In 2015,
the Vital Record proprietor
David Aglow and sound engineer
Bradford Reed traveled to Spain armed with recording apparatus to seek the folk origins of flamenco. The genre remains popular globally, but its modern forms are smoother, less connected to folk tradition. They went to the Bay of Cadiz on Spain's southwest coastline, specifically to San Fernando (also known as La Isla), a region with few tourists but home to the Ciudad Flamenca Festival that lasts 42 days and nights. San Fernando is regarded by true flamenco fans as the cuna del cante ("the cradle of song)" because it's the birthplace of the greatest flmenco cantaor,
Camaron de la Isla. The duo recorded 50 selections seeking to capture traditional flamenco live and direct. Upon their return, they teamed up with
Dust-to-Digital and assembled
Bolinus Brandaris: Flamenco from the Bay of Cadiz.
The package contains a disc with seven impeccable field recordings by regional singers and guitarists, and an illustrated, 96-page hardbound book that offers a history of the region, biographies and interviews with artists, lyric translations, a knowledgeable liner essay about the complex origins and traditions of flamenco, and a useful glossary delivering an introduction to the music. (The authors note it's impossible to describe this music and its experience adequately in linguistic terms.) The music focuses on singers, guitarists, and palmas (handclaps), not dance.
"Alegria" is titled for the song form. It's a palo (style) performed by
Trini de la Isla (voice, palmas), son
Juani de la Isla (guitar), and
Jesus Castilla (palmas). Recorded live in a 19th century home, listeners are greeted by syncopated palmas and acoustic guitar as
Trini offers a gritty, joyful account of his gratitude for having been born in San Fernando. "Malaguena," by singer
Ana Polanco (possessed of an amazing, gritty, emotionally resonant voice) and guitarist
Victor Rosa, is a stellar example of a cante libre, a palo without compas (fixed rhythm). Its two verses are non sequiturs that offer tense, dark emotion, touching on the spirit of duende that emerges from the very best flamenco. "Seguiriya" was recorded live by
Pedrin de la Isla with
Rosa on guitar. The sequiriya is one of the most difficult palos to perform. It's slower, with a mercurial, laconic rhythm. Its lyrics are searing, poignant, and emotionally devastating. "Buleria" is a sad love song rendered passionately by
Trini de la Isla and
Jesus Castilla with guitarist
Juani de la Isla. The beauty in it, and in "Malaguena," is the plainly audible Moorish modal roots that frame a droning melody using a moaned expression and phrasing. "Solea," by
Jesus Castilla and
Juani de la Isla, is offered deliberately and dramatically with dazzling interplay between singer and guitarist, while the closing "Saeta" is a palo seco, a difficult sacred song form performed by
El Ninos del Parque a cappella. As if all this weren't enough, the
Dust-to-Digital website has bonus tracks, lyrics, and source information.
Bolinus Brandaris is the most important collection of present-day traditional flamenco to appear in decades. ~ Thom Jurek
![Rodrigo y Gabriela [Deluxe Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0880882292829_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Rodrigo y Gabriela [Deluxe Edition]")
