Various Artists - Festival Flamenco Gitano (2015)

in November 1965, the organizers of the “American Folk Blues Festival”, and the “Spiritual and Gospel Festival” followed these two successful events with a third festival dedicated to the oldest and artistically, the richest and liveliest folk-music in Europe: the authentic Spanish Flamenco art. For, although not lacking in popularity, this is less well known in the greater part of Europe than the Blues and Gospel songs. There are several reasons for its comparative obscurity and they call to mind the situation of jazz in America before its “discovery” in Europe: confusion of concepts and standards, mixing with popular fashions in music, cabaret and night club, and the best, wrapping up in a form of Spanish dance theatre, complete with folk costumes and ballet, against whose often high artistic merit there is nothing to be said, except that it is scarcely able to display the true Flamenco art. The desire to open the door to a wider understanding of the Flamenco art and its interpreters, and to make known the music which has inspired so many Spanish composers, led to the resolve to call exclusively upon those who formed this art, and who preserve its essential nature in the closed circles of their own communities: the “Gitanos”, the Spanish Gipsies. Federico García Lorca said of them: “…these people have united the most ancient elements of our country with the oldest they brought with them to Andalusia, and given the definite form to what we call the Cante Jondo. We therefore own to them the creation of this song, the soul of our soul… and the gestures which have become the costume of our race.” The Flamenco festival was so successful, that the proposal to preserve the occasion on gramophone records was readily adopted. The visual element is of course lacking, and indeed, it is the manner in which the dancers convey the rhythm with hands and feet, which makes the Flamenco an unusually “complete” art, integrating poetry, melody, rhythm and dance – almost drama. Nevertheless, the acoustical documentation is very well able to reproduce the diversity of elements, expressive possibilities, and musical forms. The question of which elements went into the art leads back to the earliest European cultures, and the answer lies somewhere in prehistory, just as the origin of the Gitanos. One may surmise not only Moorish, old iberian and hebrew elements, but also Byzantine, Phoenician and hellenic. The rich Andalusian culture absorbed everything that came into it. The only thing which may be said with certainty, however many books may be written on the subject, is that it originated in Spain, and has been known in its present form for about 100 years.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Various Artists - Palmas (1:14)
1.02 - Various Artists - Cantes Gitanos (2:52)
1.03 - Various Artists - Solea (4:40)
1.04 - Various Artists - Solo Guitarra I (4:56)
1.05 - Various Artists - Alegrias (6:28)
1.06 - Various Artists - Fandango Naturales (3:32)
1.07 - Various Artists - Por Fiesta (3:07)
1.08 - Various Artists - La Caña (5:46)
1.09 - Various Artists - Siguiriyas (5:07)
1.10 - Ramon Moreno - Saeta (2:13)
1.11 - Various Artists - Fandangos de Huelva (3:44)
1.12 - Various Artists - Rumba Catalan (3:05)
1.13 - Various Artists - Jaleo (2:32)
1.14 - Various Artists - Por Fiesta (2:54)
1.15 - Various Artists - Tanquillo (5:14)
1.16 - Juan Maya Marote - Solo Guitarra II (4:36)
1.17 - Various Artists - Media Granania (3:16)
1.18 - Various Artists - Rumba Gitana (2:18)
1.19 - Various Artists - Bulerias Rancheros (2:32)
1.20 - Various Artists - Taranto (4:14)
1.21 - Various Artists - Rumba Flamenca (2:09)
1.22 - Various Artists - Cantinas de Cadiz (2:42)
1.23 - Various Artists - Rumba (3:12)
1.24 - Various Artists - Villancico (2:48)