La Paquera de Jerez
Who is La Paquera de Jerez?
Francisca Méndez Garrido, La Paquera de Jerez, was born in 1934 in the San Miguel neighborhood of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz), the cradle of some of the most important flamenco dynasties in Andalusia. She belonged to a family with deep roots in cante: she was a niece of El Pili and sister of fellow cantaores Alonso and Margarita Méndez, a family environment in which flamenco was lived as part of everyday life.
She began singing at intimate gatherings in her neighborhood, among family and neighbors, and that informal, by-ear, street-learned apprenticeship forged a style of very personal strength and color that would stay with her throughout her career.
Career
She recorded her first record in the 1950s, while still very young, and from there went on to make a name for herself in tablaos and flamenco venues, even appearing in a Spanish Television production filmed at Madrid’s Atocha station. Throughout her career she was accompanied by guitarists of the caliber of Melchor de Marchena and, especially closely, Manuel Parrilla, her principal collaborator on numerous recordings and performances.
From the 1970s onward she focused her activity on flamenco festivals and peñas, a circuit in which her direct, unadorned festive cante remained highly sought after until the end of her life.
Palos and discography
Her repertoire covered bulería, soleá, seguiriya, tientos, martinetes and fandangos, with a particular fondness for the festive palos of her native Jerez, a field in which she is regarded as an essential reference.
Legacy
She died in her hometown on 26 April 2004, at the age of seventy, leaving pending the Premio Compás del Cante de Sevilla that was about to be awarded to her. Jerez posthumously named her Favorite Daughter, and she also received the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes in 2004 and the Palma de Plata de Algeciras in 2010. In 2009 the Asociación Peña Flamenca Amigos de La Paquera de Jerez was founded in her honor, keeping alive the memory of one of the fiercest and most recognizable voices of Jerez cante.