It's no secret that the music scene in Spain is an important and rich part of the culture. But when most people think of music in Spain, they think of flamenco, dancing, and red dresses. They probably won't think about jazz. But for my practicum, I will be exploring the world of jazz in Spain and learning about its development in the country over the last century. After stumbling across a lot of jazz-flamenco fusion and because of the prominence of flamenco in Spain, I thought it only fitting to dive deeper into the influences that it has had on the jazz scene here. And as I've continued with my research, I have found that there are more similarities between jazz and flamenco that I originally thought. Probably the most characteristic element that unites jazz and flamenco is the dominating presence of improvisation in both genres.
The origins of flamenco are tied back to the Spanish regions of Andalusia and Murcia, and have significant influence from the Roma populations that have resided there. The development of flamenco has been influenced over centuries by many different cultures, including non-Roma Spaniards, Sephardic Jews, and the Moors. The Roma influence, however, is by far the most notable and has been given the most credit. Groups of Roma people fled what is present-day India in the 15th century and a large population settled in southern Spain, and what is now Andalusia. They brought many different instruments, like castanets, tambourines, and bells, along with massive repertoires of both song and dance. Shortly after their arrival, flamenco as an art form began to emerge. There are three main parts to flamenco: the toque (guitar), the cante (song), and the baile (dance). The toque is typically characterized by rapid single note melodies on a traditional flamenco guitar. Instrumentally, this is also usually accompanied by castanets or clapping, often incorporated into the baile as well. Although the cante and baile are very important parts of flamenco, for my research purposes and comparing with jazz (where it's not as common to have singers and dancers), I will only be analyzing the instrumental aspects of flamenco in this blog. Some of the most notable jazz-flamenco albums from both Spanish and American musicians are "¡Jazz Flamenco!" by Pedro Iturralde, "Born" by Joan Bibiloni, and "Bolero" by Larry Coryell. With jazz being such a diverse genre, the genre of jazz-flamenco maintains this same diversity. Just in the albums mentioned, there are several different types of songs, from blues ballads to swing to Latin jazz, all with flamenco influences, primarily in the presence of the guitar. ¡Jazz Flamenco! in particular has a very interesting theme; although Pedro Iturralde is a saxophonist, there is still a large spotlight on the guitar played in a very flamenco-sounding style, with single note melodies and little to no background from other instruments. This type of guitar is also featured in every song, sometimes only at the beginning, and then a typical jazz combination of bass, drums, and piano, with Iturralde's saxophone being highlighted takes over, often taking away the guitar altogether, like in "Adiós Granada", "Zorrongo gitano", and "Las morrillas de Jaén". Iturralde's combination of jazz and flamenco is bit less of a fusion, and while it highlights both components, they tend to be separated in each song, with the flamenco element coming first, and the jazz element finishing out the rest of the song. "Born" combines the jazz and flamenco elements a bit more cohesively, where there aren't two distinct sections (one jazz, one flamenco) like in ¡Jazz Flamenco!. Instead, Joan Bibiloni keeps the traditional flamenco-style guitar highlighted throughout the piece, but has it supported by other instruments, especially percussion, in the background. The guitar in flamenco songs is typically more isolated, with very little backing chords from other instruments, and it isn't uncommon for a flamenco performance to have just a guitarist and a dancer with castanets. It is much less common to see such a small group playing jazz; even the smallest combos typically have 3 or more musicians: probably a drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, and usually a bassist too. In "Born", Bibiloni includes more of a jazz-style support while highlighting very flamenco-style guitar (nylon-sounding strings with quick, flowing melodies, and the occasional percussive elements by hitting/tapping the guitar itself). There are a few songs on the album that do separate the jazz and the flamenco a bit more, like "Una Vida Llarga i Tranqui-la", but not quite to the extent that Iturralde does in ¡Jazz Flamenco!. Although the very Spanish-sounding guitar is frequently the star of the show, the piano, electric guitar, bass, ad even some vocals also get a couple solos here and there throughout the album, which is much more typical of jazz compositions, where almost every song has a section dedicated to letting anyone take a solo. References: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/complicated-history-flamenco-spain-180973398/ https://www.britannica.com/art/flamenco https://www.wondriumdaily.com/history-of-spanish-gypsies-romani-gitanos/ https://lastablasmadrid.com/en/about-flamenco/
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