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| Some things regarding “authentic” - these are spoken as truths but obviously come in degrees, |
There’s no such thing as a passive audience. It’s comprised of brothers, mothers, sisters - those who clap, knuckles and box drum.
The most admired singers have hoarse voices, that at moments sound strangled by violence of emotion.
a ballet dancer will spin around gracefully and come to a graceful stop. A flamenco dancer will spin around at a violent speed and come to a stop so suddenly it astonishes
“If you don’t believe in god, go down on your knees and put your hands in the position to pray, and faith will come” - What is being said is if you adopt the physical signs of pain, it helps conjure up the force of feeling
I was doing a personal project of learning different flamenco palos through self teaching (to my deteriment, but by necessity). Putting together some thoughts here. Unhappy with how the text came out but whatever. If anything sick what I write and do check out the videos at the end, and the document (which is far more comprehensive than anything I write regarding the topic itself).
Main points: The face of musician duende in folklore possession
When I was sick I was reading a bit and thinking on it. Just thinking in terms of my “flamenco” performance as it stands. I’m sending some info here I thought was interesting to hear your thoughts. Don’t have enough time for a more comprehensive look.
One thing that’s common with musicians, particularly vocalists but guitarists as well, is performance face. With a singer it’s understandable because the voice comes from the face (yeah, lungs/mind and other parts but the face communicates the most externally the process, mouth shape, eyes). There is a quote I came upon a few times here, “‘The duende is not in the throat: the duende surges up, inside, from the soles of the feet.” I take this to mean that this “duende” (to be elaborated) is more of a mysterious, full, felt process and not just a product (the face).
What I noticed about my performance compared to the songs that I was learning was that there was none of this, just focus on the instrument. Partially, because I feel if I were expressing anything it would feel inauthentic. I’m also performing to an audience of about zero. But still I was wondering what was going on because the performances that I was emulating the songs for that resonated with me had somewhat inscrutable emotions that were culturally jarring. I could not avoid the faces and the movement outside of the guitar.
(I can see some overlap with “Critical Mass” at output with this. The subtle taps that become full body movements)
But reading more about the history of flamenco, there’s so much oppression of marginalized groups and particularly I viewed concerts or live performances at their best as a kind of collective emotion release. And extrapolating that as a function of live music in general. A whole book worth of dance meaning, and mixed origins etc.
I did look into this phenomenon of “faces” when performing a bit more. One subject was saying (if he’s to be believed), was that the faces are almost like a kind of emotional “tuning” that is occurring, as if its this dynamic requirement for emotion. I find this even more interesting for guitar(toque in fla)/dance(baile in fla) than cante (you know, 3 parts of fla) because when singing the face must be mapped to the instrument, because it is part of the instrument directly. It makes you wonder if a face can be detected in an audio only recording of a guitarist (like in the way you can hear a smile at times). A kind of emotional or even physical paralysis that would make a song impossible to sing, or produce a different improvization.
In middle school and high school probably one of my most influential bands were “At The Drive-In”. Their live shows were basically chaos and definitely had salsa-punk vibes. I recall hearing their guitarist hated guitar so he would find any way possible to abuse it and improperly use it, later embracing effect pedals.
When trying for Bulerías it was initially very difficult for me. I won’t delude myself to thinking any level of mastery but I have ingrained the Compás, (generally 12 beats, starting on 12 accents on 3,6(or7),8,10 and 12 with a flourish on 10). That Andalusian Cadence (the characteristic chord progression you picked up on) also provides the “flavor”. Bulerías is great because it has that split of the beat, almost like a polyrhythm where it trips you up unexpectantly and never quite reaches where it is going, always pushing forward.
I always try to find a folklore thread, and did here with aforementioned Duende. What got me wondering with these faces, and I haven’t looked it up yet, but there must be a connection between “guitar” faces and this idea of possession, or selling your soul to the devil (etc blues). Just thinking of the contorted faces and the music’s ability to drive an individual into grouped motion. I wonder if there is a connection there.
I’m going to give three examples here that are really fantastic and younger performers. I hope these illustrate the thread I was following when I was thinking this. Also including this amazingly comprehensive academic document.
Also it goes into this authenticity line of thinking.
According to the RAE dictionary (1956!) The “duende” in Andalusia is a “mysterious and ineffable charm”, a charisma that the Gitanos call duende. Federico García Lorca, in his lecture Teoría y juego del duende confirms this ineffability of the duende by defining it with the following words from Goethe: “Mysterious power that everyone feels and that no philosopher explains”. In the flamenco imaginary, the duende goes beyond technique and inspiration, in Lorca’s words “To search for the duende there is no map or exercise”. When a flamenco artist experiences the arrival of this mysterious charm, the expressions “have duende” or sing, play or dance “with duende” are used.
(I think this duende could be linked with shadow without much a stretch. Duende is a part of folklore, like an imp. “mischievous spirit inhabiting a dwelling”, duen en casa - wondering if the controversial house elf from HP linked here, linked from previous english elf lore)
This performance is very interesting. Siguiriya, one of the palos dealing with love, loss, sickness, dying, lamentations. It was interesting to me because of the emotions on the faces of the performance, which I found kind of inscruitable. It’s an amazing song and I am trying to learn it right now.
https://youtu.be/SS7RI06e5D0?list=RDMMSS7RI06e5D0&t=225
https://youtu.be/lg7-kQ6dKVs?list=PLYjsIkFJbrxsJIyfvxsLv2Jp0dbBvM2cw&t=704
Next is Claudia “La Debla”, watch her face here. Almost reminds me of Kabuki Theatre. My first performance I saw of her was here (kid performan)
this is the face, shadow hand passing over and transform (like kabuki) https://youtu.be/lg7-kQ6dKVs?list=PLYjsIkFJbrxsJIyfvxsLv2Jp0dbBvM2cw&t=704 This segment as well https://youtu.be/lg7-kQ6dKVs?list=PLYjsIkFJbrxsJIyfvxsLv2Jp0dbBvM2cw&t=599
https://youtu.be/HjV-S-v4KIg?list=PL-2EVVQRT1upNmMZ8a9O_qCfGDjMblMG8&t=3
buleria https://youtu.be/NqaZWwf5KGY?t=300
Flamenco and Its Gitanos An Investigation of the Paradox of Andalusia: History, Politics and Dance Art https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=thea_etds
Deep Blues / Flamenco Jondo Blues and Flamenco sprang from suffering and discrimination of their people. When trying to define the “real thing” in both musics, the words “deep” and “jondo” are used which have the same meaning.
“Soul” and “Duende”. Blues and Flamenco are both expressions of a community that has been isolated socially and geographically from their natural environment, and that musically expresses the cultural memory of a collective past. There is frequently a single voice, a monodic chant who is drawn over a poetic structure; they recite verses, they are a sort of a literay vehicle, a musical representation of poetry. The individual is a reflection of society itself. In both cases, the composition has an unplanned or spontaneous order: there is no formality, the lyrics are not written nor reflected on any paper. They just sing or howl by memory, basing their interpretation on their own experiences.
Blues And Flamenco - An intermusical approach Essays on Art, Race Politics and World Affairs by Langston Hughes Flamenco is to Spain, I suppose, what blues are to America - I mean the real Negro folk blues. And the flamencos seem to have the same effect on their audience as blues do when sung in the Negro theaters of the deep South. People yell and cry out and stamp their feet. Flamencos are the kind of Spanish songs that make folks shout, “Ole!” The Flamencos are like the blues in that they are sad songs, with a triumphant sadness, a vital earthiness about them from which like itself springs.