Music did not catch him by listening to records, as usually happens, because it was enough for him to listen to the guitar playing of those closest to him, his father, José, and his brother Juan. “My first influences were them, listening to them at home and at parties. Then, when I was 15 or 16 years old, I went to Sacromonte to learn from the old people who were there. And I have stolen things from all over the world: from Sabicas, from Paco de Lucía…”, sums up with good humor and without giving himself too much importance Pepe Habichuela, living history of modern flamenco, who this Sunday will offer a unique recital on Cathedral Avenue, hosted by the Mercè festivities.
Pepe Habichuela, or José Carmona, defines himself as “a guitarist who has adored flamenco”, with an attitude towards the genre attentive to orthodoxy (“the base comes first”) and open to innovations and dialogues with other music . “I have never been afraid of anyone. I have had respect”, synthesizes the virtuoso from Granada, who has shared projects with figures from jazz and beyond, such as Don Cherry, Jaco Pastorius, Dave Holland, Max Roach or Anoushka Shankar. Father of Josemi Carmona and uncle of two other Ketama members, he has seen the children of the Morente clan grow up, Estrella, Soleá and Kiki, who call him uncle, although this should not be taken literally. “They call me that because of the affection. We are like family & rdquor ;.
From Valderrama to Morente
There were his more than two decades together with Enrique Morente, With whom he recorded, in 1977, two albums that were very different from each other: the adventurous ‘Despegando’ and the classicist ‘Homenaje a Antonio Chacón’. “Enrique had something in his throat that was not normal & rdquor ;, he highlights. “He wrote some very good lyrics and set a standard for young people. I was behind him, learning & rdquor ;. as before with Juanito Valderrama. “We did two tours of Spain in 1970, with more copla than flamenco”.
Both Morente and the Paco de Lucía-Camarón tandem did something necessary, he estimates, “open the doors & rdquor; for new audiences to access flamenco and transcend the circuit of “taverns and small venues”. Stages such as the tablao Las Brujas, in Madrid, where Habichuela played with the recently deceased Manolo Sanlucar. “Another phenomenon. A very studious person. He knew a lot of flamenco palos, and that in the long run shows & rdquor ;.
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Habichuela went from exploring guitar playing to fusion with other types of music, starting in the 1980s, with his own solo career (together with musicians such as Carles Benavent or Rubem Dantas) and associating himself with international figures. “Mario Pacheco called me, from Nuevos Medios, and we did a tour with Don Cherry in which I also learned a lot. He came to see us with flamenco and jazz audiences & rdquor ;, he recalls, evoking his gig at the old Zeleste on Calle Argenteria. “In Barcelona, flamenco has always been very popular. That’s why I’m going now, to give him what he deserves & rdquor ;.
On his return to La Mercè, which hosted him in 2006 (when he shared the stage with Ojos de Brujo), he will feature his son Josemi, Bandolero’s percussion and three voices, as well as two guests, Javier Colina and Sílvia Pérez Cruz. “I’m already pure, but I feel at my best. I am more curdled. I’ve been with the guitar in my hand for 60 years. Every day one learns a little more, and I do not lack work & rdquor ;, reflects, at 77 years old, the guitarist, of whom a documentary is being prepared, as well as a biographical book of the flamenco specialist José Manuel Gamboa. “I’m still there, fighting with the guitar, because that’s what I like, seeing my audience and giving them my heart.”