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March will bring two very different guitarrecitals on a single night

February 23, 2014

I have recently been writing about the fact that March will be amonth in which serious listeners will have to wrestle over makingsome very hard choices. It turns out that this proposition willextend even to those with specialized interests. Even in the middleof the week of the middle of the month, guitar lovers are going todiscover that they will have a choice to make.

On the one hand the next concert in the 33rd Dynamite Guitars

season, organized by the Omni Foundation for the PerformingArts, will be a special event presented in association with TheFlamenco Society of San Jose. This will be the San Franciscodebut of the renowned flamenco virtuoso Tomatito (JoséFernández Torres). He will be performing with his sextet, whoseother members are guitarist El Cristi, singers Kiki Cortiñas andSimón Román, percussionist Lucky Losada, and featured dancerPaloma Fantova. The program will feature a diverse selection of

flamenco approaches to different forms of song and dance.

This concert will take place on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Palace of Fine Arts Theater (3301 LyonStreet). Ticket prices are $65, $55, and $45. They may be purchased online through the event page for this concerton the Omni Foundation Web site. Tickets may also be purchased by calling 415-242-4500, which will also providefurther information.

In a totally different style, John Zientek, currently in the Master’s program in classical guitar at the San FranciscoConservatory of Music (SFCM), will be giving a diverse recital that same evening. On the classical side he willperform the first of Mauro Giuliani’s “Rossiniana” compositions; but the remainder of the program will be far moremodern. Of greatest interest will be an arrangement of Toru Takemitsu’s orchestral composition “To the Edge ofDream” for guitar and piano. This arrangement was prepared by Joseph Colombo on commission from Zientek,and the pianist will be Keisuke Nakagoshi.

For the second half of the program, Zientek will perform with percussionist Elisabeth Hall. The first selection will bea partita by Paul Lansky. This will be followed by “Ghosts of the Alhambra” from the first volume of GeorgeCrumb’s Spanish Songbook. The vocalist will be Efraín Solís, currently an Adler Fellow with the San FranciscoOpera.

This concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the SFCM Recital Hall. The venue is located at 50 Oak Street, a short walk from

Related Photo:

Stephen SmoliarSF Classical Music Examiner|

courtesy of the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts

March will bring two very different guitar recitals on a single night - San Francisco c... http://www.examiner.com/article/march-will-bring-two-very-different-guitar-recitals...

1 de 2 14/04/14 14:08

“Tomatito” cierra festival de flamenco

El martes 18 de marzo en el Lisner Auditorium de la Universidad George Washington en DC

DC. El guitarrista José Fernández Torres se presenta el martes 18. | EFE

El guitarrista de flamenco José Fernández Torres, conocido como “Tomatito”, cierra el martes 18 el Festival de Flamenco enWashington DC, que presentó a varios reconocidos artistas de este género en el Lisner Auditorium de la Universidad GeorgeWashington.

El tour anual Flamenco Festival 2014 inició este mes en Miami, seguido de DC y continúa por 24 ciudades de los Estados Unidos yCanadá.

La fiesta anual, que nació en 2001 en Nueva York, se lleva a cabo en medio de un luto por uno de los grandes exponentes del flamenco,el guitarrista Paco de Lucía, quien falleció de un infarto el 25 de febrero. Lucía tenía 66 años.

El festival en DC abrió el 4 de marzo con una “Gala Flamenca”, dirigida por Ángel Rojas, en la que se presentó el maestro AntonioCanales, el coreógrafo, Carlos Rodríguez; la mexicana, de ascendencia española Karime Amaya y la joven estrella del flamenco JesúsCarmona.

Al iniciar el tour, Rodríguez dijo que en todos sus espectáculos “dejarán bien claro la persona tan influyente que fue Paco de Lucía paratodos nosotros”.

Por su parte, el maestro Canales lamentó que “el flamenco se haya quedado huérfano” con la partida de Lucía.

A la lista de presentaciones siguió el 7 de marzo “Lluvia” de Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena.

Y este martes 18 cierra el festival “Tomatito”, quien también hará un homenaje a Lucía.

“Tomatito” —apodo que adquirió por su padre, también llamado Tomate, y el de su abuelo, Miguel Tomate— empezó su carreramusical desde niño.

El guitarrista se inició participando en los festivales flamencos andaluces y poco a poco se hizo conocer al acompañar, desde muyjoven, a famosos cantaores como Enrique Morente y La Susi.

La presentación será a las 8pm en el Lisner Auditorium ,730 21st St. NW. Washington. Más información: 202-994-6800.

Also of interest

Festival de flamenco enciende Washington

“Tomatito” cierra festival de flamenco || El Tiempo Latino | Noticias de Washington DC http://eltiempolatino.com/news/2014/mar/14/tomatito-cierra-festival-de-flamenco/

1 de 2 15/04/14 10:45

������������� ��������������������By Karen Campbell | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MARCH 06, 2014

YI-CHUN WU

World Music/CRASHart brings the Flamenco Festival, including Karime Amaya (above), to Boston for the 14th year.

For going on 14 years, World Music/CRASHarts has been warming up cold nights with the heat of flamenco.

Flamenco Festival 2014 brings two concerts from Spain that embrace the range of the art form.

“Stars of Flamenco” March 8-9 features six dancers and seven musicians, showcasing the contrasting dance styles

of veteran powerhouse Antonio Canales, Carlos Rodríguez (Nuevo Ballet Español), Karime Amaya (grandniece of

Carmen Amaya), and young dynamo Jesús Carmona.

CONTINUE READING BELOW ▼

A March 16 concert by the Tomatito Sextet marks the Boston debut of José Fernández Torres (Tomatito), one of

the world’s top flamenco guitarists, along with his musicians and dancer Paloma Fantova.

Both productions are curated by Miguel Marin, artistic director of

the Flamenco Festival, an organization that tracks the pulse of the

art form in Spain and packages groups of Spanish artists to tour

internationally. He has been involved with World

Music/CRASHarts’s annual flamenco celebrations since the very

beginning. He is especially excited by the opportunity with “Stars

of Flamenco,” directed by Ángel Rojas, to present a diverse slate of

flamenco artists from different generations. Marin spoke with the

Globe recently via phone.

You can now read 10 articles each month for free on BostonGlobe.com.

�������������

Performing company:

Also performing:

Stars of Flamenco

andTomatito Sextet

World Music, CRASHarts

������������ �������

Berklee Performance Center,

Contemporary flamenco, in all its flavors, gets showcase - Theater & art - The Bosto... http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2014/03/06/contemporary-flamenco-all-its-flavors-...

1 de 3 10/04/14 13:39

Log in or Register using

Tomatito

Omni presented Tomatitoand his Flamenco Sextet in astunning display of thedepth, power, and variety ofcontemporary flamenco.

Tomatito is much loved both

March 12, 2014

Tomatito's Stunning Flamenco DisplayOMNI FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (/EVENTS-CALENDAR/ORGANIZATION-PROFILES

/OMNI-FOUNDATION-FOR-THE-PERFORMING-ARTS)

BY SCOTT CMIEL (/AUTHOR/SCOTT-CMIEL)

The Omni Foundation for thePerforming Arts presents one of theworld’s foremost guitar series. Theprimary focus is on classical guitar, butit also does an outstanding job ofshowing the breadth of the guitar’sappeal, including programs bysuperlative flamenco, jazz, andworld-music guitarists. On Wednesdayat the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, inpartnership with the Flamenco Societyof San Jose, Omni presented Tomatitoand his Flamenco Sextet in a stunningdisplay of the depth, power, and varietyof contemporary flamenco.

José Fernandez Torres, known as Tomatito, is one of today’s most-admiredflamenco guitarists, known for his mastery of traditional rhythms, his classicwork with singer Camarón de la Isla, and his pioneering efforts in establishingNuevo flamenco by augmenting traditional flamenco with music influenced byclassical, jazz, blues, rock, pop, bossa-nova, tango, or fado. His program gaineddepth by being dedicated to the memory of Tomatito’s friend and mentor Pacode Lucía, arguably the most influential flamenco guitarist of the modern era, whodied unexpectedly just last month.

Tomatito is an enormously charismatic musician who entered the hall with a regalbearing, modestly gracious and yet unsurprised by the adulation expressed by alarge audience that showed its appreciation before the first note was played.Tomatito began to play, as a soloist, an introspective, melancholy, andrhythmically free Rondeña. After he drew the audience in with his understatedmagic, the members of his sextet gradually joined him, with second and thirdguitars playing rasgueo, the complex strumming patterns that characterizeflamenco guitar; other members performing palmas, or syncopated clappingpatterns that add rhythmic vitality to the music; and all members of the ensembleand even audience members adding jaleo, or words of encouragement for theperformers, sometimes spoken, often shouted.

Flamenco has a long and complexhistory with ancient roots. Tomatito ismuch loved both as an embodiment ofits deep traditions and as a leader incontemporary developments in theform. Like American blues, flamencobegan as the music of poor people, soits emergence is poorly documented. Ithas been traced to the 15th-centuryarrival in Spain of Gypsies whosemusical traditions blended with thoseof Christians, Arabs, and Jews to create unique forms, modes, and rhythms. Inthe late 19th century the music became popular in cafes throughout Spain,launching a great debate about the depth of the original music and the lossalleged as the music changed and became more widely popularized.

In 1922 composer Manuel de Falla and poet Federico García Lorca organized ElConcurso del Cante Jondo (Contest of the Deep Song) to celebrate and promotethe depth of traditional flamenco. Although it began a steady rise in the status oftraditional flamenco among Spain’s cultural and intellectual leaders, a shallower,more tourist-oriented version continued to dominate the field. In post-FrancoSpain, an appreciation for the more-profound traditional flamenco, embodied byartists like Antonio Mairena and Nino Ricardo, was combined with an openness toinfluences from jazz and world music. Artists such as singer Camarón de la Islaand guitarist Paco de Lucía embodied these trends and created today’s Nuevoflamenco; as a young man, Tomatito worked closely with both of them and istoday flamenco’s most-prominent guitarist.

Tomatito’s sextet, featuring twosingers, two guitarists, apercussionist, and a dancer, is an

Tomatito's Stunning Flamenco Display : San Francisco Classical Voice https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/omni-foundation-for-the-performing-arts/tomatitos-stu...

1 de 2 10/04/14 15:15

as an embodiment of deeptraditions and as a leader incontemporary developmentsin the form.

accomplished and flexible ensembleable to project a complex range offeeling in a widely varied program.They gave skillful performances oftraditional flamenco forms, including ajoyful Alegrias, a powerfully rhythmicBulerias, and a soulful andshow-stopping Solea. Jazz influencesinfused the performances of Two Much by pianist Michel Camilo and Our Spainby great bassist Charlie Haden and lent a complex flavor to Tango Argentino andRumba.

Each selection featured Tomatito’s outstanding solo performance, while manyincluded vocals by Kiki Cortiñas and Simón Román, always accompanied by thefantastic rhythmic pulse of the sextet. Twice, the spotlight shifted to PalomaFantova, the group’s featured dancer. Briefly near the beginning of the concertand in an extended 10-minute solo in the concluding Solea, Fantova amazed theeyes and melted the hearts of the audience with her movement, by turns fluid,graceful, fiery, and brilliant.

In the encore, Tomatito graciously gave each member of the ensemble time toshine; they included El Cristi and José del Tomate on guitars, Moisés Santiago oncajon, and vocalists Kiki Cortiñas and Simón Román.

Scott Cmiel (http://www.sfcv.org/author/scott-cmiel) is Chair of the guitar andmusicianship departments at the San Francisco Conservatory of MusicPreparatory Division and Director of the guitar program at San Francisco Schoolof the Arts.

Tomatito's Stunning Flamenco Display : San Francisco Classical Voice https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/omni-foundation-for-the-performing-arts/tomatitos-stu...

2 de 2 10/04/14 15:15

TrendingTrending Video Policía Planillas 2014 ¡Cuídate! Regala Vida Justas LAI

Por: Rita Portela LópezPublicado: 27/02/2014 06:27 am

El productor del Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest, LuisÁlvarez, confirmó que se recordará el legado delguitarrista Paco de Lucía con la intervención en la 24edición del evento de uno de sus discípulos, Tomatito.

En la imagen, el virtuoso de la guitarra Paco de Lucíaquien falleció el miércoles pasado. (EFE/Archivo)

Inicio»

VidaVida

Tomatito recordará en JazzFest el legado de De Lucía,

"un virtuoso tímido"

Se trata del cierre del sábado 22, a cargo del también guitarrista flamenco, que estudió bajo la tuteladel fenecido músico.

“Me parece una triste coincidencia, pues por la noticia de la muerte de Paco, pero podremosrecordarlo esa noche con uno de sus estudiantes más anegados que sigue echando su legado haciadelante”, recalcó Álvarez al tiempo que especificó que el evento tendrá lugar del 10 al 23 de marzoen el Anfiteatro Tito Puente.

El empresario recordó a De Lucía como un “virtuoso tímido, pero exigente cuando de su música setrataba”. “Era una persona sencilla que nunca quiso limosinas ni suites durante su estadía en PuertoRico”, añadió el productor al anotar que la última presentación del fenecido artista fue en el 2012como parte del Jazz Fest que se le dedicó q Abraham Laboriel.

De hecho enfatizó en que los puertorriqueños “somos privilegiados” de haber podido ver en sumejor momento a De Lucía.

Comentó que tras la presentación del guitarrista español en el país se reunieron en la casa delproductor para departir de temas variados. Entre los invitados estaba la esposa e hijos de Paco, asícomo Rubén Blades y varios allegados. “Nos sentamos a hablar de música y salsa, porque a Pacole gustaba mucho la música de El Gran Combo y otros temas de política y sociedad. Era un virtuosoen todo el sentido de la palabra y nos duele su partida”.

En un parte de prensa Tomatito, cuyo nombre de pila es José Fernández Torres, expresó que “nopuedo encontrar las palabras para describir lo que siento desde que escuché lo de la muerte dePaco. Sé que estas palabras serán compartidas por todos los artistas y seguidores del flamencoque lo conocieron. El trabajo de Paco definió el flamenco como un arte. Él logró que la guitarra seconvirtiera en un instrumento de entendimiento universal. Gracias a su entrega otros intérpretes eincluso yo mismo podemos compartir música hoy en día alrededor del globo”.

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Tomatito recordará en JazzFest el legado de De Lucía, "un virtuoso tímido" - NotiCel™ http://www.noticel.com/noticia/156466/tomatito-recordara-en-jazzfest-el-legado-de-d...

1 de 2 10/04/14 15:13

Tomatito carries on after death of flamenco 'father'Aidin VaziriUpdated 7:53 am, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The great Spanish flamenco guitarist José Fernández Torres, known as Tomatito, was talking on a recent afternoon about his mentor,Paco de Lucía. "All flamenco guitarists learned from his beautiful music and technique," he said through a translator. "He is our father."

Tomatito didn't know at the time that just a week later he would be one of the pallbearers at de Lucía's funeral, after the 66-year-oldvirtuoso died of a heart attack while on vacation with his family in Mexico.

The news must have been devastating. De Lucía not only opened doors for multiple proteges by making flamenco music palatable foraudiences worldwide but also had a direct hand in Tomatito's career, discovering him as a child prodigy and mentoring him through hisformative years.

De Lucía's influence will no doubt be apparent when Tomatito makes a rare West Coast appearance Wednesday at the Palace of Fine Arts,part of a mini Spanish flamenco festival that also features performances at Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall by the dancer Eva Yerbabuena onWednesday and vocalist Estrella Morente on Friday.

Tomatito has won several Latin Grammy Awards for his bold playing style, which over six solo albums and multiple collaborations hasstretched the traditional Gypsy flamenco template with elements of jazz and funk. His latest is called "Soy Flamenco," which translates to"I Am Flamenco."

"There's nothing profound about it," he said. "It's just what I am. I've done a lot of different music styles, but my real love is flamenco."

Born into a musical family in Almería, Spain, he was given the nickname "little tomato" after his grandfather and father - both guitarplayers, both called Tomate. His uncle was the famed guitarist Niño Miguel.

Tomatito started his own career when he was 12 years old, alternating between solo work and a lucrative creative partnership with thevocalist Camarón de la Isla that lasted nearly two decades.

"That was one of the best times of my life," Tomatito said.

Following Camarón's death in 1992, Tomatito set off on a collaboration with the pianist Michel Camilo. Their album "Spain," released in2000, received a Grammy Award for best Latin jazz recording and saw them playing at festivals around the world.

For the upcoming concert in San Francisco, Tomatito will be accompanied by a sextet of musicians and dancer Paloma Fantova.

"I'm very happy to come there, very excited," he said. "I just want to give everything that I can to the audience."

Tomatito and His Flamenco Sextet: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (March 12). $45-$65. Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., S.F. (415)242-4500. www.omniconcerts.com.

Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle's pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF

© 2014 Hearst Communications, Inc.

Tomatito carries on after death of flamenco 'father' - SFGate http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Tomatito-carries-on-after-death-of-flamenco-5...

1 de 2 10/04/14 15:11

http://nyti.ms/1g3AK60

MUSIC | MUSIC REVIEW

Flamenco Proves Contagious for the Ear and for the EyeTomatito and His Flamenco Guitar at the Rose Theater

By BEN RATLIFF MARCH 17, 2014

If you put any faith in the notion of mirror neurons with regard to listening — the theory that an empathicregion of your brain can make you experience the neural impulse to play the notes that you are hearingsomeone else play — then you may have been very interested in Tomatito’s performance at Rose Theateron Saturday night.

Tomatito is the most eminent guitarist in flamenco, especially since the death of Paco de Lucía threeweeks ago. For American audiences, he is often on the bill with other eminences. He first came toprominence as a teenager, playing with the singer Camarón de la Isla; his last two appearances in NewYork were alongside the singer Enrique Morente, in 2005, and the pianist Michel Camilo in 2006. But he’snow on a North American solo tour, and on Saturday, he sat in the middle of a seven-unit semicircle: twosingers; two other guitarists (including José del Tomate, his son); one percussionist, who mostly playedthe wood-box cajón; and one dancer.

He began the concert alone with slow-gathering lines phrased outside of a steady rhythmic unit. Themusic of this first few minutes, generally speaking, was dark, alert and resonant with his thumb hitting thelower strings, letting them resound and roar against the chords. Gradually, the supporting guitars and thepalmas, the clapping accompaniment, entered the picture, establishing the rhythm. And in these first fewminutes — from nearly the first second and as he moved from no-rhythm to rhythm — Tomatito playedwith such clean intent that it was possible for you to feel the energy and gesture and contrast in thoseindividual notes and phrases as if you were playing them yourself.

Theories aside, I don’t think all musicians accomplish anything like this. Even a good one mightmanage it only in flashes. But Tomatito, from Spain, has managed it in its extended, almost continuousstate: If we can talk in terms of neurons firing, and if we can imagine the firings as lights going on, I feltmyself lighting up for minutes at a time. (One of the few sustained power losses, however, was basically acrossover move: a version of Mr. Camilo’s soft-pop ballad “Two Much.” )

What gave the performance this effect? A possible explanation is that all Tomatito’s playing implies asure command of traditional flamenco rhythm, so sure that he can get outside it without losing it. Andwhen he gets outside it, he disrupts constantly, with strong percussive, exclamatory strums, accents onwhat sounded like upbeats, with sudden runs and minor fadings of energy for effect, and control andevenness all around. He creates texture, basically, in mysterious but decisive acts, within a recognizableframe.

Paloma Fantova, the dancer, joined in the palmas, and at several places, she arose. She stiffened firstand walked to center stage headlong, then slowed down but pushed forward with iron purpose, as ifentering a wind tunnel, before she unfolded and imposed strength and will within a three-foot perimeter.Those entrances were special; they were almost enough. But her escobilla sequence in the concert’s secondhalf, when the focus shifted to her own heel-stamping improvisations against the steady pulse, seemed topick up from Tomatito’s language of decisive phrases and silences. They created, in a few places, a similareffect on the brain.

Tomatito and His Flamenco Guitar at the Rose Theater - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/arts/music/tomatito-and-his-flemenco-guitar-at-...

1 de 2 10/04/14 13:37

Photo: Olga Holguin

Since Camarón's death, Tomatito has established himself as one of flamenco's greatest guitarists. He's won a series of Grammys andLatin Grammys, while collaborating with numerous jazz artists like Dominican pianist Michel Camilo, with whom he won a Grammyfor the 2000 album Spain. He credits De Lucía with sparking his interest in jazz.

"When Paco De Lucía started playing with Chick Corea, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin, that influenced all the younger musiciansfrom his school," Tomatito said. "That was the beginning of it."

De Lucía's legacy will also be in the foreground at Bay Area Flamenco's April 6 program at Brava Theater, an event that pairs an all-starensemble with the Bay Area premiere of Andrea Zapata Girau's hour-long music documentary Guitarra de Palo. The live performanceincludes the great Spanish flautist and long-time De Lucía collaborator Jorge Pardo, New York trumpeter and percussionist JerryGonzalez, a Latin jazz pioneer who led the great Fort Apache band, Israel "El Piraña" Suárez, a maestro of the box-like cajon, whoworked extensively with De Lucía and now tours with Buika, bass master Javier Colina, and guitarist Raimundo Amador.

"Raimundo is a Gypsy from Sevilla and hails from an important clan," says Nina Menendez, the founder and artistic director of BayArea Flamenco, the organization that presents the annual Bay Area Flamenco Festival. "The great pianist Diego Amador is his brother.He grew up in the community playing straight ahead flamenco, but they fell in love with B.B. King and that whole blues/rock thing inthe sixties, when they were young teenagers. He does this amazing fusion of flamenco and blues."

While major arts presenters like Cal Performances and SFJAZZ play an important role showcasing top flamenco artists, over the pastdecade no one has done more to build bridges between Andalusia and the Bay Area than Menendez (who's a fine flamenco singerherself, and the daughter of the storied jazz/blues vocalist Barbara Dane). She's busy planning the ninth edition of the Bay AreaFlamenco Festival in June, when she'll present the incandescent Farruquito Dance Company at Zellerbach, but before then she's bringingthe legendary singer and dancer Miguel Funi to Berkeley's La Peña Cultural Center on April 12, and Santa Cruz's Kuumbwa Jazz Centeron April 13.

Though flamenco has lost its greatest international star with the death of De Lucía, the art form is as vital as ever, with strong roots andongoing cross-pollinations that end up enriching and expanding the ancient tradition.

Cal Performances' Focus on Flamenco starts Wednesday, March 12 at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley. For tickets and information visitcalperfs.berkeley.edu. Tomatito and his Flamenco Sextet peform Wednesday, March 12 at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts. Fortickets and information visit omniconcerts.com. To learn more about the upcoming Bay Area Flamenco Festival in June, 2014, visitbayareaflamenco.org.

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SMF Review: Tomatito by Jim Morekis

jim@connectsavannah.com

@jimmorekis

The Savannah Music Festival scored a major coup when itbrought the legendary godfather of Flamenco guitar,Paco de Lucia, to the Johnny Mercer Theatre in 2012.

The great de Lucia passed away just last month, but oneof his protégés and collaborators, Jose Fernandez Torres– aka Tomatito – did a masterful job keeping hismentor’s spirit alive this past Thursday at the Lucas foropening night of this year’s Festival.

Like the de Lucia show, this performance echoed theusual no-intermission Flamenco/Gypsy style stagepresentation: several black-clad players seated in asemi-circle around the virtuoso main guitarist, includinga pair of singers, a percussionist on the cajon, a coupleof rhythm guitarists, and of course a dancer (more on herlater).

Almost always beginning with an extended solo lead-infrom Tomatito – age 55 but looking much younger, a fullhead of long curly black locks – each sinuous, sexy songbuilt on the previous one, amping up the intensity levelto a predictably transcendental climax.

The intricate, mutable, overlapping time signatures ofFlamenco – 6/8, 3/4, 12/8, 4/4 and more, oftenswitching on a moment’s notice, as with jazz – added tothe hypnotic effect, a preternatural vibe emphasized bythe passionate, almost primal vocal stylings of dualsingers Kiki Cortiñas and Simón Román, who, inFlamenco style, seem to wring up every imaginablehuman emotion from deep within their bodies.

If de Lucia’s playing was known for its lightning speed,silky smoothness, and angelically lyric phrasing,Tomatito’s styling is more rock ‘n’ roll – a greateremphasis on rhythm and more clearly defined notes, with

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phrasing that’s less adventurous but still stronglycompelling in its own right.

Amid the frequent “oles” to each other on stage,Tomatito only spoke to the audience three times, briefly,and only in Spanish. One was thanking Savannah for thewarm welcome, and another was a tribute to Paco deLucia while introducing one of de Lucia’s pieces,performed with emotion and aplomb.

I’m pleased to report that, unlike some Music FestFlamenco shows of past years, the audience at the Lucasseemed fully prepared for the aural and emotionalintensity of the show – Flamenco being one of the mostviscerally earthy folk genres and quite different from thewatered-down, sterilized, and generic Western popculture most of us are used to.

Indeed, judging by the many enthusiastic shoutedencouragements from the audience and their obviousunderstanding of Tomatito's stage patter en espanol,there was quite a large number of Spanish speakers inattendance – surely a welcome first for me in years ofobserving Music Fest shows and audiences.

As is often the case with Flamenco shows, the audiencereally comes alive when the dancer is taken by the spiritand steps onto the hardwood performance floor in their boots – or in this case,heels. Flamenco dancing is typically a mostly male pursuit, but Tomatito’sconcerts feature the fiery, dramatic, and aggressive dancing of young PalomaFantova.

While only dancing twice all night – the first appearance being teasingly short –Fantova closed the show and brought the house down with a nearly 20-minutetour-de-force of hard-soft, fast-slow percussive dynamics: twirling, stomping,tapping, and snapping, in a mostly improvised performance responding to thebuilding drive of the full band and Tomatito’s guitar.

While dancing Fantova wears a serious, almost grim visage, fitting the drama ofthe music. But as she finishes and basks in the audience’s applause, her facelights up in a grin more befitting her young age.

In all, a hard Festival opener to top!

Tags: Music Reviews, Savannah Music Festival, Tomatito, Paco de Lucia

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Por: EFEPublicado: 16/03/2014 01:16 pm

Nueva York - Heredero natural de Paco de Lucía, JoséFernández Torres, más conocido como Tomatito, reinójunto a su sexteto en uno de los templos del jazz deNueva York, el Rose Theater del Lincoln Center, y ofrecióun recital en el que, desde la humildad, desglosó todaslas posibilidades de una guitarra.

El guitarrista flamenco conocido como Tomatito sepresentará con su sexteto en la noche del sábado 22de marzo en el Puerto Rico Heineken JazzFest 2014en el Anfiteatro Tito Puente. (Archivo/EFE)

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Se luce en Nueva York Tomatito, heredero natural de

Paco de Lucía

Tomatito no pudo evitar empezar honrando a su maestro.

"Es el mejor guitarrista de la historia, de atrás y de 'alante'", había dicho a Efe en una entrevistaminutos antes del concierto. "Paco de Lucía ha abierto las puertas del mundo para nosotros y hainventado una forma de tocar. Cuando me dicen que ha fallecido y me parece que no es verdad",aseguró.

"Two Much / Love Theme", que grabó para su álbum "Spain" junto a Michel Camilo como homenajea De Lucía, fue la canción que le puso en contacto con un público que se entregó a su magia y la delo que él llama su "familia", esto es, el sexteto que forman sus compañeros de guitarra (José delTomate y El Cristi), Moisés Santiago en el cajón y la batería, Kiki Coriñas y Simón Román en el cantey Paloma Fantova en el baile.

Coló acordes de "Entre dos aguas" pero, conforme avanzaba el recital, empezó a contradecir susmodestas palabras, pues los niveles de virtuosismo, su manera de desglosar las posibilidades de unmástil y seis cuerdas, le acercaron al olimpo flamenco al que pertenece De Lucía.

Tomatito era uno de los platos fuertes del Festival Flamenco a su paso por Nueva York. Llegaba deCleveland y destacó del público estadounidense "que es 'calmaíta' y respetuosa". Raro es oír un"olé" o contagiar unas palmas. Pero en este país, en cambio, siente que hay un vínculo común conotro género musical tan de las barras y las estrellas como es el jazz.

"El soul, que luego fue el jazz, como el flamenco, es música que sale de la verdad, del pueblo, de latierra. No es una música colona. Viene de la tradición, de la marginación. Los negros, como losgitanos, estaban sufriendo en la fragua", aseguró.

El guitarrista, que aprendió en la calle y que reivindicó esa escuela como la más completa quecualquier academia homologada ("ahora, desafortunadamente, aprenden en YouTube", dice), nosólo ha secundado a Camarón y a Paco de Lucía, sino que lo ha hecho con Frank Sinatra y haganado un César por la música que compuso para Tony Gatlif en "Vengo".

"Los que somos un poco más jóvenes que los grandes maestros Camarón y Paco, tenemos lasuerte de que el flamenco dejó de ser algo raro. Yo he podido gracias a ellos tocar en el 'Blue Note'(en Nueva York) y que viniera a verme mi ídolo, George Benson", recordó.

En el concierto se dio pronto a las alegrías, aunque también filtró notas de tango y de bolero.

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"Toco un poco de todo", dijo quien todavía disfruta desgranando los temas de su último disco endirecto, "Soy Flamenco", omega hasta ahora de una discografía cuyo alfa se llamó "Rosas delamor", allá por 1987.

Tomatito, en el escenario, se ganó con el sudor de su frente ser la cabeza de cartel, pero cedióespacio para su equipo, hasta dejarse en segundo plano en beneficio de la bailaora PalomaFantova, que puso al público en pie con su frenético taconeo, que casi incendió el escenarioocasionalmente convertido en tablao.

"El baile tiene los zapatos y el vestido. El cante es el instrumento natural que te da la vida, la vozque llega directa al corazón. Pero con la guitarra tienes que creértelo. Tienes que pasar del corazóna la madera y las manos", resumió.

Esta noche en Nueva York ("cómo suena decir que estás en Nueva York, siempre suena bien",reconoció) consiguió sin duda que el sentimiento llegara a la platea, que se puso en pie para investiral gran heredero de las mejores guitarras flamencas.

Tomatito se presentará con su sexteto en la noche del sábado 22 de marzo en el Puerto RicoHeineken JazzFest 2014 en el Anfiteatro Tito Puente.

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