Once again, I find myself with an opportunity to explore and enjoy music in a foreign country. I am with my family in Barcelona for an unexpected Winter break. I cannot recommend Barcelona highly enough; the architecture is amazing. Besides the towering works of the most famous Modernists, Gaudi and Domenech I Montaner, there are amazing details and features on, like, 75% of the buildings you see. Even the most mundane buildings are interesting there. We had five full days in the city, and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. In one of our morning coffee walks, my wife and I happened upon a flamenco studio just a couple of blocks from our hotel. Everyone says you need to see a flamenco show while you’re in Barcelona, so we did as we were told.

Casa Sors Flamenco, is a family run enterprise, which was started in 1972 by guitarist Fernando Alonso Mercader. Today it is run by his son and daughter-in-law who have continued and built upon the elder’s success. In addition to having a small stage, there is a recording studio, which according to the website has seen the likes of Eric Clapton and Eddie Vedder, along with other giants of Spanish guitar, an academy, and a museum. They have a guitar that was made in 1769, one of only five that old, and they still play it.

I have to admit that my knowledge of flamenco was pretty limited; I had associated it with Spanish women with castanets, fans, and dresses with flare. I was told by the owner that that is only the very early stages of flamenco – beautiful but choreographed and predictable. True flamenco is about spontaneity and emotion with a singer, musician (guitarist and percussionist), and dancer playing off of one another’s expressions. The genesis of modern flamenco dates back to the late 18^th century when flamenco moved from the home to more public spaces and added a guitar and dancing to the traditional singing. In Seville in 1842, Cafe Sin Nombre (Café With No Name) opened, and moved the spotlight from the singer to the music and the dancers. This led to the opening of other flamenco cafes and people started to pay to see the performances. What had started centuries earlier with a mix of Romani, Moorish, Sephardic Jewish, and Andalucian influences as an expression pain of oppressed and marginalized people had morphed into a popular, national art form. The roots of emotional expression were not lost, though, they just grew.

The show started with a brief explanation of the performance space and flamenco by the current owner, which touched on the information described above. She really emphasized the emotional and spontaneous aspects of flamenco. We were going to be treated to a world-class show as many of the performers were internationally recognized for their abilities. She left us with the knowledge that Olé! is the proper way to show appreciation for the artists. Following her introduction, four men: two singers (Aurelio Cortés and Juanjo de Nayeli; a guitarist, Pocholo Cortés, and a percussionist, Mos Kito, took to the stage. They seemed at ease with both the stage and each other, speaking quietly to one another in Spanish. My Spanish is not good enough to pick up what they were saying but they were clearly joking around with one another. Before I describe the show any further, a little bit about the audience. We were a small group of about 30 (which was capacity), and we were entirely non-Spanish – a mix of mostly Asian, Scandinavian, and American. This is important because 1. We did not understand flamenco, which didn’t seem to have clearly defined ends to songs – no obvious “cheer now” points and 2. we leaned towards uptight and quiet both of which resulted in a tepid response from us to the amazing performance, at least initially.

After getting settled in, the guitarist started playing a song (and other than about 30 seconds did not stop playing for the entire show) and the two singers in the middle (see the picture below) just kept chatting with each other mostly, but sometimes with the musicians. This continued for about 5 minutes with the casual, quiet conversation punctuated by the occasional Ole! from one or both of the singers as the guitarist continued to strum. I think this was the first song, or maybe it was just warm up, but seemingly out of nowhere Aurelio Cortés, the singer or cantor to the left, belted out a deep, powerful vocalization. It immediately reminded me of a Muslim call to prayer it its tone and modulation. The singing was beautiful. After a few minutes of singing, with the guitarist continuing to play, the first dancer, Damian de Singla, took to the stage. He also had the casual vibe of one who is among friends AND one who knows what they’re doing. After a bit of walking the small stage while the guitarist continued to play, the dancing started. To my untrained eye, it’s hard to tell who takes the lead. I suspect it’s the dancer but can’t say for sure. After his dance, while the guitarist continued, he took a seat at the back of the stage. Then the second dancer, Ainhoa Garrido, took to the stage, again, with confidence and ease while the guitar and casual banter continued. Her dancing was graceful and powerful. At this point, Juanjo had also joined or led the singing; his style was not as guttural but was equally clear and beautiful. The crowd was starting to understand that there were not clear breaks between songs and that the show was a continuous performance, so they started clapping and yelling Olé more frequently and the energy picked up nicely. After one dance, Ainhoa left the stage and was replaced by Monin who continued the amazing dancing. He stayed on stage for two or three turns while the other men on stage provided percussion, singing, and strumming. At this point, three late comers joined the audience, and it quickly became clear that they understood flamenco because they were loudly yelling Olé and even speaking to the performers in Spanish. I suspect that they were also flamenco artists. This further increased the energy of the crowd and the show. All told the show was about an hour and fifteen minutes. We saw each of the dancers at least three times with all three sharing the small stage for an encore.

I’m certainly no expert on Jazz or jam bands, but I can see the influence of Flamenco, which has been around for centuries, on these musical styles. When done well, they all require amazing talent, there is a framework but tremendous freedom and spontaneity within that framework, and they’re all about emotional expression of an individual, which contributes to and enhances the emotional expression of the whole. If you ever find yourself in Barcelona, do yourself a favor and go see a flamenco show at Casa Sors Flamenco.