The inheritor of insurgent singing | Talent on board | EUROtoday

In a hallway of the Albéniz theater in Madrid there’s a enormous portray of Enrique Morente together with his eyes closed and his mouth in a singing expression. In this place he confirmed the primary touches of the album Omega in 1996, which marked a revolution in flamenco as a result of it blew up the boundaries with rock. The artist set the poet Federico García Lorca to music and took the I complain Leonard Cohen's melody. Despite its tendency to stray from orthodoxy, the live performance remained in concord earlier than a stall filled with flamenco lovers. But every little thing was revolutionized when, within the encores, got here the half that they baptized as “the monster”, the power and distortion of the rock-punk group Lagartija Nick. “They were going to kill us; It took us several hours to get out of the dressing rooms,” he recalled on one event. Antonio Arias, chief of the band, from that assembly. Some shouted at them: “Get out, you scoundrel, you're laughing at us!”; others applauded him with a “bravo!” Morente was clear, it was essential to trouble “a little bit,” as he acknowledged in an interview: “Either we all play, or we break the deck.”

27 years have handed and his little son, José Enrique Morente Carbonell, Kiki Morente can be going to current his third album on the Albéniz, Jet, which can be launched in October 2024. The artist will meet the demanding public on June 18, however this spring afternoon he stands subsequent to the snapshot of his father – who died in 2010 – and strikes his palms to mimic his gesture. He appears defiantly on the photographer, however is interrupted by teams of vacationers (after years of unuse and boarding up, the theater reopened in 2022, additionally transformed right into a resort). The creative environment is damaged by the hustle and bustle of outsiders who don’t cease to inquire about who this 34-year-old man from Granada is or to know that the person within the picture was portrayed simply when he turned a fable.

Ask. When he sees a picture of his father, does he have a tough time distinguishing between the reminiscence of him as a son and the concept of ​​the legend?

Answer. Many instances I don't know whether or not to consider my father or take into consideration my accomplice, the artist, my reference; I attempt to unify every little thing. When he was alive he was very completely different naturally. I bear in mind going to work with him and on stage I might generally take heed to him, have a look at him and for me he was somebody I admired. My father disappeared at the moment. Then we acquired residence and it was my father once more.

Q. What was your house surroundings like as a toddler? What did it sound like?

R. My sister Estrella listened to La Niña de los Peines and Alejandro Sanz all day in her room. Look what a mixture! My Soleá listened to Laura Pasini and Ketama; my father, in any respect prices; my mom, singing within the kitchen… We additionally acquired collectively. I bear in mind all the training that my mom and father gave to Estrella, seeing them sing collectively…

Q. Have you ever mentioned that in the event you weren't a singer you wouldn't thoughts being a shoemaker…

R. It's a little bit of a joke, however the fact is that it catches my consideration, for instance, what a bakery is, a job that smells early, like a neighborhood, like to run, of a sure stability. Then I might miss this.

Q. Your father signed up with you for the conservatory so that you just wouldn't miss out. Can you be a flamenco thug or do you must apply your self?

R. I needed to go to the conservatory every single day after class for 4 hours. And, the reality is, there got here a time when my legs have been going too quick and I went out with my buddies. Once my father caught me and informed me that he had left the trainer ready; That's when he signed up with me. He made me offended, ashamed, typical of a 12-year-old little one! … I mentioned: “Dad, go home. There are no children your age in the class!” You need to be along with your colleagues and your father, there, within the center. It was an odd state of affairs that I can't cease remembering, particularly due to what it made me study. He would come residence and he would educate me the lesson that the trainer had given me. After a lot effort and what he achieved, he continued studying. When you see folks of that scale giving every little thing to study, it makes you need to study too.

Q. Your first work, 'Albaycín' (2017), was devoted to your neighborhood. How do you clarify Granada to those that will not be from there?

R. The fact is that I’m in love with my land greater than ever. Granada is my air, my oxygen, my headquarters and my folks. I’ve all my life there, all my blood, all my childhood… I owe rather a lot to Granada, it has made me very completely happy. The live performance the opposite day on the Manuel de Falla was brutal [presentó Azabache el 13 de abril en este auditorio granadino con un lleno absoluto, pero solo ha publicado su primer single, Alegrías de Cádiz]. It has been one other step in my profession. I used to be surrounded by my household and making the music that I like probably the most. We are launching a really onerous work with many individuals concerned behind it. I used to be far more nervous than traditional, and I beloved that. Well, after which we went on a drunken spree, in fact.

Q. And the disgrace? Is it embarrassing on stage?

R. I believe so; in artwork, nothing extra. Otherwise I'm a scoundrel. [Se ríe] My father got here to see me sing secretly. I informed him: “Don't even think about it,” and he responded: “Enrique, are you stupid? What's the matter?”. Then, while he was singing, I saw him there and, honestly, I was very embarrassed. I have a lot of respect for singing, for music in general. After all, it depends a lot on the state you are in, it is very vital. Many times they ask me to sing and I answer no. I'm too delicate for that.

Q. You have announced that your album 'Azabache' will be “fun.” Is flamenco?

R. Flamenco is a palette of colors. It has humor, it has joy, it has sadness, it has anger, it has pain, it has happiness… Everything happens. What happens is that the orthodox song, the ancient song, the song for seguiriyas, is a song of pain. It is a moment in which music gets inside you. I want young people to come and listen to flamenco, and you can't sit down a fifteen-year-old who has never been interested in it and give him eight songs alone with guitar because he'll fall asleep and you'll kill him. Things have to happen, right?

Q. What is special about presenting your album at the Albéniz theater in Madrid?

A. Apart from being one of the most beautiful theaters, it is what it means and who has passed through here. My father had a special affection for this theater and I have memories from a very young age, backstage, of running around here and listening to concerts. My father debuted in it with Omega, and I remember later going to the bar across the street with the whole family for dinner. The atmosphere grows on you and you learn many other things, not just in front of the microphone. I have experienced that here, at the door of the Albéniz theater.

Q. You say that “singing is delicate, it has to be fresh, like shrimp.” How is it achieved?

R. Listening a lot, both to the old and the young; trying to contribute my style to each one, not just do what I have learned. It has to be fresh, like fish, frozen food is not worth it. We have to give it a little courage, we don't have to be cowed. I don't want labels, nor do I want people's judgments. I like the public and the fans when they contribute to you and give you an olé.

Q. Would you prefer to collaborate with artists of different types?

R. Yes, there are just a few surprises on the market. After this album I’ll go all out. We will dare to have a very good time and do every little thing.

Q. Can you give me some names?

R. With Ajax and Prok, who’re my buddies, my brothers; with La Plazuela and with Leo Rizzi, folks I actually like.

Q. Would your mother and father have allow you to, for instance, be a lure singer?

R. Of course. My father, wherever he’s, would have beloved for me to dedicate myself to any music. He mentioned that there isn’t any dangerous factor, and as an artist I believe so too. Another factor is that it’s effectively made. And I like all genres. At residence we’ve got all the time had the liberty to do what every of us wished, each with music and outdoors of it… Each of my sisters [Estrella y Soleá Morente, las dos cantantes] He has his type, and someday I’ll do reggaeton.

Q. Your mom, the dancer Aurora Carbonell, mentioned: “In Granada I saw the most beautiful sunrise of my life, when I discovered that reddish Alhambra with my love in my lap [Enrique Morente]. I have never been able to move from there again, I have been in Granada for 35 years and no one moves me anymore.” Where are they not shifting you from?

R. My mom tells me that lovely story and generally I believe she is kidding me. How tough it’s to get a love like that! Apart from being from Granada, I’ve that story, that magnifying glass in the case of seeing my metropolis, I all the time have a look at it that means. I need to die in Granada and, if not, from Madrid to heaven.

The expertise of orthodox flamenco…

“Jetmy new album, will be one hundred percent flamenco”, says Kiki Morente of her work. It was additionally the primary one, Albayzín (2017), the place he collaborated with famend artists such because the guitarist brothers Pepe and Juan Habichuela.

…and the expertise of the avant-garde artist

Morente likes to play with modernity, and that was what he tried on his earlier album, The singingfrom 2021: “I wanted to investigate the sounds that are popular now, with reflections of ragpickers, psychedelic…”.