next, when he starts singing, he sings, and sings, and sings...and some of the cantes are over 10 minutes long.

Since it's important (says everyone who "knows") that a CD have 10 tracks on it, well, multiply 10 by 10 and you get a lot more minutes than any standard CD is going to hold.

el Bob (palmero), Antonio de la Malena, Manuel Parilla (guitarist), etc.

So we trimmed and trimmed, and cut and cut, and even with only 9 tracks it was STILL too long.  Plus some of what we cut was very dear to Antonio's heart, leaving him feeling like the prospective CD would not be what he wanted.

Solution?  Well, at the present time, we've just about decided to put two CDs into one package.  This has led Antonio to decide that he needs to record some more.  I have told him he MUST NOT go over the now 2-CD limit this time.

Bottom line, since he leaves town tomorrow for France and then Italy, is that we THINK we'll get this finished by the end of spring.  One way or another, I promise it's going to be good.  So hold onto your hats.

Bulerias fin de fiesta.  Right, standing=Antonio de la Malena

The final number on the set of two CDs will be the traditional "fin de fiesta" (ending party) bulerias.  For this, Antonio invited not only his older brother, the cantaor Manuel de Malena, and another six or seven people to join in.  They each take turns singing, with Antonio singing first and also ending the session.  There is no guitar accompaniment.  It's performed as if they were, indeed, all at a party together and simply enjoying themselves.

And again, you'll find it at www.AntonioMalenaCD-ENG.com, or if you're in Europe, at www.AntonioMalenaCD.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about scoping out "el Puerto" (Puerto de Santa Maria).

Shooting in Peña Chacón

Let's face it--some scenes are harder to shoot than others.

My near-Waterloo came with the scenes we shot in Peña Chacón.  First of all, let me explain:  Peña Chacón  as well as all flamenco peñas is a flamenco club.  They present flamenco shows once a week for a chosen month.  The various peñas alternate months, so that most of the year, every Friday there's a flamenco show SOMEWHERE.  They also present a flamenco show during the big, annual, world famous flamenco festival of Jerez de la Frontera.

The bar area with actors--main center of interest for these scenes.

Peña Chacón is a cool location.  It's big, has photos of famous flamenco performers all over the walls, and has a bar in a corner, as well as a stage and other things you might need if you were going to present a flamenco show.

By the way, the flamenco shows in the peñas are all free.

The guy who manages the peña is a friend of our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena.  He's also a nice guy.  And he's a well-know palmero (flamenco percussionist--he does the hand clapping rhythms).  His name is Ali de la Tota, and he got the peña's president to agree to let us film there free of charge.

Ali de la Tota.  Nice guy.

The scenes we were to film were the opening scenes.  Because they're the first thing the audience will see, it's really important that they look good.

I, of course, had written the scenes to have a combined total of about 10 actors, with two "centers of interest."  This is complicated.  I have never done anything nearly as complicated before in my life.  You might think that the music and dance documentaries I´ve done, which in some cases involve more people in front of the camera, would be more difficult but in the documentaries, the musicians all stayed in one place, and the dancers, well, they all danced in the area we specified.

AND for the documentaries, we had three cameras.  That meant if one camera angle didn't look good, we had two others to choose from.

The table with domino players--our secondary area of interest.

With the scenes in Peña Chacon, for the most part we only had ONE camera, although by the time we were shooting for the third time, I decided to have us bring in a second camera for parts of the actual game of dominoes.

Adding to the complications, the lighting in the bar area is very poor.  The bar area was where our more important actors had their scenes, and it is dark and very cramped.  It was hard to get the camera in the right place and it was hard to get the lighting correct.

The result was that we had to shoot those scenes THREE TIMES.  Man, was it ever complicated.  Man, did I ever make mistakes.  Man, did I ever learn a lot.

I am now satisfied with what we have.  Sure, it could be better.  If we shot it a fourth time, it might look even nicer...but enough is enough.  It's decent.  It gets its message across.  It looks fine, and in some places, it looks really good.

Just so you'll know.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about some thanks are due to Bar Gitaneria.  (We´ll thank Peña Chacón later, when I have the photos I want.)

Shooting in southern Spain-part 1

Working as an independent filmmaker and shooting a film or video in Spain is not exactly like shooting in the United States.  In the United States, punctuality is considered almost sacred (unless you are a very big star, and even if you are, you STILL have to show up pretty close to shooting time).   And both cast and crew have to STAY on the set until the production day is over.

Plus there is a lot more attention paid to sticking to the script.

Following the clock is not always a priority in Spain.

In Spain, well, time concepts are different.  First of all, in southern Spain (Andalucia), asking someone to show up before 10am is not looked on with favor.  And if you plan to shoot all day, you'd better have lunch brought in or you may lose your actors and crew to "just one more beer."

We generally start our shooting day at 9am.  This sometimes means LOTS of cell phone calls at 9:10am to find out where your missing people are.  But after a while, they do start to get the picture.

Even more disturbing to a director, if an actor or crew member finds that something really important has come up, s/he just might leave before shooting is over, perhaps telling the director the night before or perhaps simply leaving.

An actor and two crew members.

  I have had to tell certain people that in my next production, I will not use X since on one occasion, X walked off the set without a word to me and in addition, X is routinely 15 minutes late for the start of the shooting day.  I don't even want to continue using X for the Domino production, but we're nearly through, other crew members are closely related to X, and X's role isn't all that important so I've been able to eliminate X's role in certain scenes.

Now, improvisation:  in Spain, or at least in Jerez (where that very improvisational art form, flamenco, has so much influence), improvisation is highly respected.  It's considered an element of good art.  Sticking with the script, well, "won't it be fresher and more natural if I just put it in my own words?"

The answer to that one as far as I'm concerned is that improvisation makes the job of the editor much more difficult.  In addition, if you improvise, you run the risk of losing essential ideas that are in the script.  And finally, I wrote the doggone script and I'm proud of it.

At work.  Our fearless director is to the right.

Plus sometimes people call for improvisation because they didn't get around to memorizing their lines.  I remember one occasion when a person who is a professional actor had spent so little time with his lines that we had to do 24 takes of one fairly small scene.  No fun.

But after all is said and done, I DO like some improvisation.  Yes, it CAN make things fresher and I am not the only one who has good ideas.  So I try to listen to suggestions, and to allow improvisation and even build in some places where flexibility will rule.

And I am in the happy position of being surrounded by lots of very, very talented people.  Makes the shooting fun, in spite of occasional frustrations.
 
OUR NEXT BLOG will be about a few more peculiarities of shooting in Spain.

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).

Public greed, public corruption and the crisis--part 2

[This is the second in a two part series.]

So what is the connection between public greed, public corruption and "Domino?"  And what is their connection with the crisis?

To begin with without public greed, public corruption and the misappropriation of funds, we'd have much less of a crisis, and "Domino's" hero would surely have a job.

Why do I say that?  To start off with, back in the "real" world, imagine that all those millions that have disappeared--and here, I'm referring not only to the millions that vanished from the Ciudad de Flamenco project, but the other millions that we can guess have disappeared from other large projects--imagine that they did not vanish, but instead were used for their intended purpose.

Next, imagine that those bloated salaries were brought down to a more reasonable level.  Imagine that public functionaries knew how to do their jobs.

Let's even imagine that political leaders decided not to engage in nepotism and that only those people were hired who were actually needed to run the city (or the region, or the country, or whatever).

Nepotism?  A former mayor had a brother-in-law who raised palm trees.

Well, I think we'd see a huge savings.  I think we'd see much less public debt.  (Public debt for the city of Jerez de la Frontera is now running at more than 6 million Euros, according to the newspapers--and that is a substantial chunk of cash.)

And with those savings, just imagine where we'd be.   Not only would the city not be in debt but...

A news article recently reported that 790 FAMILIES would no longer be getting public assistance.  These are families where no one is able to get a job.  They're victims of the high unemployment level (which runs between 22% and 50%, depending on the source you use).

That number of FAMILIES, here in a country in which divorce is very uncommon and the typical family has between 2 and 6 kids, means around 4,000 and 6,000 PEOPLE. With the savings realized by magically eliminating public greed, surely those people would get their public assistance.  The family head(s) might even be able to get a job and move OFF of public assistance.

The unfortunate Ciudad de Flamenco would probably still be under construction.

The Teatro Villamarta--the main theater of Jerez de la Frontera

The city would be paying its bills.  Right now, the city is in arrears on paying for garbage collection, paying for the electricity for street lights, and paying the artists who put on productions in the city's main theater.  That theater hosts the opera and other major public performances.  It also hosts the annual, world-famous  International Flamenco Festival which brings the city many, many millions of Euros from tourists.

In a word, if we used our magic wand and eliminated public greed, we'd be awfully near utopia.

NEXT POST:  Why Jerez de la Frontera?