By Esther Alaejos |
San Juan (EFE).- The Puerto Rican flamenco singer and composer Edgardo Monserrat will fulfill his “dream” of presenting his repertoire in Cádiz (Spain) this year, according to what he says in an interview with EFE in which he highlights “the fascination” in Puerto Rich for this art.
“The music and art of Spain are embraced here,” says Monserrat, who, after performing in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and the United States, next May will sing for the first time in the Andalusian city known as “la tacita de silver”.
During the interview, and before offering a flamenco show in the center of San Juan, the singer says that he will be part of a feature film that will be recorded in Spain, which for him is “a very big dream.”
“In Puerto Rico we are fascinated by flamenco. Culturally, both African and Spanish music is something that hooks you”, asserts the also painter.
Musicians from Cádiz such as Paco de Lucía or Camarón de la Isla are the ones who caused the Puerto Rican to become “passionate” and “bewitched” by flamenco when he heard them for the first time when he was around six years old.
Edgardo Monserrat has had a musical influence from his family. His father is a pianist and he recalls that he grew up listening to his grandmother play the piano with a Spanish, classical and flamenco repertoire.
Flamenco as a “lifestyle”
Throughout his 25-year musical career, he has been involved in various genres such as rumba, pop or trova music. However, it was flamenco that became “a lifestyle”.
“Everything was very complex for me, I wanted to get closer but I didn’t know how to digest the word, the image, the music, the compass, all the styles, it’s a very big mystery that takes a long time”, explains Monserrat.
He compares flamenco with the Puerto Rican genre of the bomba, which arose from the syncretism of Taíno, African and Spanish culture, due to its “very pure and primary roots”.
In addition to starting to sing bulerías, alegrías and other flamenco styles, the musician accompanies his performances with a guitar and a flamenco cajón, a true symbol of the mixture of Hispanic cultures.
Currently, the Puerto Rican is focused on further developing his musical career and on June 17 he will hold a concert in the symphony hall of the San Juan Fine Arts Center.
“I intend to do a show with a mixture of plastic arts, dance and in the musical part there will be a genre tour of the repertoire that will consider that they are themes of my authorship and popular themes”, he specifies.
Collaborations of Edgardo Monserrat with other artists
Monserrat has collaborated with several well-known artists, including the Spanish singer Concha Buika and the Puerto Rican Danny Rivera, and performed in a concert in Puerto Rico with the Colombian Carlos Vives.
In 2000, the artist published his first album with his own songs, including “You are bad” or “Until you say my name” and, in that same year, he won the “La voz y la canción” festival that was held at the Tapia Theater in Old San Juan.
Obtaining this recognition led him to write songs for singers like Olga Tañón, for whom he composed the single “Esta loca”, a ballad and merengue version.
The musician also took his first steps in poetry, composed the soundtrack for the film “Reclaim”, starring John Cusack and directed by Alan White, and won the Univision channel’s musical contest “Gigantes del mañana” in 2005.
“Art in general fills me and I would lie to you if I told you that I am composing all day or painting all day, but that I create balance in my life through expression through painting and music”, says Edgardo Monserrat.