Pepe Marchena
Who is Pepe Marchena?
José Tejada Martín, known first as Niño de Marchena and later simply as Pepe Marchena, was born on November 8, 1903, in Marchena (Seville). Before devoting himself entirely to cante he worked as a donkey driver, blacksmith’s apprentice, and tavern keeper, humble trades he left behind after winning an amateur contest in Fuentes de Andalucía, his true debut as a cantaor.
Career
From then on he performed in La Puebla de Cazalla, Morón de la Frontera, and Osuna, and was hired at the Café Novedades in Seville, earning five duros a day. In 1921 he made his debut in Madrid, at the merendero Casa Juan de La Bombilla, alongside El Canario de Colmenar and La Lavandera; the impresario Carcellé then took him to the Teatro La Latina with a salary of two hundred pesetas a day, a considerable sum for the time. He regularly worked with guitarist Ramón Montoya and shared the stage with Chacón, Currito de la Jeroma, Manuel Pavón, and Perico el del Lunar, among others. In 1925 he performed before Spanish nobility at the opening of the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville, and in 1926 he toured much of Spain and the Mediterranean coast, making his debut in Valencia and Barcelona. Cinema also called on him, with titles such as “Paloma de mis amores” (1935), “La Dolores,” and “Martingala” (1944), and in 1945 he headed a company in Buenos Aires, touring Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro.
Palos and discography
He is known as the “King of the fandango” for being its principal champion, but his repertoire also spanned seguiriyas, soleares, malagueñas, bulerías, cantiñas, tangos, cantes de Levante, guajiras, and milongas; he is also credited, together with Niño de la Flor, with creating the colombiana style in 1931. He left 266 recorded cantes over the course of his life, a recorded legacy digitized onto 17 CDs by the Federación de Peñas Flamencas de Sevilla, the Diputación, and the Instituto del Flamenco. His cante, built on trills, falsetto, and recitative passages, was unmistakable, as was his carefully staged presentation, always with a different suit for each performance.
Legacy
He is considered one of the most influential performers in twentieth-century flamenco, precisely for the freedom and personality he brought to the cante, to the point of being recognized as the first cantaor-actor in the history of the genre. In 1952 a street in his native Marchena was named after him, in 1974 a tribute festival was held in his honor with Juanito Valderrama and Perlita de Huelva, and shortly before his death, already gravely ill with cancer, he received his city’s Gold Medal. He died in Seville on December 4, 1976; weeks later, Juanito Valderrama organized a benefit festival in his honor at the Teatro Alcalá-Palace in Madrid, and in 1986 a monument to him was erected in Marchena, the work of sculptor Rafael Armenta.