Welcome to the Tiny Desert Concert. This is when we bring local Arizona bands into the KJZZ studios to play a couple songs for us and talk a bit about the music.
For this month, we hear from Flamenco Por La Vida.
This is not your typical band — rather the group is comprised of a singer, a guitarist and a flamenco dancer. Founded by Angelina Ramirez, the group is dedicated to bringing the heart and soul of flamenco to the Valley.
The Show spoke with Ramirez about flamenco’s essence — what is it and what does she and her group do differently from "traditional" flamenco.
You can find the group on their website and on Facebook.
This performance was filmed at KJZZ's youth media center, SPOT 127.
Full conversation
ANGELINA RAMIREZ: Yeah, that's an awesome and loaded question. Flamenco is quite complex, and there's a lot of theories about when it started and where it came from, and traditionally, growing up as a student of flamenco and a dancer. From the dancer's perspective, I made sure that I studied the music. I just kind of generally knew, for lack of a better term, the rules, you know, of how I interact with the guitarist, how the guitarist interacts with me, and how the singer and how we kind of all work together to create what we create.
And usually it's all improvised. We, for many years, try to practice a lot of the traditional what we call Puro Flamenco. But just recently, we decided to start kind of telling more of our stories in Flamenco, which our conceptual show is a little contemporary for such a historic art form, but that's where, even in Spain and all around the world, Flamenco keeps evolving.
STEVE GOLDSTEIN: How is the storytelling you mentioned, how does that manifest itself on stage? Because I'm less familiar with a Flamenco performance that involves vocals. I'm used to seeing a couple or three dancers with a guitarist, a traditional percussionist. So how is this different?
RAMIREZ: We have to remember that singing is what came first. So it was the words, the storytelling. Flamenco was usually a form of expression of the oppressed, the poor and the oppressed. So that's why, when you see Flamenco, and maybe you're not familiar, why are they so angry? What are they crying about? There's like the yanto, the ayas, you know, and that's all just about our pain. Flamenco is so adaptable to everybody, because it's a tool to tell our stories, you know, whether they're sad or they're happy.
GOLDSTEIN: So Angelina, why don't you tell us what you're going to perform next and give us some of the background?
RAMIREZ: We are going to do a bulerias. Bulerias which are kind of more festive, one of the fastest rhythms out there, usually performed in casual settings. It's also usually a time where people kind of take turns, like a break dance circle. So people take turns from the content to dancing. The guitarist will put their guitar down and have it at the dancing, so it's more festive and party-like. And so we're going to do some bulerias for you.
[MUSIC]
GOLDSTEIN: You mentioned your team before. What does it feel to be in sync with this particular team? Because with a traditional band, you've got the rhythm section, you've got the guitarist, maybe you've got a vocalist. But with this, with the different elements of the physical aspect of the dancing, with a guitarist, with a vocalist, how does that work together in sync?
RAMIREZ: There are sounds that I have to listen to in the singer. sounds that I have to listen to in the guitarists. when they're taking the lead in one of the sections as someone supporting in palmas and hand clapping. It's not just clack, clack, clack, clack. You know, there's also a structure to that we have to listen to where the music is taking it, where it's going. Are they going to take a break? Are they going to an idea? And that goes the same with the violet, the dancing.
So there are movements. And call that, that the singer and the guitarist and the cajon player and the bass player, whoever you have, your violinist, your pianist, you know that have to listen so they can roll with you. And if they don't, you might get an angry dancer or an angry singer, you know, because there's nothing worse than trying to get to an idea and somebody pulls the brakes on you.
But accidents also happen, and when that happens, and if you're with a group that, “OK, there was a little bit of a hiccup, if you will. OK, let's try that again, or let's take it somewhere else.” So sometimes it doesn't work, you know, but when you're with a group, a team that you feel really solid with and with artists that really kind of know the structure and the language behind Flamenco, then you know you can get a piece that lasts like half an hour. You won't get anyone to stop.
GOLDSTEIN: Angelina, before you leave, why don't you give us another performance and tell us about this one, too?
RAMIREZ: We're gonna perform an alegrías, which is from Cadiz, Spain. If you ever go to Cadiz, everything is the beaches. The sand is white, the water is blue. Everyone from Cadiz is a little bit happier. So this one's a medium tempo rhythm, a little bit more lighter and happy, and just kind of starts to build and build and build up to very celebratory at the end.
If you’re in a band or know of one you’d like to hear on air, send us a note at [email protected].
→ Hear More Tiny Desert Concerts
