Manuel Torre
Who is Manuel Torre?
Manuel Soto Loreto, known artistically as Manuel Torre, was born in 1878 in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz), at number 22 Calle Álamo. In his early career he was nicknamed “El Niño de Jerez” and later “Niño de Torre,” a nickname that would stay with him for the rest of his life on account of his tall stature.
Illiterate, having received no formal education, he devoted his life entirely to cante, an art he had not learned from books but from listening and the oral transmission typical of the Roma families of Jerez.
Career
He shared stages and friendship with figures such as Manolo de Huelva, El Colorao de la Macarena, La Macarrona and his own brother, Pepe Torre, and was accompanied by guitarists of the caliber of Miguel Borrull (son) and Juan Gandulla “Habichuela.” His rendering of the saeta por seguiriyas, recorded in 1908 under the title “Por no saber lo que hacerle,” is considered a Copernican turn within the genre, a revolution that forever changed the way the modern saeta is understood.
Throughout his career he left behind notable recordings, including eight tientos recordings in 1908 and up to thirteen versions of seguiriyas, the first of them in 1922, on the occasion of the records linked to the famous Concurso de Cante Jondo in Granada. In 1930 he was photographed during a tribute to the Álvarez Quintero brothers held at the Venta de Eritaña in Seville, one of the few images documenting his presence at notable public events.
Palos and discography
His repertoire was extraordinarily broad and covered practically every major style of cante: seguiriyas—his undisputed specialty—soleares, tarantas, malagueñas, peteneras, fandangos, tientos, saetas and cartageneras, mastering the cantes chicos and cantes grandes alike as well as the styles of Levante. Outside of cante, his great passions were greyhounds, English hens and pocket watches, details that humanize the figure of an artist who was regarded as almost an unreachable genius.
Legacy
He died in Seville in 1933. He is regarded as the king of Andalusian Gitano cante and the founder of a school later followed by masters of the caliber of Antonio Mairena, Manolo Caracol, Agujetas, Chocolate, Terremoto, Moneo and José Mercé. In 1959 the Jerez city council placed a commemorative plaque on his birth house, in a ceremony attended by Juan Talega, Antonio Mairena and Aurelio Selles, and Seville also named a street in his memory. His cante, described by many as profoundly existential, connected with generations of later aficionados even decades after his death.