Tomatito
Fernandez Torres "Tomatito", born in Almería in 1958, one of the best-known performers of the "toque gitano" today. His style is rhythmic and elegant, and characterized above all by his absolute mastery of the compás. A guitarist without "compás" may play his own music which may have some flamenco characteristics, but it will never be genuine. Over and above his technical ability, his inspiration and imagination, a guitarist is of no interest to the "aficionados" if he loses control of the "compás". Tomatito not only has an innate sense of rhythm but the compás is engraved on his subconscious with the result that he plays it without having to think twice. And, paradoxically, those "toques" where he is most at home - the "bulería", the flamenco "tangos" or the "bulería por soleá" - are precisely the most demanding for "tocaores" and "cantaores" alike. To see him, the "Pope of the bulería" as Juan "Habichuela" once dubbed him, play either in private or at a flamenco meeting, is undoubtedly an unforgettable moment in this music. How can one man have so much flamenco feeling in him, as though he sleeps, breathes and eats the "compás?" It is hardly surprising that his guitar has adapted so well to the people of Cádiz.
Right at the start of his career in the 1980s he formed what was to become the most famous of flamenco duos with Camarón, and then, taking the path prepared for him by Paco de Lucía, performed with accompanists such as Antonio and Juan Carmona (Ketama), Antonio Canales and El Duquenque. He is now surrounded with gypsy artists in his groups who thus represent the more ethnic aspect of group flamenco as initiated by Paco. Tomatito can therefore be seen as the bridge between Paco and Camarón's generation and what the media have incorrectly labelled "New flamenco", or "Young Spanish musicians", such as the jazz artists Alameda and Chano Dominguez.
Although Tomatito has clearly established his career as a solo guitarist and flamenco temple guardian, he remains very much a man, a gypsy of his time.
Spain has been witness to a great number of major events over the past few decades. It is hard to remember that this country, a committed member of the European Union, modernizing fast and with an open view on the world, was but a short while ago a country closed in on itself, a spiritual enclave of unprogressive catholicism. After so much introspection and the repression of free thinking as practiced under the Franco regime, today's flamenco players - like all of Spanish society today - are turning their attention to the music that is taking place beyond their frontiers, be it jazz, blues, rock, pop, rap, electronic, reggae, classic, salsa, bossa-nova, Argentine tango or fado. Music in Spain today, encouraged by an active recording industry and lively music societies is a veritable melting post of all cultures. Without turning his back on his gypsy identity - indeed, more determined than ever to make his own voice heard in the multicultural mosaic of contemporary Spain and Andalusia - Tomatito is swinging open the doors of the temple to admit other forms of music, including, for instance, the Argentine guitarist Luis Salinas and the pianist Michel Carmilo, at the same time giving expression to the lives of third and fourth generation gypsy artists, to their way of life and their feelings - people who feel and live life to the full!
Link 1, (2)and (3)
Right at the start of his career in the 1980s he formed what was to become the most famous of flamenco duos with Camarón, and then, taking the path prepared for him by Paco de Lucía, performed with accompanists such as Antonio and Juan Carmona (Ketama), Antonio Canales and El Duquenque. He is now surrounded with gypsy artists in his groups who thus represent the more ethnic aspect of group flamenco as initiated by Paco. Tomatito can therefore be seen as the bridge between Paco and Camarón's generation and what the media have incorrectly labelled "New flamenco", or "Young Spanish musicians", such as the jazz artists Alameda and Chano Dominguez.
Although Tomatito has clearly established his career as a solo guitarist and flamenco temple guardian, he remains very much a man, a gypsy of his time.
Spain has been witness to a great number of major events over the past few decades. It is hard to remember that this country, a committed member of the European Union, modernizing fast and with an open view on the world, was but a short while ago a country closed in on itself, a spiritual enclave of unprogressive catholicism. After so much introspection and the repression of free thinking as practiced under the Franco regime, today's flamenco players - like all of Spanish society today - are turning their attention to the music that is taking place beyond their frontiers, be it jazz, blues, rock, pop, rap, electronic, reggae, classic, salsa, bossa-nova, Argentine tango or fado. Music in Spain today, encouraged by an active recording industry and lively music societies is a veritable melting post of all cultures. Without turning his back on his gypsy identity - indeed, more determined than ever to make his own voice heard in the multicultural mosaic of contemporary Spain and Andalusia - Tomatito is swinging open the doors of the temple to admit other forms of music, including, for instance, the Argentine guitarist Luis Salinas and the pianist Michel Carmilo, at the same time giving expression to the lives of third and fourth generation gypsy artists, to their way of life and their feelings - people who feel and live life to the full!
Link 1, (2)and (3)
posted by O.marian at 21:55
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