AN INTRODUCTION :
Progressive music always has this kind of goal to renew, reconsider, to blend available sources, and it does this through lots of reconsidering or struggle.
Due to purism but also technical qualities of the flamenco in Spain this music came to be more and more associated with Spain. During the influence that its dictator, General Franco, had on many aspects of society (in the early seventies), music of a more experimental nature was more or less repressed and for sure couldn't cross its borders. Only since the end of the dictatorship (merely since 1978-1979) many of the Spanish groups came out of the underground to play at festivals and began to fuse more Anglo progressive rock influences.
But the struggle and research had a strong basic of flamenco which give the early rock groups a unique character. Most known examples were Triana (from which their first three albums are most recommended by several sources), followed by some other names like Mezquita, Smash, Crack,and so on. One of the first groups who changed flamenco purism was Smash with one of the leading figures to open its possibilities was Gualberto, "who became an expert of sitar, where this Hindu instrument takes the position from the voice of the flamenco singer." The first fusions ever with flamenco didn't came from Spain.
To understand the originsof flamenco rock I translated a lot from the Flamenco Fusion page (in Spanish) which used to be at http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/finisterre/1692/flamencofusion.html
* FLAMENCO FUSION :
An introduction :
"History is controverted, and doors inside of the flamenco bibliography weight too much towards the purism. The custom is that the flamenco writings watch towards the past. The vertigo towards the stranger does not harm the possible horrors of the future, but to the alive reality of the present. Paco de Lucia always has made music of its time. First he was detested - he was not understood -, soon he was tolerated and, finally, he was praised as a genius was - all want to go out in the photo with Alpaca but nobody explains which have been and are the creative contributions of the genius of Algeciras. Until the own Alpaca complaint to be very "poetical interpretative". We are where we are and agrees to distinguish somehow what he is flamenco of which is not it. It is necessary to distinguish between flamenco and music done by flamenco, between non flamenco that is able to make flamenco. At a certain point, there come flamenco people that makes pop and there are jazz players that make pure flamenco."..
"In the last century and means, the flamenco, not as slowly as could seem, have been become richer by incorporating melodies, rates and harmonies of other latitudes. The dawn of the Flamenco fusion is when under American influences, recalling also: rumba, vidalita, guajira, milonga and the Colombian apócrifa of Pepe Marchena. The Bamba, popularized world-wide in key of rock by Ritchie Valens does not stop being zapateado. Flamenco which it has occurred to call generically "Flamenco of fusion " took naturalization when in the second half of the 50's, Miles Davis and Gil Evans became interested in Spanish music. The two first experiences first were the subject "Flamenco Sketches", including in the album "Kind of Blue" (1956) and "Blues for Pablo ", in "Thousands Ahead " (1957)followed by "Sketches of Spain" (1960), a conceptual work."
I don't know if this was the first adaption in jazz. I never liked "Scetches of Spain" with the adaption of a popular melody, more than the recreation of a strong energy, but the later works like Coltrane's "OLÉ" went deeper into more magical roots too. I once heard a recording from 1957 from Charles Mingus from the time of a black period in his life where
he was even thinking of stopping his jazz music and came with his band into a striptease band where a flamenco band was playing, joined the band and this track was recorded. One of my favorite flamenco jazz fusion tracks.This recording was called "Isabel Stabledance" and was recorded in Mexico,but I don't remember on which album."It is clear that the first flamenco fusion of resonance was jazz-flamenco and came from the United States. The origin is not strange. The seed had found ground there. Companies of Spanish dance had acted with regularity in New York during the first third of the twentiest century. Antonio and Rosario, known then like the "Chavalillos Sevillian", were figures as much in Hollywood as in Manhattan. Some of the great figures of the flamenco guitar emigrated to the New Continent too. First in the adventure were Sabicas and Carlos Montoya.
Later Mario Escudero, Mountain Juanito and the indescribable Manitas de Plata would add themselves. They had a bigger discography there than in national territory, which was a reason for them to leave their country. The heterogenous North American public had, then, a direct bonding with the Flamenco, most fascinated by the great musicians.
Leonard Bernstein, composer and North American conductor said :
"the only thing which musically it interests of Spain is the Flamenco".
In its more popular work, the musical comedy "West Side Story " (1957), he added the more attractive "America", which is nothing more than a song based on the compass of bulería..."
-This "America" was later very nice adapted by The Nice (later ELP).-Another fusion came from the first connections between Flamenco and Eastern music :
"This we can find in the music of the Pakistani Aziz Balouch. This philosopher and musician listened to old discs of the Flamenco by Antonio Chacon and Marchena and felt it resembled to the music of their country. For this reason, Balouch went at Spain in 1934, becoming flamenco singer and getting to integrate itself in the very same company of Marchena. With his harmonium, he made recordings accompanying itself by the guitar to demonstrate that the Flamenco one came from the Pakistan. In its music, we found a genuine and pioneering experiment of flamenco fusion that Balouch gave in calling Sufi Hispanic-Pakistani."
"Another historical recording, was made in 1906 by the Mouzino musician, Assafi who makes us wonder once more about thoughts of Balouch, who listened and traced the same music from Antonio Chacon. This inspiration was published on "the Musique Judeo-Arabe Vol. 1.:
Algerie-Maroc" published by the Club of "Disco Arabe", seated in Paris."
There are many more Andalousian fusions made more recently. But this would lead us to another subject and origin which I am not going to discuss here. Some names you can still find in the rest of the article I picked out some translations here above. Some of the more recent names that he mentioned were the Tunesian Anuar Brahem (who assimilated flamenco guitar), the Turkish Levent Yüksel, the Moroccan Chekara, who recorded with the Andalousian Orchestra with for instance the mother of Lole in it, and with Antonio Negra and Enrique Morente, further Lebrijano (a disc which I have myself) who collaborated beautifully with an Arabic Orchestra of Tangier, the group Amalgama, with their album "Encuentro" (or " Encounter ") an album that had a Hindu collaboration of the prestigious Karnataka College of Percussion.
FLAMENCO FUSION IN FUSION MUSIC :
So "The first influence that hit the attention of the people was the Flamenco-Jazz from Miles Davis and Gil Evans at "Sketches of Spain" (1960) which laid most of the later foundations.
But Lionel Hampton had already published a flamenco jazz album with the adaption of castagnettes in the fifties.
After Miles, John Coltrane published "Olé" inspired by the famous popular Andalusian " Vito, Vito ". "
Charles Mingus recorded after his improvisation in 1957 which I mentioned before more flamenco adaptions "like "the bullfigther of Madrid " or "Beautiful nights of Spain". His composition "Mode D-trio and Gropud Dancers" was adapted by Jay Berliner and used therefore in his disc "The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady", a flamenco guitar in free-jazz context.
"Paco de Lucia is also most know for his collaborations with jazz artists."
He would even work with Emerson Lake and Palmer (mentioned before) on a single project. "Carlos Santana, on the contrary, obtains the collaboration of Alpaca in two concerts offered in Spain." "Just a little before, Al DiMeola records a song with called Paco "Dance of the Mediterranean sun" in their second disc "Elegant Gipsy" (1976), in which also John McLaughlin participates. This means for Paco de Lucia his definitive launching. Everything begins with the contribution of Larry Coryell, when it registers in disc "Spaces" (1970) next to Chick Corea and John McLaughlin, serving as detonating as the fusion. Some years later, Chick Corea, enamored with the Flamenco, it incorporates to his group to Al DiMeola, that with the acoustic contribution of its guitar contributes to give flamencoide character to the group of Corea "Return To Forever". In 1979 an encounter between Alpaca, McLaughlin and Coryell took place, and their tour "Three brothers" cross Europe and America was a tremendous success. Paco and Corea have worked and recorded together, and in 1982 they performed in the Dominican Republic, accompanied by the group "Touch Stone". The last collaboration of Corea with Alpaca we found it in the disc "Zyryab" (1990) where the guitarist dedicates "Chick" to the pianist and where both compose the fandangos "Almonte"."
SPAIN :
"In Spain, the first contribution to Flamenco-Jazz was the disc "Flamenco Jazz" recorded in year 1966. This LP was important for followers of this musical style. The songs " Remeber Huelva ", " Snails ", " Little Fandango " and " Touch of silence " are works of unquestionable musical value. The musician Tino Contreras and the composers Benito and Gonzalo Lauret had a great contribution. Another investigator and defender of this musical form was the saxofonist Pedro Iturralde. This disc " Flamenco-Jazz " (1967) was recorded with the collaboration of the habitual guidence of Paco de Lucia, and it is a reflection of the American forms of fusion under neutral subjects chosen by Iturralde. The LP was not published in Spain until 1974 and, by legal problems, it was retired from the market. Iturralde would continue looking for and investigating this wave in several projects: " Flamenco Jazz " with Pepe de Antequera, " Hispavox " in 1967, "Flamenco Jazz II " with Paco de Lucia, and with Paco Cepero "Flamenco Study " CBS (1976)."
"Also the Spanish jazz player, Juan Carlos Calderón introduced the Flamenco in his musical trajectory. With Manolo Sanlúcar, with the group " Brigand " in his album "Juan Carlos Calderón y su Taller de Música" (=" Juan Carlos Calderón and his Factory of Music ") (1974) where he introduces 'pinceladas flamencas' although somewhat decaffeinated. Later, he recorded a concert in the Cultural Center of Villa of Madrid, published in the disc " Soleá " (1978) where he collaborated with Enrique Morente and Goyo Montero, where the flamenco style appeared with greater solemnity and more suitable treatment.
Some curiosities are, for example, the LP recorded by Sabicas with the jazz guitarist Joe Beck in the disc " Rock Encounter" (1970), and in the blues, Missisippi John Hurt who recorded " Spanish Fandango ", what in fact a aguajirado blues was, and on the other hand, another bluessman, called Snooks Eaglin, made a version of the "Malagueña" of Lecuona."
"Special mention receive also diverse names of the Spanish musical panorama that have let the reins of classic jazz to enter themselves in Flamenco like in melodies of their creations. A name that emphasizes among them is the one of Jorge Pardo This musician of Las Ventas (Madrid) is the maximum exponent of the 'soplido jondo', where with his sax and flute he was able to remove duende although he has been denied due to that type of instruments. Jorge Pardo is one of the most dumbfounded and consequent realities of the flamenco fusion, and in addition to his habitual collaboration in the sextet of Paco de Lucía he has several discs in the market, and a multitude of collaborations with big flamenco artists of the present time. With him, we cannot forget the name other exceptional musicians who coming from the jazz have allied themselves in this new musical form of fusion: Rubém Dantas, the precursor of the flamenco origin, Carles Benavent, Jose Antonio Galicia, Joan Albert Amargós, Tino Di Geraldo and his percussion, Tomás San Miguel, Guillermo McGill, Javier Colina with the contrabass and the piano and Chano Domínguez among others."
ORIGINS OF FLAMENCO :
The only thing I heard so far is about the traveling of some Indian people in the direction of Persia, ending in Spain or something, with most clear to recognise the similar origins in Indian dancing styles. Lately however I saw a Korean movie called "SOPYONJE (Seo-Pyon-Jae) (1993)" with a story about a neglected musician who was forced to wander around. He perfectionesed his singing technique of the (usually folk story related expressive theatre style) 'pansori' through transforming his grieve. This technique has been explained in the movie. It's a kind of narrative singing simply accompanied by a handdrum. The similarities in the singing variations compared to flamenco are remarkable, including a 'duende' like energy, at least in this movie. Another Korean movie, based upon the pandori style I saw lately, called "CHUNHYANG" (2000), emphasised more on the theatre-like performance of the story. The way how the public reacts on highpointing elements is also very similar with the "ole" and shouts during a flamenco performance. The rhythm use has also other similarities, making the singing even stronger hanging together.
We should also not forget that there were various empires troughout history where there was an interchange of musicians from each part of that empire, and beyond. The Mongol empire spanned to South-Korea and beyond. Even this one had connections with the Persian empire, which had received a new centre. Musicians always travelled. In music there were not too many bounderies. There were only principles for each country/are, which were gladly mixed.
The guitar in flamenco is said to have its origin by the Mores who were the rulers in Spain for about 800 years. (See details further on).
"The exact origins of Flamenco music are unknown."
"There are only very few written records from past centuries. To investigate its early roots it is necessary to explore the cultural history of Andalusia and the different musical elements in Flamenco which point to its varied origins. "
"Even flamencologists often disagree and have no choice but to rely on guesswork. Often, the only way to form your own opinion is to decide whether to believe more in the works of one author than in those of another. There is no standard theory about Flamenco, only descriptions of different opinions ..."
I personally say : we can guess influences because of historical influences, but we can also see essences in music which have similzarities which can't be denied. In this case I think the Korean angle might have been overlooked, because there never was any record of such influence. However if you notice the tecnhique it is more than a possible influence. It is a similarity. The historical (and some other) facts about how the Spanish guitar was developed or introduced :
about the saying : "The gypsies travelled and [spread] the dance behind them, and the dance [split] into Oriental dance and Flamenco..."
"Sorry to tell you, this part is incorrect. No time to go into detail right now, & I do wish, for the sake of my people that it were true, BUT:
"Flamenco came from the Moors (Moroccans) that ruled Andalucia for about 900 years (specifically from the Houara & Rikza part of the Schikhatt) & Oriental dance comes from North Africa & the Turkic regions of Central Asia...." --Morocco
" The origins of flamenco are one of those hotly debated issues which I don't think anyone can really prove. Certainly it was influenced by moors/eastern dance, native spanish dances (whatever those might have been) and it's greatest proponents were probably the gypsies. They may have even been some cross- influence of flamenco back into Turkish and other Middle Eastern dances. None of this stuff is that clear-cut and proven. Despite all the 'moorish' dance interpretations you will see, there's very litle info on what these actually looked like - there is a 'moorish' style of flamenco dance that hints at what it might have been - it's performed barefoot.
"Certainly there was dance 'happening' from earliest times, but as to documentation for something officially called the cult of "flamenco" that begins very late (early 19th C?) when people started paying attention to and copying what the gypsies were doing in the realm of what came to be called flamenco." --Me'ira
"1) There *are* 2 Gypsy groupings (mainly by language): Rom & Sinte. Gitano (Cale) came about because the Rom in Spain were forcibly prevented from leaving by the various Spanish governments & so, another 'language', Calo, developed: it is Romnes, with some thieves' cant mixed in, with Spanish word endings & grammar. Could give examples, but don't think it would be of general interest....
"2) [In response to a post suggesting ME dance armwork was mostly borrowed from Flameco dance.] In Oriental dance, the arms `frame' the dancer & the movements. Arm movements have always been alot more varied & complex than you indicate &, in point of fact, the arm & hand movements of ballet come from Mideastern/Persian dance, brought back by Crusaders & travellers. (The foot/leg moves of ballet originated in Spanish Basque men's folk dance...). They were just as complex in the '60s as they are now, & did NOT come from Flamenco. Au contraire.
"I know: I was there & was very careful, after the first month or two as an Oriental dancer, to use only movements I'd learned from Mideastern women, in their homes & at their parties.
"3)[In response to a post suggesting there is no connection between Flamenco and ME Dance.] The very word "flamenco" comes from Arabic: fellah al mangu (remember those Moors the very Catholic Ferdie & Isabella would've loved to forget???? Not to mention Torquemada & his Inquisition!) One shouts "Ole", because to shout "Allah" would've lead to being burned to a crisp. Almost 10% of Spanish comes from Arabic: *every* word that begins with "al" - algodon, almoada, alfombra, Alhambra, alba, aceituna, ojala, etc. - not to mention el cid..... Some chauvinistic or uninformed Spaniards would like to think "flamenco", even when it refers to that beautiful dance form, means Flemish or flamingo, because it really burns their buns to acknowledge anything from the Moors. NOT!
"Ever seen *real* Zambra Mora? (as done by La Chunga?) It is done barefoot, with (take a deep breath now) finger cymbals, the blouse/shirt is tied under the bust & the skirt is tight around the hips, then flares out & has a ruffle at the end. The movements are entirely hippy/undulatory..... Could demonstrate, but my computer doesn't have a camera attached (I ain't stupid: I know what I look like in the a.m. & around the house....)
"In Maghrebi Arabic (Morocco), "zambra" means party. In Levantine Arabic, it's "hafla", in Egyptian it's "farrah"...... Zambra Mora: Moorish party. Gitanos were sometimes also called "Moor", because both are "brown" skinned.....
"4) don't know if it is an insecurity on the part of BDs and they are hoping to pick up some "legitimacy" by connecting themselves to flamenco, or what, but Flamenco uses very little that is in BD. (The Spanish Gypsies and my Rom ancestors would be horrified.)
"Wasn't too long ago (as late as the '50s: I was there!), Flamenco wasn't considered a "legit" dance form & it & its performers were very discouraged/discriminated against by the Franco gov't. Carmen Amaya's world-wide popularity & Pilar Lopez's very classy dance co. notwithstanding. Antonio Gades did one hell of alot to turn this image around.
"I have to tell you that I resent the implication in the above "legitimacy" remark. *Oriental* Dance (only proper translation of Raks Sharki) is one of the oldest continuing classical folk forms still in existence today & far older than Flamenco.... Proper recognition is one thing & lack thereof is mainly due to the remains of what was condescending racist misinformation. Legitimacy is another thing entirely. This is, without a doubt, a legitimate art form. (That remark was what "inspired" this response, BTW)
"Just 'cause something's at a Website (Gypsy - which is *not* written/maintained by Gypsies - &/or Flamenco), doesn't make it gospel truth. Alot of my people are really good at & take delight in putting one over on the Gaje by telling b.s. stories re origins, developments, etc. You want to know about Gypsies in the last 2-3 centuries in Europe, read Isabel Fonseca's Bury Me Standing.
"Hope I haven't scared you away: wouldn't want to do that, I'm just really specific about these things 'cause I've been fighting misinformation my entire life, since it often leads to discrimination & persecution (also, unfortunately, been there, as recipient....) I'm a firm believer in checking things out in person, whenever possible..."
"Yours in mutual dance & scholarship,Morocco/Carolina Varga Dinicu"
The Pyrenees Mountains running along the Spanish-French border have throughout history cut Spain off from the mainstream of European culture.
But a Mediterranean coast hundreds of miles long opened the country to influences from cultures not only bordering this sea but beyond it as well.
As a result, Spain’s folk music is completely different from what you’ll find in any other European country.
Flamenco blends influences the earliest of which came from Hindu dances, the threnodies of Greek mourners and the mimes of Imperial Rome.
In the days of the Roman Empire, Andalusian dance was already thriving and achieving a measure of fame. The writings of Pliny, Strabo and Martial mention the dancing girls of Cadiz, who were even then using castanets.
Under Roman rule large numbers of Jews entered Spain. And the chanting of Jewish synagogue services found its way into the local music.
In 711, the Moorish warrior Tarik crossed the narrow strait separating Europe and Africa at the western end of the Mediterranean. He brought with him an army that would conquer all of Spain. Thus began almost 800 years of Arab influence on the culture of Andalusia.
Early in this occupation, as the new culture was beginning to take hold, a renowned Moorish singer named Ziryab settled into Cordoba. The songs he brought with him formed the basis of much Spanish music.
Ziryab accompanied himself on a special lute. Traditionally, the lute has four strings, but he added a fifth. It was this five-stringed lute that evolved in Andalusia as the Spanish guitar.
From high in the minarets of the mosques that sprang up throughout Andalusia, the muezzins would call the faithful to prayer. And their cry, too, colored the local singing.
Finally, the Gypsies began to arrive in Spain during the 15th century. Large numbers settled in Andalusia. They brought intensity to the local music — sentimentality, tragedy.
The Gypsies seem to have consolidated the assorted strains into the flamenco we know today. They cultivated and popularized cante hondo — deep singing. The name refers to the emotional depths reached by its singers.
While its origins are ancient, it was not until after 1700 that flamenco came into its own. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries it flourished, achieving a peak in popularity from about 1875 to 1900. Practically every Andalusian town in the period had its singing cafe. Seville boasted five. With few exceptions, the famed singers and dancers were Gypsies.
The first time Flamenco is reported on in literature is in the "Cartas Marruecas" of Cadalso, in 1774.Between 1765 and 1860, the first Flamenco-schools were created: Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera and Triana (Seville).In this epoch Flamenco dance started to have its firm position in the ballrooms. Early Flamenco seems to have been purely vocal, accompanied only by rhythmical clapping of hands, toque de palmas It was left to dedicated composers, as Julián Arcas, to introduce guitar playing.
During its Golden Age (1869-1910) Flamenco was developed in the epoch's numerous music cafés (cafés cantantes) to its definitive form. Also the more serious forms expressing deep feelings (cante jondo) dates from then.
" Flamenco dance arrived to its climax, being the major attraction for the public of those cafés cantantes. Guitar players featuring the dancers increasingly gained a reputation.
The time from 1910 to 1955 Flamenco singing is marked by the ópera flamenca, with an easier kind of music such as fandangos and cantes de ida y vuelta. The latter clearly showed South American influences.
From 1915 on Flamenco shows were organized and performed all over the world. Anyhow, not everybody was enchanted with that development and intellectuals such as Falla organized 1922 in Granada a contest to promote "authentical" cante jondo.
1955 started a sort of Flamenco Renaissance, the great performer Antonio Mairena being its key figure. Outstanding dancers and soloists soon made their way out of the small tablaos, successors to the early cafés cantantes, to the great theaters and concert houses. It was now that guitar players acquired a great protagonism, and their playing arrived to masterity.
Actual Flamenco frequently shows influences of other kinds of music, as Jazz, Salsa, Bossa Nova, etc.
Also Flamenco dance has changed, specially female dancers try to rather showcase their temperament than artistry. The Flamenco guitar that formerly was just featuring the dancers arrived to be a soloistical art form, great virtuoso Paco de Lucia being the pioneer of that development."
Any remarks of specialists ? Please e-mail me
Other article you can find on http://herso.freeservers.com/is.html :
"Flamenco is a generic term applied the body of music, song and dance normally associated with Andalucian Gypsies . In the broader sense, flamenco is the Andalucian folk art of the poor. The word is also used to describe a flamenco performer or aficionado.
It evolved from a combination of Gypsy and non-Gypsy cultural influences. In the 9th century for example, a musician from Baghdad called Zyryab founded a singing school in Cordoba. He was largely responsible for adding Persian music and poetry to Andalucian culture. Later influences included the Gregorian musical system of the Christians and possibly the liturgical music of the Jews ."
PS. about flamingo / flamenco association. It was said the Flemish persons and gypsies both had a crazy way of having feasts, pretty loud. It has been said the association between both groups somwhere was made, and one group was called after the other, mixing them up into the same category ??.
If one investigates how the Flemish lived in medieval times, in Flanders there seem to have been much more freedom, enjoyment and free time than which is today, and there was time and investment in a social live. We can only guess what kind of music was made there because nothing was really written down, and most of the traditions are forgotton.
If we look at Breugel paintings (Flanders) one sees oud and pipes, crazy singing but one can only guess how this was amongst the people.
In Spain people just mixed up the gypsies and their singing. There might have been one word for both, but then the gypsies would have given a new invented word to distinguish both.
Other article which takes the influences very wide :
"Styles and methods that have come to be presently referred to as “Flamenco” were drawn from many sources, mostly of the lower levels of society, which makes tracing their history an arduous task, for most of the peoples in whom these arts were cultivated were illiterate and left few records. A fairly extensive list of these cultures would include the Gypsies, Spaniards, Jews, Moors (namely the Arabs, Syrians, Berbers, etc.), Moroccans, Egyptians ( the Spanish word for gypsy, “gitano“, actually means “Egyptian“), Persians, Indians Pakistanis, Celts, Visigoths, Vandals, Gauls, and the Greeks. Influences of Oriental music, Gregorian chants, Greek psalms, Mozarabic dirges, Castillian ballads, Jewish laments, Persian melodies, African rhythms, Hindu and Arabic dances, and the music and dance of the Gypsies all culminated in the creation of Flamenco. The word itself is believed to be a mis-pronunciation of the Arabic words “felag” (peasant) and “mengu”(fugitive).
Flamenco was eventually formed around the end of the seventeenth century by the fusion of folk music and dance and the music and dance that Gypsies and other nomadic people created and brought into southern Spain, namely the region of Andalucia in which is located one of the oldest centers of dance, Cadiz, dating back as early as 35,000 - 15,000 B.C. Flamenco was influenced mostly by invaders and settlers of different cultures. They would adopt some of the arts of another culture, modifying and incorporating them into their own."
"The earliest and most primitive Flamenco forms revolved around the song, or cante, and expressed the hardships and toils of life, lost love, death and the like, similar to the early blues developed by African-Americans. As their financial status grew, the Gypsies were able to incorporate more sophisticated instrumentation into their music adding the guitar as a fundamental accompaniment to the cante. This, along with the rhythmic clapping, finger snapping, and shouts of encouragement (jaleo), also evoked a more prominent role of dancers who could use their feet for percussion. Each of these three basic elements, the song (el cante), the dance (el baile), and the guitar (el toque) characterized what we refer to as Flamenco music today and evolved into its own solo art form as well. The dancing began to utilize a flat, hard surface working with gravity to create percussive, complex rhythms, or compas, and the guitar, after gaining confidence in playing falsetas between the breaks of the cante, would develop proficiency as a solo instrument. The cantaor also developed a very rough (rajao) voice due to the limited number of keys the guitar was played in that gives the singing a very organic nature. These arts would be used in combinations including many other techniques and additions that comprised a form and style (palos). There are some thirty to forty different distinct styles today with endless variations, but each has its own compas and associated theme usually characterized as either Jondo (grand(deep) or profound emotions) or Chico(light or joyful emotions). For instance, soleares is derived from the Spanish word, “soledad“, for loneliness or solitude.
These arts were primarily practiced at home until gypsies were eventually called upon to entertain the wealthier landowners and noblemen at their parties, or juergas. In the mid-eighteen hundreds, Flamenco was elevated to public performances in ’cafe cantantes’, first opening in Seville in 1842, and this began a period lasting from roughly 1850-1910, called the “Golden Age of Flamenco”, in which modern flamenco would evolve through the intermixing of gypsy performers and Spaniards. This evolution led the art into mainstream society where the music could be influenced by the desires and styles of that society, sacrificing some of its most primitive and ancient forms for the development of new forms that might appeal to the public. This commercialization of Flamenco spread the art and to some aficionados lost its purity toward the end of the nineteenth century. Over the next nine decades, its popularity spread about Spain and the rest of the world, taking it to the theater and even appearances in operas and ballets. Very recently, a variety of instruments have entered into use on the Flamenco scene including the flute, saxophone, electric bass, citar (a middle-eastern stringed instrument), darbuka, djembe, bongos, cajones, and the congas (all percussive instruments). Influences of jazz, rock, latin, and salsa have also affected many artists today such as the rather jazzy flamenco guitarist, though fabulous nonetheless, Paco de Lucia. Paco was a follower of the school of Nino Ricardo who embarked on a search for his own style of playing on the advice of another great figure whose name is synonymous with Flamenco, Augustin Castellon “Sabicas”. Paco found his way to improvisation and experimented incorporating the rhythms of Flamenco with the improvisation of Jazz. I recently attended a beautifully performed concert of his and his septet that gave me the feeling of riding unbridled through the desert on camelback throughout the concert. Paco still retains the essences of the traditional Flamenco style, but for traditional Flamenco to survive in the modern world, there needs to be room for Flamenco to continue to evolve as it always has." by Ian McClain-Caldwell
extra remarks :
* When I saw the documentary "Crossing the Bridge" lately, about Istanbul mostly, I came across another idea about origins of flamenco. It has being said that early flamenco had only percussion and singing, like in the Korea pansori, only the percussion was replaced by a more simple box. Later dances were added, probly originating from North Africa, and guitar was added, probly after it was oud before. This flamenco guitar style could originate, together with the name of "flamenco" by a gypsy style which is being played at the border of Greece, in Turkey by the gypsies. They say one Arab once crossed the land, who played a completely different oud style. His name was Flamo Erenco or somthing, and all oud players from that area thought this style which is also much more direct and straight comared to normal Turkish and Arab playing on oud.
* According to the Grove dictionary of music, among the musicians who were influencial in introducing Eastern musical modes to Spain was a freed Persian slave named Zaryab (Ziryab) who established the first school of Andalucian music in southern Spain.
I guess this must have been during the Moorish influence in Spain from the 7th to the 14th century, but I don't know from when this school was.
One of the best intruductions I found is on http://www.indialucia.com/india_eng.html
Where East joined West, by Miguel CZACHOWSKI
Around the Ninth Century, for some unknown reasons, thousands of inhabitants of the north-western part of India began to emigrate west. They set out from the territories presently occupied by the Punjab and Pakistan. In Persia they split, and one part went via Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and through the Gibraltar Strait, finally arriving, already known as Gypsies, in the south of Moorish Spain. In this region, known as Al-Andalus, various cultures co-existed for hundreds of years. It was the only place where Gypsies, Jews, Catholic's and Muslims lived together for a long time. Each group had its own customs, music and instruments. After many years, in the beginning of the 19th Century, due to mutual influences and the mingling of all these elements, a mysterious and expressive type of music emerged. Today we know it as Flamenco.
The Middle East, specifically India, was a cradle of the culture and language of most of Europe. Inhabitants of its northern part constituted the oldest civilisation of the world, together with Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. It was there, in the Indus river valley, where the first religions, first laws and first instruments and musical notations appeared. The oldest book written in India around 2000 BC gives mantras chanted to honour gods, based upon one, two or three notes, which with time were transformed into a heptatonic scale. A seven-note scale, popular already in 350 BC, was written as sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, and it remained in this form up till now. The Indian scale was richer than any other since it had quarter tones, that is intermediate notes between semitones, giving 22 quarter tones (shrutis) within one octave. Quartertones in Indian music are present mainly in ornaments of the melody. However, they can also be used in melodic parts, which may make a singer or instrumentalist seem out of tune for a person accustomed to European music. Somewhere between the 2nd and the 5th Centuries the first book devoted to the art was written, Bharata Natya Shastra, containing a detailed description of the vocal and instrumental music, as well as of dancing. According to the book, the base of Indian music is constituted by raga, that is a sequence of at least five notes of one scale. A melody founded on it is performed according to specific principles and with a certain mood. The book lists six main ragas and each one of them has its variations. After converting it into the European note system, assuming that the first note in the scale will be the sound C, these six ragas are as follows:
Bhairav - C, Db, E, F, G, Ab, B, C, Shri - C, Db, E, F#, G, Ab, B, C, Malkauns - C, Eb, F, Ab, Bb, C, Hindol - C, E, F#, A, B, C, Deepak - C, Db, E, F#, A, B, C, Megh - C, D, F, G, A, C
The 6th Century was the time when canons for music and arts were established. They are valid even today as they gave rise to the development of classical music based upon the system of ragas and rhythms accompanying them. Indian music started to develop more and more rapidly, and good musicians were more appreciated and sought by rulers.
The music culture also influenced other countries; Indian Brahmins introduced it to Persia and Arabia, thus disseminating it to the West. Simultaneously, the Arab music entered Andalucia, then occupied by the Arabs. The first ruler of Al-Andalus, Abd ar-Rahmân I, invited to his court Arab musicians, who brought poetry, songs, musicians and musical instruments, such as flutes, drums and an Arab lute oud. In 822, a poet and singer came from Bagdad to Cordoba. His name was Abu al.-Hasan Alî ibn Nafi and he was known as Zyryâb (a black bird). This extremely talented man played a key role in the musical education of the whole of Al-Andalus as he established an academy, introduced an Arab-Persian system of musical notation, and trained more than 10,000 musicians.
Soon, during the first raids of Muslims to northern India, their highly developed Arab music began to influence the Indian. Persian musicians and singers enriched the already existing musical tradition with their own elements and instruments and created new musical forms. One of them were qawwalies, that is songs performed to honour God. Musical development in India reached its peak during the reign of Allaudin Khilia in the 14th Century. Amir Khushro (1254-1324) was a minister of a Mughal sultan, a great poet, musician and expert on Indian, Persian and Arab music. What he did for Indian music cannot be equalled by anything done before or after his time. He introduced many ragas and rhythms and, above all, he created two new instruments, which today constitute the basis for Indian music: the sitar and tabla.
NEWCOMERS FROM INDIA
Muslim invasion and division into castes by them in the occupied region made a part of the people leave the country. Mostly they belonged to the lowest caste shudra or chandala, who were outside the caste system. It is not known why or when they had to leave India. Anthropologists and historians have various hypotheses. However, one part emigrated at the beginning of the 15th Century, after the Mogol invasion carried out by Tamerlain the Great, who took over the north-western territory of India. These people could already in the 5th Century have emigrated from the region of the Indus river. One of the 11th Century Persian epics reads that King Behram Gour (420-438) asked an Indian rajah, Shankal to send musicians to his court in order to cheer up sad Persians. The rajah sent him 10,000 musicians of both sexes called Luri, able to play stringed instruments, sing and dance. However, they did not want to devote themselves to agriculture and after some time they were banished from Persia and went farther west.
As the caravans of wandering Indians moved west, they absorbed elements of the cultures of the countries through which they passed. When they reached Spain their language, dancing and singing were still similar to those taken from India. The first Gypsy tribes were settled in Andalucia during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman III, in the 10th Century. In the beginning they claimed to be pilgrims from Egypt, doing their penance for their deeds. The second group of Gypsies, going along the northern route leading through Afghanistan, Byzantium, Armenia, Greece, Serbia, Germany and France reached Spain in 1425. Both groups of Gypsies met on the peninsula - however, they were no longer the same people. By assimilating elements of countries they passed they were considerably changed, in terms of culture, music and language, as well as customs.
GITANOS FLAMENCOS
Today we know that flamenco came from the Gypsies of Andalucia. They created the music, which is not similar to Gypsy music from any other part of Europe. They did not bring with them to Spain anything that would resemble flamenco. Neither were any traces of this kind of music found in the countries through which they passed. Then, why was flamenco created in Andalucia and nowhere else, if all Gypsies came from the same part of the world?
When the first Gypsy tribes arrived in Andalucia, there had already existed a highly developed musical culture. The Gypsies acquired it very quickly, interpreting it in their own way. In three centuries they would extract from this mixture of cultures something that later would be called flamenco.
The creation of flamenco dancing and singing was influenced not only by the existing cultures of people already there, but also their temperament, their way of living and their social situation. In Andalucia, in small, white, mountain towns, at the foot of decaying old Moor forts, the Gypsies encountered people who were similar to them. These were Jews and Morisques. The feeling of mutual bonds or some kind of familiarity was strengthened when somewhere between the 15th and 18th centuries regulations relating to the Gypsies were introduced. Gypsies, deprived of their rights just like Jews and Morisques, had to face the same suffering, poverty and persecutions. They mingled together because they belonged to the same social group. This whole suffering found its reflection in the themes and character of the later flamenco songs, which in their primary forms expressed suffering and pain. From the same time, that is from the end of the 18th Century comes the first mention of flamenco music.
It was of songs from Jerez de la Frontera, performed by a Gypsy known as Tío Luis el de la Juliana. Something that was not yet called flamenco sounded only in the light of smiths' furnaces or in Gypsy houses. Gypsies had been singing and dancing people for centuries, however though, we are not able to say what melodies came from their houses and caves untill the middle of the 18th Century. From the drawings preserved from this time we can learn that before a guitar was introduced, the role of accompanying instruments was played by a tambourine, castanets, violin, hammer and anvil, as well as clapping.
Gradually, the Gypsy songs started to leave smithies for streets, little taverns and neighbouring patios. A blacksmith's lament sung to the rhythm of the anvil became a song called martinete, a song about solitude soleá, and a prisoner's lament carcelera. What previously had played a very mystic and personal role, sometimes even a religious one, became slowly a part of culture of all Gypsies. They began to appreciate songs and dances more, giving particular forms individual features and melodies. Later, a sixth string was added to a guitar, which became an accompanying instrument. Singing in taverns became a kind of ritual and tradition to such an extent that some taverns focused mainly upon music. Gypsies were associated with singing and dancing, and their way of life and music became a theme of many poems and theatrical plays.
Several years later, flamenco suddenly spread throughout the whole of Spain, and it was performed not only by Gypsies, but also by the Madrid payos (non-gypsies). In the middle of the 19th Century there were many flamenco clubs, where every night flamencos performed. Many new artists quickly started to appear and flamenco became an art throughout the country. The following 50 years created the majority of the song, music and dance forms known today. Singing began to be appreciated not only by Gypsies, but by members of the upper social classes who started to attend performances. This once intimate form of expressing emotion through song, music and dance became a means of earning a living, which led to a situation where artists could focus upon their own artistic development, creating new forms and their own style. The second half of the 20th Century was the time when this art fully flourished and today it is the most popular ethnic music in the world, having thousands of fans on all continents and inspiring many musicians.
GYPSY - OR INDIAN?
After leaving India, Gypsies maintained the features of their mother tongue. Their dialect is similar to Hindi, Pali and Penjabi - languages derived from Sanskrit and used in the territories of Hindustan, Punjab and the kingdom of Sindh. Quite many words taken from the countries where the Gypsies stayed can be taken as proof of their wanderings.
Their appearance, with their black hair, dark complexion and dark eyes was extremely similar to that of the inhabitants of the Indus river valley from the central and western Hindustan. One 15th Century chronicle says of them: "... They were skinny, dark and they ate like pigs. Their women wore shirts with cloths hung across them and they had extremely ornamented earrings...". Even today Indians from the region are skinny, dark and eat with the fingers (though this is a custom of many races and largely a matter of convenience). A characteristic feature of a traditional dress from the Punjab - penjabi - is a shawl worn on the cleavage, in which women like to wear ornamented jewellery. Thus Gypsies with an Indian origin were gradually becoming Spaniards and their individuality was slowly fading. Today Andalusian Gitanos speak Spanish. Only some words or expressions from the old language of Spanish Gypsies called Caló, Zincalé or Romani remain in use, and even they are spoken according to the principles of Spanish grammar.
INDIAN MUSIC AND FLAMENCO
Indian music does not exhibit harmony, counterpoint or chords, but it is very distinctively based upon melody and rhythm. The musical tradition of India, which in spite of its long existence has never developed those elements, typical of European music, generated extremely complicated rhythms and hundreds of scales unknown to the musicians from Europe. Rhythmic schemas of this music are probably as difficult to learn for a European as baroque polyphony or jazz harmony for an Indian. However, a characteristic feature of both jazz and classical Indian music is improvisation, which constitutes 90 % of an artist's concert. An ever-returning theme and its improvised variations are present in creating music of both those styles. In terms of rhythm and expression, Indian music resembles flamenco a great deal. The rhythm, which next to the melody constitutes a basis of a composition, is also a theme for improvisation. Unevenly distributed stresses in cycles in the Indian music as well as in flamenco, require a great sense of rhythm from an artist. Extremely dynamic rhythmic parts in dialogues between the melodic and the percussion instruments resemble dialogues between the guitar and tapping of a dancer or cajón player. In this case the artist makes use of ready-made patterns or points in which they both interrupt the phrase in an ideally synchronised way. Such rhythmic tricks make a great impression upon listeners who express their admiration with shouts like "kiabathe", "uaa" or "allah" (direct equivalents of the flamenco "ole"), cheering the performing artists. An extremely dynamic form of flamenco, bulerías contains elements such as expression, instrumental virtuosity and a sense of rhythm, which in Indian music are present in the faster parts of ragas. Free forms of flamenco, deprived of rhythm, such as martinete, tarantas, granainas or saeta resemble aalap, which is the first part of a raga, performed ad libitum, with a very mystic character.
One of the oldest rhythms established in Indian music was ektal - with a structure of 12 beats. In flamenco, the basic compás, a basis of the majority of forms, exhibits the same structure. The only things that make it different from the Indian rhythm are stresses and a way of phrasing. An Indian musician usually begins and finishes his improvisation together with the first beat of a cycle, stressing it and thus giving a listener a point where he can catch up with the rhythm. In flamenco, and especially more modern performance, the syncopated phrase or stresses lie between the beats in a bar and it is an artist's intention to surprise the listener who enjoys it very much.
Flamenco singing, being of an Oriental origin, is based mostly upon three scales, which are popular also in Indian music. For example, seguiryias, bulerías, tarantas, soleares or tangos are based upon the ragas bhairavi, bhairav or basant mukhari. The melismata and portamento used in Indian music are very close to flamenco but are much more complicated. The melodic range in flamenco seldom crosses the limits of a sixth, whereas in Indian singing the range depends on how much the singer can span and sometimes covers even three octaves. Similarities with flamenco song could be noticed also in qawwali singing from Pakistan, where an artist almost shouts out verses of a song in a husky voice.
In the present form of flamenco dance we can trace certain similarities to the kathak style from the north of India. The elements that resemble the dance of Andalusian Gypsies are the movements of arms, palms and fingers as well as tapping, typical for this kind of dance. In both styles the dance is usually performed by one person and it is closely connected to the music and rhythm. In flamenco a dancer is accompanied by a guitar, singing, clapping and a cajón, whereas in kathak apart from singing it can be tabla, pakhawaj, sitar or sarangi. In this case kathak is barefoot, and the tapping rhythm is dictated by bells hung at the dancer's ankles and by a loud "clapping" with his foot against the floor. Flamenco, however, is much more dynamic, sometimes even aggressive, or with an erotic character. In flamenco a dancer does not tell any story and his gestures do not bear any meaning: his movements and gestures express emotions or they emphasise the meaning of lyrics and character of the melody accompanying them.
We cannot say for sure that flamenco has its roots in India. However we know, that the Gypsies left India ages ago. One could wonder: had they arrived from China, would flamenco develop in the form we know today? Even if both those extremely interesting genres of music are not directly related, one can state that what is common to Indian and flamenco music is their emotionality, expression, rhythm, depth and sensitivity. (translated by Iweta Kulczycka)
LINKS FOR FLAMENCO FUSION, FLAMENCO ROCK :
Flamenco Fusion page (in Spanish but most of it is translated here above) used to be at
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/finisterre/1692/flamencofusion.html
Andalousian rock page at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Arena/2332/Rock-andaluz.htm
MORE INFORMATION
about SPANISH PROGRESSIVE MUSIC and FLAMENCO ROCK,
with a list of interesting items, lots of links at the next page.
FLAMENCO ROCK FIGURE (who played flamenco with his sitar) : GUALBERTO
(on a seperate page).
