Rafael Jiménez Falo

TRAYECTORIA
Falo pertenece a la nueva generación de artistas flamencos que apuestan por una renovación del cante, siempre partiendo de su tradición más pura.
Comienza su trayectoria como cantaor en 1985 en la Peña Enrique Morente de Oviedo. En 1991 recibe de manos de Félix Grande una beca de flamencología de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid que le permite introducirse en el ambiente flamenco de la ciudad y comenzar a trabajar como cantaor para el baile.
Ha trabajado en teatros de todo el mundo cantando en las principales compañías de baile, como las de Mario Maya, Javier Barón, Rafael Amargo, Antonio Canales o Belén Maya, y junto a cantaores de renombre como José Mercé, Chano Lobato, Diego el Cigala o Enrique Morente, con quien ha mantenido una especial relación de colaboración desde 1992.
Entre 1995 y 2000 vive intermitentemente en Nueva York trabajando con la compañía Noche Flamenca, una experiencia que marcará su carrera porque cambia su concepto del arte y del artista.
En 1996 graba su primer disco ¡Cante gitano! (Celestial Harmonies), que supone el inicio de su carrera como solista. Por este álbum obtiene en 1998 el prestigioso premio Copa Teatro Pavón al Mejor disco del año y al Mejor intérprete joven, que le entrega Manuel Ríos Ruiz, Premio Nacional de Literatura y fundador de la Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez de la Frontera. Desde entonces, Falo ha continuado su carrera como solista y ha actuado en teatros y festivales de todo el mundo.
Ha participado en el disco de Radio Tarifa, Temporal (1996, BMG). Los “Tangos de la condición”, uno de los temas interpretados por Falo, fue número 1 durante dos meses en la lista de éxitos de Músicas del mundo de EE.UU. También ha colaborado con el folklorista Eliseo Parra en su álbum de 2002 Viva quien sabe querer.
En su faceta de investigador del cante flamenco, Falo ha rescatado y sacado a la luz estilos y cantes en desuso de gran belleza y valor artístico, y ha pasado por el tamiz flamenco temas populares de su tierra asturiana, como las bulerías A la Tía Chata de su primer disco, cantadas en bable.
La investigación flamencológica y los años de estudio de técnicas vocales con reputados maestros de canto no solo han influido en la personalidad artística de Falo, sino que también lo han llevado a la docencia y a una actividad como conferenciante. En la actualidad, enseña en la escuela de flamenco más emblemática de Madrid (Amor de Dios), y da charlas sobre historia del flamenco y cursos de cante tanto en España como en el extranjero.
Falo ha buscado siempre modos de actualizar los cantes, enriquecerlos o destacar su esencia mediante el uso de nuevos instrumentos y nuevas armonías, ofreciendo nuevos contextos sonoros o proponiendo espacios físicos diferentes de interpretación.
Gracias a este esfuerzo creativo, el cante de Falo atrae, sin ceder un ápice de flamencura, a un público amplio de aficionados al flamenco, a la música clásica, el folklore, las músicas del mundo o el jazz. Ejemplo de esta búsqueda es la malagueña A Enrique el Mellizo, que aparece en el álbum ¡Cante gitano! acompañada por un coro de canto gregoriano para recrear y evocar lo que sostiene la leyenda: que Enrique el Mellizo creó esta malagueña inspirado por los cantos gregorianos que era aficionado a escuchar en la catedral de su ciudad natal.
CAREER
Rafael Jiménez Falo belongs to the new generation of flamenco artists who are advocating for a renovation of flamenco singing, based on its purest tradition.
He made his debut in 1985 at his home town’s Enrique Morente peña (flamenco club). In 1991, thanks to Félix Grande, he was awarded a scholarship to attend a Seminar on Flamencology at Madrid University. This marked his introduction to the flamenco scene of the capital, where he began to sing professionally.
He has performed in concert halls and theatres worldwide with big flamenco dance figures, such as Mario Maya, Javier Barón, Rafael Amargo, Antonio Canales or Belén Maya, and alongside great flamenco singers, such as José Mercé, Chano Lobato, Diego el Cigala or Enrique Morente. With the latter he has maintained a close professional relationship since 1992.
Between 1995 and 2000 he lived intermittently in New York, where he worked with the company Noche Flamenca, an experience that changed his concept of art and the artist.
He released his first record, “¡Cante gitano!”, in 1996 with Celestial Harmonies, which signaled the beginning of his solo career. For this album he won the prestigious Copa Teatro Pavón Award for Best Album of the Year and Best Young Singer in 1998, under the auspices of Manuel Ríos Ruiz (Spanish National Literature Prize award-winning author and founder of the Institute of Flamenco Studies of Jerez de la Frontera). Since then, he has continued his career as a soloist and he has performed in theatres and festivals all over the world.
He has contributed to Radio Tarifa’s album “Temporal” (BMG, 1996), which was greatly received by critics and the public alike: one of the tracks which Falo sang (Tangos de la condición) was number 1 in the USA’s World Music Top 10 charts for two months in 1999. In 2002 he also contributed to the Spanish folklorist Eliseo Parra’s album "Viva quien sabe querer". He is currently preparing the recording of his second solo album.
As a researcher of flamenco singing, Falo has rescued and brought to light songs and styles of great beauty and artistic value which had fallen into disuse. He has filtered popular tunes of his Asturian homeland through the “flamenco sieve”, such as the bulerías A la Tía Chata recorded for his first album, which are sung in bable (a Northern dialect).
His research on flamenco singing and his year-long studies of vocal technique with highly reputed masters have not only influenced Falo’s artistic personality, but they have also brought him to teaching and lecturing. He currently teaches at the most emblematic School of Flamenco in Madrid (Amor de Dios), and gives lectures on Flamenco History, illustrated with singing and guitar playing, as well as courses on Flamenco singing in Spain and abroad.
Falo has always looked for ways of updating, enriching and bringing out the essence of the old flamenco tunes through the use of new instruments and new harmonies, as well as searching for new sound contexts and different performing spaces.
Thanks to this creative effort, Falo’s singing appeals to a broad audience of flamenco, classical, folk, world music or jazz lovers, without loosing a bit of its flamenco-ness. An example of this search is the malagueña A Enrique el Mellizo, recorded for the album “¡Cante gitano!”, which is accompanied by a Gregorian choir in order to recreate and evoke that which the legend holds: that Enrique el Mellizo created this outstanding malagueña inspired by the Gregorian chants he loved to listen to in the cathedral of Cádiz, his home town.

PRESS
Without claiming to be a genius or a revolutionary, like avant-garde wannabes often do, his musical approach to flamenco is a solid one. And maintaining the essence of flamenco all throughout, he hints with excellence and indisputable quality at a future of the genre.
Manuel Ríos Ruiz. ABC
His singing is not only creative and original, but it has also a formidable amount of talent. He knows that the styles cannot be sung like one hundred years ago, and he contributes to their renovation working from a coherent understanding of the jondo, which is never spoiled. There is no doubt that we are witnessing an exceptional artist at work.
Ángel Álvarez Caballero. El País
Rafael Jiménez Falo, whose astonishing modulated caw of a solo is a highlight of the show.
Jennifer Dunning. The New York Times
He has a privileged sense of rhythm, and the pathos and echoes of mythical singers resonate deeply in his voice. He is serious and studious, an outstanding artist who deserves a strong and open support.
Alfredo Grimaldos. El Mundo
Aware of the need to constantly learn, his singing aims at evolution and innovation while respecting tradition. His balanced and unique approach is new to flamenco: one open to fusion but without straying from the roots of the music.
Manuel Naranjo Loreto. Europa Sur
The musical segments are dominated by the resonant, powerful voice of Rafael Jiménez Falo. Try to go on a night when he sings his own brooding, melancholy “Solo de cante”.
Gia Kourlas. Time Out New York
Falo and Luis Escribano begin on the same note but soon diverge, creating odd dissonances reminiscent of Eastern European folk music. Sometimes both bass player and singer executed jazz-like “sliding” tones. The overall effect was magical, quasi-religious, and extremely moving.
Nancy G. Seller. Flamenco International Magazine
Between Asturias and Jerez there exists an unusual road to flamenco. Only Rafael Jiménez Falo has currently visa to travel through it.
Silvia Calado Olivo. Flamenco-world.com
Faithful to the classical content, but personal in the formal element; studious and disciplined, creative, and with a wide command of technique and rhythm.
Juan Pinilla. Jondo web
Rafael Jiménez Falo is a long-distance runner. His command of the flamenco tradition and of the different styles, together with an awareness of his potential and the measuring of his voice, make of him a unique artist endowed with the necessary charisma to be considered an important figure in flamenco singing.
Volandovengo. Granada
He knows deeply the whole flamenco tradition and is a master of rhythm. His album ¡Cante gitano! is a landmark in flamenco, a kind of Camarón’s La leyenda del tiempo, but in a different dimension. Here Falo contributes from his humble wisdom, comparable to the great Enrique Morente’s, with new lines of research into the flamenco styles.
Víctor Rodríguez. La Voz de Asturias
Listening to Falo’s voice is like opening a window and taking a gust of sensations. He is excellent at soleá, and paces up and down the different styles keeping the equilibrium of his voice in a silk thread that ever seems about to break, only to cause amazement when it reaches its continuity. His research in the flamenco genre has amounted to several achievements, such as his bulerías version of the Asturian vaqueirada, which is a heritage to be taken up by the up-coming flamenco generations.
Marián Pidal. Flamenco, Tribuna Ciudadana