|
||||
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||
|
+
April 2005 Special
Feature Roberto Zamora has worked with Rosa Montoya, Teo Morca, Cruz Luna, Omayra Amaya, Chuscales, Joaquín Encinias, La Tania, Manuel & Antonio de la Malena, Jesús Montoya and Antonio de Jerez, and is an active member of Yaelisa's Caminos Flamencos. He teaches private classes in flamenco cante, palmas, and dance accompaniment and has a unique ability to help students understand the interrelationship of palmas, guitar and cante por bulerías.
|
Special Double Feature JUAN
DEL GASTOR
Un Homenaje, Classes and Workshops
Juan
Gomez Amaya was born in 1947 in Morón de la Frontera (Sevilla)
into one of the most revered dynasties of gypsy flamenco. The dynasty
was founded by his uncle the now mythic guitarrist Diego del Gastor.
+ + +
"ENTRE
AMIGOS" An evening of Flamenco Music & Dance based on original paintings by ROBERTO ZAMORA Featuring a cast of flamenco dancers and musicians including Roberto Zamora, Yaelisa, La Monica, Melissa Cruz, La Nina, Jason McGuire, and Keni "el Lebrijano". SATURDAY,
APRIL 23rd, 8pm |
||||||||||
|
ROBERTO TELLS HIS STORY: Where
shall I begin the story of my personal flamenco adventure, which has helped
to form and shape who I am? Because my father was Bolivian Indian, I feel
that my flamenco spirit grew out of my father's emotional and spiritual
legacy. The emotional volcanoes he carried inside never found an outlet,
and this resulted in a very turbulent and scarred family upbringing for
me.
From
the time I was a young boy I felt a strong need for musical self-expression
and I began performing when I was around 9 years old. I did doo-wop in
the late 50s and later I took up the electric guitar and played in various
rock bands in the Bay Area in the 60s. Fortunately around that time José Greco brought El Farruco and his son on tour to the US, which was one of my first exposures to what I think of as "real" flamenco. Being a singer, I immediately tried to imitate the sounds I was hearing as they resonated deep inside my psyche. Concurrently I also began dance classes with two artists who were teaching group classes in the Bay Area, Miguel Santos and Rosa Montoya. Rosa Montoya took me under her wing after my first return from Spain and I had the honor to work with her for many years. I also met La Monica (she was only 8 or 9 at the time!) and she and I have gone on to work together frequently since then It was also in the early 70s that I met the guitarist Gary Hayes, a.k.a. Gerardo Alcalá, who I have been friends with ever since. Gary had already been exposed to more flamenco than I and I shall always be indebted to him for introducing me to what flamenco for me is all about. He loaned me the Pohren books "The Art of Flamenco" and "Lives and Legends of Flamenco". He also loaned me the hard-to-come-by LP, "Canta Jerez" which transformed my perceptions with its profound earthy "flamenco gitano" and with the photos it had on the back of the gitanos de Jerez in a "juerga". Listening to this recording, I immediately realized that this was what flamenco for me was about, not the elaborate stage shows I had until that time been exposed to. Just by the photos alone I knew I had to go to the south of Spain to find flamenco. Before I went to Spain, I had also seen Isa Mura (Yaelisa's mother) at the Old Spaghetti Factory and was impressed and touched by her emotion and intensity. Judy Jones, former wife of David Jones, a.k.a., David Serva, also became a close friend. We would spend countless hours listening to Antonio Mairenas's "Gran Historia del Cante Flamenco Andaluz" and the La Fernanda & Bernarda LPs, attempting to understand all the letras being sung, segments of which, even after hours and days, we just couldn’t get. It certainly wasn't like nowadays when the recordings are crystal clear and hardly a CD comes out without all the "letras" being printed out. Through Gary I also met Eloisa Vasquez and Kyle Ickes and together we formed a little group. We'd carry around a plywood board and set up on the U.C. Berkeley campus, Ghirardelli Square, and various street fairs and dance and play in the hot sun for whatever we could collect in my Cordobés hat.
It was also in the early 70s that I met the guitarist Gary Hayes, a.k.a. Gerardo Alcalá, who I have been friends with ever since. Gary had already been exposed to more flamenco than I and I shall always be indebted to him for introducing me to what flamenco for me is all about. He loaned me the Pohren books "The Art of Flamenco" and "Lives and Legends of Flamenco". He also loaned me the hard-to-come-by LP, "Canta Jerez" which transformed my perceptions with its profound earthy "flamenco gitano" and with the photos it had on the back of the gitanos de Jerez in a "juerga". Listening to this recording, I immediately realized that this was what flamenco for me was about, not the elaborate stage shows I had until that time been exposed to. Just by the photos alone I knew I had to go to the south of Spain to find flamenco. Before I went to Spain, I had also seen Isa Mura (Yaelisa's mother) at the Old Spaghetti Factory and was impressed and touched by her emotion and intensity. Judy Jones, former wife of David Jones, a.k.a., David Serva, also became a close friend. We would spend countless hours listening to Antonio Mairenas's "Gran Historia del Cante Flamenco Andaluz" and the La Fernanda & Bernarda LPs, attempting to understand all the letras being sung, segments of which, even after hours and days, we just couldn’t get. It certainly wasn't like nowadays when the recordings are crystal clear and hardly a CD comes out without all the "letras" being printed out. Through Gary I also met Eloisa Vasquez and Kyle Ickes and together we formed a little group. We'd carry around a plywood board and set up on the U.C. Berkeley campus, Ghirardelli Square, and various street fairs and dance and play in the hot sun for whatever we could collect in my Cordobés hat.
So, before long, I sold all my electric guitar equipment and my car and went to Franco's Spain. I only planned to spend three months but ended up staying almost two years. On the day my return flight was scheduled, I was standing by my window facing calle Joaquín Costa and I decided that my soul belonged in Andalucía and that I couldn’t leave. Spain at that time was really different. Flamenco was more or less underground. Sure you could go to a tablao. But the kind of flamenco I wanted to experience happened in private fiestas among the gypsy families. Fortunately, by a combination of how I looked and the people I knew, I gained entry into quite a few of these fiestas. I was lucky. One of the first images in my mind was a fiesta in Morón de la Frontera with Miguel "el Funi", La Fernanda and La Bernarda, Pepa de Utrera and Paco and Juan del Gastor.
During
this time, I was also fortunate to have known and studied with Pepe Ríos,
brother of Agustín Ríos, a family who came from Morón
de la Frontera. He had a tiny, very "gracioso" studio, covered
with photos of himself performing with flamenco greats. I was fortunate
to see Pepe Ríos sing and dance in fiestas, and his naturalness
and inventiveness always amazed me. He, like his brother Agustín,
was extremely knowledgeable about the cante, having heard it from the
time they were in the womb.
I
also became friends with the family of La Tania who at the time was about
12 or so. They took me into their home and made me part of the family.
Through them I met Anzonini del Puerto and Isidro Vargas, a bailaor gitano,
brother of the famous Angelita Vargas and uncle of El Potito. Also, through
Julia, Tania's mother, I met and took lessons with Rafael "el Negro"
and Matilde Corral when their studio was still out by the Macarena. Since
Tania's family had been in Spain for so long, I met many artists through
them and lived some of the most magical times of my life with them.
As
luck would have it, shortly after my return in 1975 I got hired by Richard
Whalen at the legendary Spaghetti Factory and there began my now 30-plus-year
career as a flamenco singer/dancer. We worked weekends for a flexible
wage, depending on the size of the audience, and at times supplemented
by Richard out of his generosity. Many people came through the Spaghetti
Factory --it was the meeting place for anyone interested in flamenco--
and I was able to do it because I lived on almost nothing, had free rent
at my friend's shop/warehouse, and didn't care about tomorrow. I became
close friends with Isa Mura, and we worked together often and were bound
by our mutual love of the style of flamenco we instinctively shared. Through
my relationship with Isa, I met Yaelisa who became like family and we
also developed a strong working relationship.
In the 70s another phenomenon happened that had an immeasurable influence on me as a flamenco dancer and singer and on the Bay Area as a whole. We had the great fortune that Agustin Rios de Morón de la Frontera and also Anzonini del Puerto came here to live. Anzonini was only here for a few years but Agustín has remained here since then. They both were immense influences in me as an artist and as a person. Agustín, even though we're the same age, became like an older brother to me and we were inseparable for years. Anzonini became my uncle. I became the palmista for both of them, spending countless hours, and in the instance of Agustín, years by his side and having the privilege to live and breath his often profound flamenco singing and guitar playing.
In
subsequent and extended stays in Spain, Juan del Gastor also became like
an older brother to me. We became inseparable, spending many wonderful
and magical times together over the years. On two occasions we worked
and lived together on the southern coast of Spain during the unbearably
hot summers. They called me "el indio" because of my father.
Another
profound influence on my life was La Fernanda because of her acceptance
of me and her warmth and encouragement. La Fernanda will always be in
my mind like a flamenco boddhisatva. To be in her presence was always
a blessing, aside from her profound cante.
A
great part of my flamenco education came not from classes, but from my
friendships with los gitanos flamencos, having had the privilege and good
fortune to live part of my life with them sharing the way they talk, drink,
smoke, eat and live their lives. I was able to absorb the nuances of gesture
and day-to-day living which all becomes a part of their arte.
|
|||||||||||
|
+ + + SF
FLAMENCO.com(munity) |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
