I recently found out there are two different words used for the music performed by cantaores (flamenco singers) and tocaores (flamenco guitarists): flamenco and flamenquito, too. I was intrigued at first, but then I talked to some friends and did a little thinking. It seems I have worked out an understanding of the term "flamenquito". It was obviously clear to me from the very beginning that, as "-ito" is a typical diminutive affix in Spanish, it should be something considered to be of minor importance, of far lesser value or priority to the audience than Andalusian folk song, flamenco. I must say it's taken as not an ambitious genre, but loved nevertheless. You could define it in terms of folk pop, folk rock, folk metal, folk punk, folk rap, folk reggae, folk fusion, or whatever folk-inclined music you can think of, but it has to answer to some characteristics. It has to have at least one of the following features: el cante (singing), el toque (guitar playing), los jaleos (shouts of encouragement), los pitos (finger snapping), las palmas (rhythmic hand clapping) or playing a wooden box drum, the cajón.
Now, the singing must be done or refrained by hoarse-sounding flamenco voice, with metallic echoes. Then again, you can perform All My Loving without any changes of any kind if you take care of bringing in handclaps after every phrase to make it a flamenquito. Just that simple! Or not. Anyhow, this would be best explained by an example. Let's take Frankie Valli's 1967 single Can't take my eyes off you covered by the hearty Seville-born singer Alba Molina, daughter of Lole and Manuel, an Andalusian musical duo that has performed flamenquito music since 1972 (listen to Tu mirá from the Kill Bill 2 soundtrack to get an idea of their work). Here they are, the mentioned and some other examples of Alba Molina's style:
From these to my very favourite flamenquito song ever: Bohemian Nights by Navajita Plateá from Jerez de la Frontera; though I wouldn't say that its authors in their attempts to create music were an out-and-out brilliance, but in songwriting as everywhere else, sometimes just one work is more than enough. Take a look for yourselves: click here for a beautiful piece brought to the stage with Ozzy Osbourne look (who knows why on earth) or watch the videos below:
Let's continue our tour with music by Maíta Vende Cá, a group from San Fernando (Cádiz) led by the singer Antonio Caña:
It'll do: cajón technique by Guillermo García. Image taken from todocajon.com
Now, the singing must be done or refrained by hoarse-sounding flamenco voice, with metallic echoes. Then again, you can perform All My Loving without any changes of any kind if you take care of bringing in handclaps after every phrase to make it a flamenquito. Just that simple! Or not. Anyhow, this would be best explained by an example. Let's take Frankie Valli's 1967 single Can't take my eyes off you covered by the hearty Seville-born singer Alba Molina, daughter of Lole and Manuel, an Andalusian musical duo that has performed flamenquito music since 1972 (listen to Tu mirá from the Kill Bill 2 soundtrack to get an idea of their work). Here they are, the mentioned and some other examples of Alba Molina's style:
From these to my very favourite flamenquito song ever: Bohemian Nights by Navajita Plateá from Jerez de la Frontera; though I wouldn't say that its authors in their attempts to create music were an out-and-out brilliance, but in songwriting as everywhere else, sometimes just one work is more than enough. Take a look for yourselves: click here for a beautiful piece brought to the stage with Ozzy Osbourne look (who knows why on earth) or watch the videos below:
And a popular female voice from the same place, San Fernando (Cádiz), Niña Pastori:
Not to mention, Estrella Morente from Granada. Of course, we could no way call all her work a flamenquito, for the pureness it expresses. She has worked with noted tocaores (flamenco guitarists) Juan Habichuela and Pepe Habichuela performing Cante Jondo as well, singing por Bulerías, Tangos, Siguiriyas and Soleares. But she has made some less pretentious music, too:
To go further, why not face our eyes to the direction of Málaga, since there's an all awesome electronic flamenco band Chambao:
What else? You could also listen to Fiesta por Tangos and Fiesta por Bulerías by Samara Vargas, a young singer from Tomares (Sevilla), or watch these videos:
I would even present to you Los Aslándticos, a fusion group from Córdoba, for I think there's some flamenquito vibe to their style, and I haven't probably gone too far with it, as they have themselves said on a TV programme A Solas that they don't care how they are defined. Here they are for you:
