Reviewed by:
Norman Paul Kliman
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Moraíto La guitarra flamenca de... Encuentro Productions 1999 PAL format See details Buy NTSC format See details Buy

	Introduction

Another chapter in this series from Encuentro Productions. The very name of the artist portrayed reflects flamenco tradition in Jerez: Manuel Moreno Junquera, better known as Moraíto. He is the son of Juan Moreno Moreno (also known as Moraíto), and the nephew of Manuel Moreno Moreno (known as Morao). Here we see him playing solo, and accompanied by one or two of his friends: the percussionist/palmero Ricardo Espinosa and the singer Fernando Terremoto.

	Background

They say that one of flamenco's most important attributes is the lengthy history behind the art. Until recently, this has involved a gradual process of change that has slowly developed a well-defined art form that constantly pays homage to its own past. This is perhaps most clearly seen in Jerez-based flamenco, which is famous for its traditional approach. The distillation of what appears to be a centuries-old legacy is the result of the patient contribution and cultivation of thousands of proud artists and aficionados that have created a highly characteristic style within this deep art. Juan Moreno (Moraíto) and Fernando Fernández (Terremoto) were two artists that lived the world of the señoritos, the tabanco, and the cortijo. Their sons, also named Moraíto and Terremoto, are presented here carrying on with this legacy, through their forty-some years of experience and hundreds of years of culture. Their intimate and deep-rooted art is portrayed with the cutting-edge technology of Encuentro Productions.

	Style

Moraíto offers us a demonstration of his solo playing through two bulerías, sevillanas, tangos, and a creation of his own in 3/4 time. With Fernando Terremoto, he accompanies siguiriyas, tientos-tangos, malagueñas, and bulerías. He combines the best known techniques-and a few surprises of his own-in an extremely well-rounded style that exudes aire while avoiding excessive displays of technique. Yet, the short bursts of picado and alzapúa, the constant and varied rasgueados, and, above all, the placement and combination of these and other techniques will provide years of challenge for any player around the intermediate level. His right hand deftly executes these techniques while coaxing beautiful tone from his guitar, and his left hand reveals a thorough understanding of the fretboard. The occasional modern chords he uses fit beautifully, stirring both the soul and the intellect. Thus, his playing is polished and forceful, elegant and aggressive, sophisticated and primal. He seems to have absorbed nearly all the ideas in traditional and modern playing, adapting them to his faculties, and filtering them through his extensive knowledge gleaned from thirty-five years of professional experience in every imaginable facet of the flamenco guitar. The result is his highly effective playing, absolutely devoid of filler. Although techno-geeks may not be overly impressed with his style, it is clearly his own (and everyone else's, in the positive sense), and is flamenco to the core. This in itself is much more difficult than it seems, and goes far beyond mere questions of technique. But, if we must choose one outstanding technical aspect of his playing, his driving rasgueados deserve special mention. He does not rely heavily on the thumb, and mostly uses different combinations of a-i-i and a-m-i. In my opinion, any player will greatly benefit not only from learning the fingerings of these rasgueados, but from observing the way that Moraíto incorporates them into his playing. Foremost in his approach is his rhythmic projection, and the strumming that opens several of the performances displays his keen sense of rhythm. He uniquely combines commitment to rhythm, development of technique, and knowledge of playing and singing styles. To sum up, I can not think of a single player who does a better job of balancing tradition and progress.

	Content

The video is a lot of fun to watch, as it offers us very entertaining performances of several styles. From these complete pieces, a selection of falsetas is transcribed in the 150-page book. Notation and symbols are all standard stuff (see my review of Encuentro Productions' video and book on Rafael Riqueni for further technical details). There is an index at the start of the book indicating the minutes and seconds at which each section starts (performances and rehashing of individual falsetas), but I found that times indicated were often as much as thirty seconds off the mark. This is actually more puzzling than it is a hindrance, and it is a silly detail marring the otherwise impeccable production. Other niggles might include a couple of moments of mic-bumping and heavy breathing picked up on his lapel-clipped microphone. Moraíto does not go into detailed explanations (he doesn't seem to be too comfortable talking about his playing), but I found his brief comments to be sufficient (his technique is challenging, but is not hard to understand). The slow-motion sequences are played only a little slower (bulería tempo slows to that of bulería por soleá, for example), and, at best, all we get is a clear shot of his right hand. Nonetheless, players around the intermediate level should have no problems with the brevity in words and images, which actually makes the video seem all the more direct and to the point, like Moraíto's demeanor itself.

As indicated at the beginning of the book, Moraíto's bulerías occasionally feature compases of only six beats. The notation is smartly laid out in four measures of 3/4 time to a bar, and the occasional six-beat compás is clearly represented with only half a bar. Encuentro Productions deserves extra points for this thoughtful detail.

	Performances

First bulería: This is taken from "Buleriando", from his recording "Morao y Oro." Ricardo Espinosa accompanies tastefully with supportive and unobtrusive percussion on cajón, wisely filling in the holes in Moraíto's singing guitar work as would a knowledgeable tocaor. Ten falsetas played in a scorching bulería lasting around six minutes, featuring thumbed single-note lines, arpeggios, alzapúa, double-stops, capirotazos (tap plus strum), and different patterns of his ripping rasgueados. Several falsetas start with arpeggios, work up to more aggressive techniques like picado or alzapúa, and nearly always end with a rasgueado flourish. This is an excellent way to add variety and build tension to falsetas, and, in this regard, a player can learn quite a lot just from watching Moraíto at work.

Sevillanas: Another track from "Morao y Oro" is featured with extracts from "Feria del Caballo," and is again tastefully accompanied by Ricardo Espinosa on cajón. Four falsetas for a total of around four minutes. The melodies of these four sevillanas are full of flavor and contrast, delivered through the arpeggios, rasgueados, counterpoint, and unusual harmonies.

"Mercado Persa": Another track from "Morao y Oro," this is a very catchy F# bulería-waltz lasting around four minutes that illustrates Moraíto's creative vein. This is a very nice piece of music that makes a great instrumental addition to any guitarist's repertoire, and works especially well with the accompanying cajón.

Tangos: This was taken from "Rompeserrones," yet another track from "Morao y Oro." Six falsetas for a total of around five minutes. Moraíto clearly excels in this style, and the lightening-fast execution is as exciting as the clever melodies. Irresistibly fun, this is one of the high points of the video. Excellent alzapúa and rasgueados.

Second bulería: Appearing on his second recording "Morao, Morao," this features knuckle-rapping accompaniment by Ricardo Espinosa and the singer Fernando Terremoto, whose appearance at this point segues nicely, as he sings in the performances that follow. Three falsetas in close to four minutes. This seems to be the closest thing to a formal composition (the other performances seem more spontaneous), perhaps because, at that time, the track had not yet been released, and was probably still fresh in Moraíto's head. The B/C harmony used in the beginning echoes the sweet tones of the granaína, but things take a deliciously dark turn to G#/A and F/F#, to settle into an unusual (and unsettling) D#/E. The music here involves a real left-hand workout, and is indicative of Moraíto's complete knowledge of the fretboard and unusual harmonies.

The accompaniment section consists of filmed performances of Moraíto accompanying Fernando Terremoto, with Ricardo Espinosa adding palmas for the tangos and bulerías. Unlike the rest of the music up to this point, there are no indications in the index as to the exact moment in which transcribed falsetas appear on the tape (in minutes and seconds), but this flashes onto the screen during each performance (Ex. 1, Ex. 2, etc.) Afterwards, Moraíto very briefly reviews several parts of special interest. He actually offers very little advice on accompaniment, telling us "to follow our hearts" in this matter, and the few moves that he does specify are quite clearly seen in the video. Nonetheless, the accompaniment chords are basic, and other more difficult passages appear in the notation.

Siguiriyas: Nine minutes of emotion-charged singing and playing. Lengthy intro and six falsetas with some basic chording and rasgueados. Moraíto's playing here is much more traditional, with echoes of Javier Molina, Sabicas, and his uncle Morao (excellent thumb-and-index alzapúa). Terremoto sings with amazing strength and rich texture, and adds his variations to several classic cantes. Parts of Moraíto's playing can be heard on "Morao y Oro" in the track "Terremoto."

Tientos/Tangos: Five minutes, intro plus four falsetas and basic chording. Excellent performance, although little of the great playing is actually transcribed.

Malagueña: Eight minutes, two lengthy cantes of Enrique Mellizo with Fernando's variations. Although Moraíto's chording includes some interesting personal touches, the transcriptions are limited to the very straightforward playing used to introduce each cante.

Bulerías: Described as a fin de fiesta, no transcriptions are provided for this exciting performance that marks the end of Moraíto's visit to our video screen.

	Rating

As mentioned several times in this review, the material presented here is appropriate for players around the intermediate level. Low-intermediate players will be able to see and hear examples of techniques that they may be developing, more skilled players will have their hands full trying to put all of the ideas together, and any aficionado will have a lot of fun with the inspired performances of these great artists.

¡Viva Jerez!

Norman Kliman