Some keys to the history of the zambomba (5): its modern flamenco version

From what we have been able to analyze so far, the carol belonged to the collective through compositions that were inherited thanks to oral tradition. However, the arrival of a new social reality in the 20th century overshadowed the ancestral custom of getting together to sing in all the festive cycles. (On the cover, detail of a painting by Muñoz Cebrián for one of the covers of the series Así Canta Nuestra Tierra en Navidad)

This circumstance, aggravated throughout Spain by the depopulation of rural areas in favour of cities, displaced a large number of popular customs. In this way, group amnesia about couplets and carols took hold of society at the same time as it found other means of entertainment. It is often said in the field of folklore that certain musical rites are lost due to the lack of its functionality. However, some enclaves such as Arcos and Jerez became privileged conservatories of the zambomba songs compared to other places where they disappeared. Let's take an example: the farmer who accompanied his work with different cantes of chores stops doing it once he becomes familiar with a radio set. That cante threshing lost its usefulness and was therefore neglected and forgotten.

A different issue from everything we talked about is the contribution of professional artists to the field of Flemish Christmas itselfIt is a subject that maintains different profiles because it does not fully respond to the 'zambomba' concept and that we will address in a new series.

The widespread transfer of tenement houses to apartment blocks

As the scholar Manuel Naranjo Loreto admits, the gradual disappearance of the courtyard was decisive. Fundamentally due to the urban development of the 60s and 70s of the last century and the subsequent migration to the blocks of flats. In the common courtyards, and in a certain way to mitigate the need by singing, the zambomba was developed in a natural, spontaneous and daily way. With many hardships but with great enthusiasm. However, once in the blocks, this “meeting” was not reproduced with the same intensity, each one lived in their flats, and the custom began to be lost The neighbours and relatives gathered around a candle to sing the old verses. On the other hand, and fortunately, progress was made in the welfare of the families, so to speak. In the end, many verses were gradually lost in the memory of the new neighbours and, above all, of their following generations.

The emergence of other means of collective “entertainment”:

For this second reason we will understand much better how the zambomba was languishing. It did not disappear completely, but it is true that its practice was reduced significantly. We are talking about the total Implementation of television in every home, a device that took on all the importance of family entertainment in those years. Not to mention today that there is a receiver in every room of the family home and, even more so, the presence of social networks with their virtual zambombas. This is what we have been talking about, the “loss of functionality” of customs due to the abrupt change in the cohabitation model.  

The pioneering work of the Chair of Flamencology and Radio Popular de Jerez in the recovery of the zambomba:

For this reason, when the series on disc and cassette began in 1982,This is how our land sings at Christmas” by the Choir of the Chair of FlamencoThe Jerez tradition represents, above all, the return to the collective phenomenon. Thanks to the serial, many verses and lyrics that showed clear symptoms of amnesia began to be remembered; representing a revolution in the way of presenting them both musically and socially.

At this point, it is crucial to highlight the role of The Chair of FlamencoJerez logy, with its director Juan de la Plata at the helm. The pioneering Jerez institution, together with the flamenco, looked after Andalusian folklore traditions, as its full name suggests. Prior to the appearance of the first records, the Chair organised many events seeking to revive a zambomba that had been reduced to ever smaller groups.

For its part, Popular Radio of Jerez The radio station, which was then a faithful companion in all the homes of the city, had a great presence in them. Through its director, Andrés Cañadas Machado, the announcers encouraged the neighbours, in greater numbers, to call the station to sing the old songs. Such was the commitment of the Jerez station that zambombas were organised in the neighbourhoods led by, among others, Manolo Yélamo, Pepe Marín and Bernardo Linares.

Here you have a great contribution from colleague Fran Pereira, current director of the institution, in Jerez's Diary to understand the true scope of what we say and which has been very useful to us in completing some of the information in this article:

https://www.diariodejerez.es/zambombas-jerez/zambombas-extinguian-jerez-anos-setenta_0_1420658272.html

A revolution called 'This is how our land sings at Christmas':

The agitation proposed by the two entities was the true breeding ground for a record collection that would mark a before and after in the Jerez zambomba. In 1981, a happy meeting took place, facilitated by a great fan and member of the Chair: Mariano Ruiz Carretero, who was also the assistant director of the powerful and now extinct Jerez Savings Bank.

From his efforts all the bases of the historic project come together when the idea falls into the hands of Juan Pedro Aladro (editorial director of Cinterco, Creaciones Internacionales y Coediciones SA) who adds to the company the Choir of the Folklore Classroom of the Chair of Flamencoology of Jerez with Juan de la Plata; to José María Álvarez-Beigbeder, brother of Manuel Alejandro, as artistic director of the recording, as well as to Paco Izquierdo who acted on behalf of the Caja de Ahorros de Jerez, an entity that provided the necessary sponsorship for the records…

And, among all of them, a fundamental name: Manuel Fernandez Molina 'Jerez Grill', in the end its artistic baton and great promoter -in matters of adaptation- of the renewal of the Christmas carol. The contents of the first records of 'Así Canta Nuestra Tierra en Navidad' caught on like wildfire, thanks also to the powerful loudspeaker that was Radio Popular; without forgetting the important role of the brotherhoods and confraternities, as well as the association of Nativity Scene Makers of Jerez and some peñaflamenco s.

With those 'green discs' (corporate colour of the Caja de Ahorros de Jerez) of the Jerez Christmas Eve, a true stylistic renewal of the carol had emerged. The old ritual of the zambomba, certainly transformed, thus managed to survive the great challenge of modern times, not without some cost of its own nature.

To be continue....

Jose Maria Castaño @Caminosdelcante