Carmen Linares, the truth of flamenco: the golden age of tablaos, the drug gap and knowledge made art

They say she is a lady, a great lady. They speak of legend, teacher, wise. "Oh, my mother, what they say is scary." For her they are only words of "recognition of the authenticity that I always sought." Exactly, because this lady, great lady, legend, teacher and wise woman is, above all, true. Carmen Linares, 40 years dignifying flamenco

-she hung up her folk costume the day she achieved autonomy- and also

, that oxidizing orthodoxy in her guild. He celebrates 40 years as a soloist, young at 70, with a recital in Madrid.

Dawn this 2022 with Carmen Linares at the Price, within the Inverfest cycle, and will bid farewell to the capital this year with

, on December 14, at the WiZink, his final concert here.

Before, today, two essentials come together.

They shared the set once on television, but never in concert, like tonight, to balance

de

, honored along with

,

,

,

,

or

.

Mestizo repertoire, that is Carmen Linares, Andalusian, adolescent in Castile and baptism in Madrid, at the Calderón bar, in front of the Calderón Theater, in Atocha.

That young woman was going on tour, with

, through the south of France. The manager was hesitant: "Carmen Pacheco I don't know if it sounds good...".

crossed by there

: "Girl, but where are you from?" "From Linares," he replied, before receiving the sentence of the genius: "Well, that's it, Carmen Linares." This is how it was launched into the world half a century ago, at first, accompanying the dance.

Before being in Spain, he was an artist in Biarritz. Was it your first contract?

». And he freaks out. It was happy: a good hotel, walks on the beach and joking around with a bailaora friend who spoke French. "We had a contract, but they didn't pay us." He laughs at the memory, although he stops to lament for his companions with families who returned empty-handed. The same coherence raises, looking at the employees who lose "the bread" today, in the face of the alarming, "very sad",

. “We will have to look for new places. The contact of the artists is necessary”, comments the last great survivor of the golden age, when Madrid was the capital of Andalusia and the genre grew beyond its borders.

The pandemic has been the last straw for

,

,

, increasingly entrenched in tourism. "And now, the

", concludes the cantaora, who was at the inauguration of the legendary Lavapiés venue in 1982 and returned there a thousand times after her own or someone else's recital. Less night owl than others, definitely young, some night at

and quite a few more at

with bailaores Carmen Mota and Joaquín Robles. That boom, and its poison.

"

are what have done the most damage to flamenco, a before and after, many fell by the wayside," he points out as a historical assessment.

And the reverse: «The best thing has been that flamenco, popular music, has risen to the category of

».

Carmen Linares, in a recent image at Cafe de Chinitas, where she grew up in Madrid, with Morente and parallel to Camaron in Torres Bermejas. CARMEN LINARESMUNDO ARCHIVE

University student of the tablaos, she was at the Café de Chinitas together with

. "We were kids. He made us laugh on stage and Enrique said: 'Please, they're going to kick us out'». From there they jumped to Torres Bermejas, in search of

and other teachers. «Enrique and José were... I didn't stay the same after listening to them». He brings an anecdote from both that sticks to the present and matters this Wednesday.

Carmen went with Morente to a procession in Alicante. They were going to sing

and "the usual music didn't sound, but Serrat's". They plan to perform that same song today. But what amazed Morente and Carmen was "what modernity, and what soul, Serrat added" to the classic. A self-affirmation. From the essence, she, like Morente or Camarón,

. "I rely on the roots, but I want to fly." Today he will take shelter in two guitars, of course, and in a trio of piano, double bass and drums.

There is also something to remember about Camarón. One day they called Carmen's house. On the other side, he heard that sighing voice: "I'm José." And she asked: "José? What José?" And with that same talk about the wind, he clarified: "Shrimp." The whole family went crazy. But beyond the celebration, the teaching: José wanted to speak with the cantaora's husband,

, godfather of the best of flamenco on TVE, custodian of one of the few recordings by

. Camarón did not leave a noble precursor without tasting and neither did Carmen Linares, just as loving with

, "we must support them to the fullest", with her urban drive and her revolutions; his way of being without imitating.

That dedication and generosity elevated her to immortality, especially for

, where she recovered, in her throat, so many women hidden at the time. On that work, which would now be called

- "justice had to be done to them" - and which has been a source of new fans for a quarter of a century, returns tonight.

Carmen Linares would not be if that egalitarian mentality had not been anticipated in her

, guitarist and more: some mornings his daughter would find him, because the inspiration of some verse had come to him and he would get up to seal it. At the age of 13, when work took them to Ávila,

was the shadow of her father in the flamenco club. She even met her future husband there. And already in Madrid, the family not only chose well where to live, in the very Flemish Echegaray street, neighbor of the extinct

. Carmen studied typing, but her father didn't want her to be a secretary: "

, that voice and that ear, it's for something." Look at this glory.

But, oh, what would Carmen be without

at home, the present cante. It was she who, still from Ávila, sent a weekly letter to Radio Madrid for the raffle of an

. "Since we had no money...". The wish was made, his father took the train and returned with the record player. "There I listened to Mairena, to Caracol, to all the great ones". Carmen has walked that turntable, in its briefcase, around the world, one more piece of luggage.

The owner of Inverfest has been heard today at the Chaillot Theater in

, at Carnegie Hall in

, at the Shijuku Bunka Center in

, at the Opera House in

, at the Teatro Colón in

... And at the Teatro Real in

or in the Yeserías women's prison, half a century ago, when she was still

on stage with the Habichuelas. It was

who certified: "

is an old woman! She was never a child prodigy and, although tempted to change to commercial genres -"rumbita, Spanish song..."-, she remained faithful, short step, and firm, climbing

: Jerez, Seville, Cádiz, Granada... Capable of curdling from the bulería to the mining taranta of her land, queen of the soleá, a voice as flamenco as it is clear , tear and party, "the emotion of sadness and the emotion of joy", as defined by the flamenco

.

National Music Award in 2001, Lifetime Award from the Music Academy in 2011, is presented in the city that awarded her its

in 2019, an honor from which she regrets the controversy of the title of Favorite Daughter to

: "For me, these things only happen in Spain. You have to value unique people for their work, without depending on politics." He faces the examination of his "Madrid mother" with the same respect as half a century ago. What remained of the duo with Serrat will be included in a compilation, piece by piece, with

,

,

,

,

,

,

(April)... It was the idea of ​​his son

, producer.

The other,

, is one of his guitarists.

And the girl,

, became an actress.

What art.

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