La Piriñaca de Jerez
Who is La Piriñaca de Jerez?
Ana Blanco Soto, known as La Piriñaca de Jerez or Tía Anica La Piriñaca, was born on 11 April 1899 in Jerez de la Frontera. The family nickname “Piriñaca” came from her father, and she shared it with her brothers, who were also cantaores: El Enano and El Gachó. She grew up, then, in an environment where cante was a routine practice within the family and the neighborhood.
Despite that heritage, Ana Blanco never considered cante as a profession while she was married: she sang within the intimate circle of her surroundings, with no public ambition, something fairly common among women of her generation in the Roma neighborhoods of Jerez.
Career
She came up in the setting of intimate gatherings at the ventas of Jerez, in particular at the Venta de San José, where she crossed paths with figures such as El Borrico, El Serna, El Troncho and El Brenes, and later also sang at the Venta de El Morito. She did not turn to cante professionally until the death of her husband, in the early 1950s, at which point her voice began to reach beyond the family circle to a wider audience.
Her first recordings came courtesy of Antonio Mairena, who included her in the “Antología del cante flamenco y cante gitano,” and she later took part in the “Archivo del cante flamenco.” Over the years she was accompanied by guitarists of the caliber of Manuel Morao, Parrilla de Jerez, Diego Carrasco and Juan Moreno, and she also went on to record two solo albums.
Palos and discography
Her repertoire centered on the soleares and seguiriyas inherited from Tío José de Paula, one of the great masters of the Jerez school, along with tientos, martinetes, tonás and deblas. She was also one of the great interpreters of bulerías from her land, always faithful to the most genuine and least showy styles of the Jerez neighborhood.
Legacy
In 1985 she received a public tribute from the Cátedra de Flamencología y Estudios Folklóricos Andaluces during the Festival de la Bulería, recognition of a career devoted to preserving her city’s Roma tradition. She died in her native Jerez on 4 November 1987, leaving behind the memory of one of the purest and most authentic voices of the Jerez school, considered by many aficionados a true “empress” of bulería.