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Agujetas' singing is rough like the first sip of whiskey. -From the film "Agujetas Cantaor"
A well-modulated primal scream - an exquisitely controlled shriek of anguish and despair. I have heard it described as inhuman, and it does have a sheer animal quality to it - The Village Voice, 1976
Spanish Gypsy flamenco legend Manuel Agujetas, is an outstanding, controversial singer - anarchic and unpredictable. Born Manuel de los Santos Pastor in Jerez de la Frontera in 1939, Agujetas is one of the most important figures in the history of flamenco. Heir to the Spanish Gypsy tradition of singing blacksmiths, Agujetas worked in his falther's forge until 1970, when he made his first recording. He has achieved international recognition for his singing of the stunningly intense form of flamenco, cante jondo (deep song), which includes flamenco's purest, ancient styles such as martinetes and siguiriyas. He appears in Carlos Saura's film "Flamenco" and in Dominique Abel's documentary "Agujetas, Cantaor".
Agujetas will be joined by dancer Ikeda Kanako and the superb young Gypsy guitarist Manuel Valencia of Jerez de la Frontera, a student of both maestro Manuel Morao and Gerardo Núñez and the nephew of Terremoto, from whom he learned to accompany the cante. |
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