There will be those who are annoyed that I was the one who glossed over Juanelo And whoever had the immense pleasure of presenting the evening dared to write about it. They are those who can question my integrity or my journalistic ethics. Although I think I am not suspected of keeping the truths that can be said. Among other things because I do not mince my words - almost not even on my head - but I do on the rest of my body, badly distributed. Jokes aside, it would be unfair not to dedicate a few words to it in the manner of whatever you want to label what I am telling you now. If you do not believe me, find a handful of those who crowded the place. The Mistela and ask them. I doubt there is anyone, unless they were deaf or insensitive - no offense - who would not appreciate the talent of this young man of only twenty-six years of age.
As a true fan, I have been following Juanelo since the first time I saw something of his on the networks. Afterwards, I made an effort to listen to him in person and I have enjoyed his work many times. cante in public and at private parties. And I have always thought the same thing: that he has the bronze in his metals, that he is a little-known singer and that he is one of the best young singers on the scene of what jondoIt is, as he says, “pure olive oil.” And he likes “the cream, the fat chestnut.”
This is what he demonstrated in a well-rounded and very tasteful show. From the choice of cast and repertoire to the way he moves around the stage. He is a great artist, he eats up the stage in his mouthfuls. And without being a gypsy, although he has a bit of a fight, he is more gypsy than many gypsies. That is why he surrounds himself with them and camouflages himself in a way that makes him pass for someone with eight lime surnames. But without hiding. Quite the opposite: always showing his face, his chest and his soul every time he opens his mouth.
Tete Peña to percussion, Manuel valencia y The Petete at palmas –What a great performance there was at the end of the night and what a great sound the two of them brought to the affair!–, three guitars from Utrera: Antonio Moya, Antonio Santiago 'Nerd' y Alejandro Fernandez –the three of them are superb, and… what substance Moya has, what musicality in Ñoño's composition, what finesse Alejandro has in his playing!–, the piano flamenco from Triana Pedro Ricardo Minho –sensitive and very elegant– and the racial dance of Carmen Ledesma. They all put on a high-quality show that delighted those present, drawing baskets of oles and raising the hairs on the back of the heads of the audience at every turn.
«Juanelo won over the public and snuck into the hearts of those who attended the ceremonial departure of a flamenco with capital letters that, although they already know him by all the candles, here he took the alternative as God commands"
Juanelo began with tonás at the order of the anvil, putting the first ones pellizcos until closing with brown bread. He swayed with the Lebrija airs through cantiñas remembering Pinini. He embroidered some malagueñas on the piano, putting his hat on them and abandoning himself to rondeñas, without singing, always flamenco, reveling in the sensitivity of Pedro Ricardo Miño's ivories. He hit a brick wall Gaspar de Utrera to open the tientos tangos and then came the moans and the mournful echo making of the cante a monument with the piano jondo Richard's. Tremendous. Then came the soleá, canonical and solemn. A romance of gañafones with the dance full of gypsy spirit of Aunt Carmen Ledesma –apotheotic– who danced to the cante as nobody knows. The sharp and painful seguiriya, throwing in the asaúras, then zambra, bulerías… with The Lebrijano y The Nougat Maker in vein. And the Crazy Heart de Male child.
Juanelo won over the public and snuck into the hearts of those who attended the ceremonial departure of a flamenco with capital letters that, although it is already known by all the candles, here it took the alternative as God commands.
I'm not going to say that this isn't a criticism. But I'd be biting my tongue if I didn't tell you even a little bit of what Juanelo made us enjoy at La Mistela. How well they do things in Los Palacios! What a peñaWhat a fan! What good people! And if you want to know a little more about this young man, I'll leave you with the profile I gave before the show in case you still want to get to know him better. Although nothing compared to enjoying him on stage or at a party. Don't miss it. There's a singer here.
Profile of Juan Juanelo
When he was in his mother's womb, his great-grandfather predicted that an artist lived there. On June 29, 98, this only son received his first kiss of light. And at only three years old, at a family party of the Medium, which is where he comes from, sang him some sevillanas that made him cry. The following year this good man died.
El cante He inherited it from his grandparents. He was a flamenco precocious. His grandfather José He sang. He was the eldest of eight siblings, among whom is Manuel Orta, who you all know, the great-uncle of the prizewinner and who is surely here among the audience. He also won the first Venencia de La Mistela, I think, 50 or 51 years ago.
His father was tempered in a group of sevillanas, Lights of Dawn, but the boy liked, as he himself says, "the pure olive oil." His maternal grandfather, Juan, he also sang. And that's where the gypsy vibe comes from. One liked it Mairena, El Caracol, The Lebrijano…And the other died with Chocolate y The Paquera. Almost nothing!
The protagonist of the night had heard all these figures since his tender childhood, but the one he really had in his heart was The Nougat Maker, because he used to shake him and because he was like a brother to his great-uncle Manuel and he had the opportunity to enjoy him in privacy. Although on the other hand he is in love, for example, with Utrera's Curro.
At five years old he goes to the program What a night and repeats a couple of times afterwards. And it is that his game has always been the flamenco. It was with the Currela (Ephraim, Curro, Manache…) with whom he landed at the age of 11 La Conch. And he continued to dabble. Also with the guitar, which he taught himself to play. At 12 he entered a competition that was organized by Severe, the president of the Peña Flamenca Utrera's Curro. He sang soleá, tientos, bulerías and fandangos and won. Part of the prize was to perform at the Mostachón Festival. And there he was at the age of 13 accompanied by the Child Friar. A few days ago we remembered it in that same peña, although with a different location, where I met him and we reviewed the poster that appears on its walls.
At that time, the first one who bet on him was Distinguished Juanito, who took him to the peña with the guitar and I played the malagueña, the soleá… Also Baby Staircase e Italy. Who can't be forgotten either is Jose Luis Castillo, The Peacock, founder of the peña who took him in his car to many places to sing.
When he was 14 his birthday present was the book of The Gypsies Flamencos, of the now deceased Pedro Peña, and he drank it. He read it five or six times. At that age he attended the academy of Eduardo Rebollar to play the guitar, but Eduardo saw his singing talents and kept him to sing to Yolanda, his wife.
He soon got a contract in Edinburgh and as he was 16 years old (he was a minor) he ended up in La Carbonería, where he stayed for three years, recorded his demo and sold it for ten euros to add to his wallet and earn a few pennies. On that CD he sings malagueñas, cantiñas, tientos, soleá, fandangos…
«This 26-year-old lad, this handsome and noble palatial man with blue eyes is a singer like no other. There is no party in which he is not present and he does not get close. He has the bronze in his voice, he knows how to hold the bass and to play pellizcos in the attacks. He scratches you when he complains in soleá and caresses you in the rocking of the tientos. He has plenty of rhythm in bulerías and romances, he rolls you around in fandangos.
He entered several other competitions and did not win any, but he arrived at Cuervo and took home everything: the best young singer, the prize for the soleá de Joaniqui and the absolute. The award was presented to him by Joaniquí's grandson, Andres from the Cinema.
Go to the forum flamenco Canal Sur with Manuel Curao. And at 19 years old he shared the bill in La Villette, France, with artists of the stature of Farruquito, Jose Valencia, Anabel...
Thanks to Manuel Herrera He had the opportunity to be in the company of Maria Pages, but he was not comfortable with the tones and the type of dance and the flamenco which was done and ended up being withdrawn.
At the age of 18 he performed here in The Mistela with a dance academy, at 19 he works with Jose Galvan y Pastora Galvan and then they would come Carmen Ledesma, Concha Vargas, Pepa Montes, Cristina Hoyos placeholder image, Pepe Torres placeholder image… apart from the tablaos: The Roosters, The Arenal, Flamenco Andalusian… or for six years the circuits through the peñas of the Provincial Council of Seville and the Biennial for the Province, as well as countless private parties, gypsy parties or fair stalls. And at 20 years old, in The Snail 2019, he really makes a big mess on stage. Or at the festivals of Aguadulce and Carmona. And on the television program Land of Talent, where he became a semi-finalist.
El flamenco It has been his hobby since he was born. He has always loved to know the genealogy and relatives of artists, out of curiosity and to get to the root, to drink from the source. And "to speak properly," he told me. That is why he approaches old gypsies, like The Spoon o Gaspar de Perrate in Utrera or The Funi in Lebrija, to whom she brings him a box of sweets from time to time and they engage in an endless conversation. He is very inquisitive. In addition to the fact that he likes to read and soak up the letters and listen to the canteYes, studying them… He says that he “likes an old gypsy more than food.” Although “the problem with hanging out with old people is that they die soon,” he laments.
He is always surrounded by good artists because he has no shame and ends up going to all the parties, where he has learned more and better about this. The university of partying, where he has spent almost everything he was earning and with pride. He would grab and go for it. And he has never tried to make a business out of this. He goes to sing because he is passionate about it, he has a good time, on top of that he makes a little money and earns a living. That is how he enjoys it, getting drunk on art with Antonio Moya o The Marseillais, Paquito Vega, Manuel de Paula, The Funi… Almost all of them are gypsies, and even though he is not one and only has a few scruffs, he feels more gypsy than the gypsies. And very flamenco. Because he likes cream, fat chestnut.
Without denying Los Palacios, which he takes pride in, he is very attracted to Jerez, where the gypsy who drives him crazy is from, Lebrija and especially Utrera. In fact, since he was born on June 29, the day of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, he almost always celebrates it in the Gypsy stew.
Live for and by him cante. He has tried to work in other things. In the fields and the pandemic saved him, in the bricklayers and lasted a quarter of an hour… It didn't help him with his studies either. He says he doesn't know how to do anything, "not even put in a light bulb." But the flamenco He has poisoned it. And it is not that he lives for and by it flamenco, but lives in flamenco, from the moment he gets up until he goes to bed. You can see it in the way he speaks, how he dresses, his bearing, the way he walks and behaves. And when he opens his mouth…
The responsibility of this evening makes me scared shitless and full of pride. He has bought himself a suit for the occasion and has rested his voice to save it for you. With the jindama on his body because the theatre is packed, up to the bedspread. Already holding back tears for those who are not here and excited for those who have come.
Ladies and gentlemen. This 26-year-old lad, this handsome and noble palatial man with blue eyes, is a singer like no other. There is no party in which he is not present and does not get close. He has the bronze in his voice, he knows how to hold the bass and to play. pellizcoHe scratches you when he complains in soleá and caresses you in the rocking of the tientos. He has plenty of rhythm in bulerías and romances, he rolls you around in fandangos… He is a chameleon. He sounds more like Lebrija than the people of Lebrija, more like Utrera than the people of Utrera… and he soaks up the airs of big bells to take them to his terrain and stamp his own seal on them. He is personal, dedicated, generous, has a lot of age, is a friend of his friends and very good people.
For all this, I call to the stage with the applause of all of you the justly deserving of La Venencia Flamenca to Cante for 2024, Juan Jose Amuedo Galan, Juan Juanelo.
Credits
Mistela de Los Palacios Festival
Flamenco Venencia at Cante by Juan Juanelo
Pedro Perez Fernandez Municipal Theatre, Los Palacios and Villafranca, Seville
18th October 2024
Cante: John Johnelo
Guitar: Antonio Moya, Antonio Santiago 'Ñoño' and Alejandro Fernandez
Piano: Pedro Ricardo Minho
Dance: Carmen Ledesma
Percussion: Tete Peña
Compass: Manuel Valencia and El Petete
