Pepe Pinto
Who is Pepe Pinto?
José Torres Garzón, known as Pepe Pinto, was born in Seville in 1903. A payo cantaor, he took his first steps before the public around 1917 at the city’s Café Novedades, where he crossed paths, initially just as audience members encouraged to sing, with two other future cante figures: El Carbonerillo and Pepe Marchena. He did not turn to cante professionally until 1927.
In 1931 he married, in the Seville neighborhood of La Macarena, Pastora Pavón, La Niña de los Peines, one of the greatest voices in the history of flamenco, and with that he became part of one of the genre’s most significant artistic dynasties; his brother-in-law was the also-renowned cantaor Tomás Pavón.
Career
La Niña de los Peines herself hired him to perform alongside her at the Teatro del Duque in Seville, and from there his career leaned increasingly toward the theatrical format. He worked with Los Chavalillos Sevillanos, Rosario y Antonio, collaborated with the impresario Vedrines on flamenco opera tours starting in 1932, and shared bills over the years with Concha Piquer, La Niña de Antequera, and Juanito Valderrama, usually accompanied on guitar by Melchor de Marchena and Antonio Moreno.
His period of greatest prominence came with the production of his own shows, which toured all of Spain within flamenco opera companies: “Las calles de Cádiz” (1940), “Solera de España,” “España y su Cantaora” (1949, a production that also marked La Niña de los Peines’ return to the stage), “Del Corazón a los Labios,” “Escalera de Canciones,” “Así Canta Andalucía,” “Ronda de domingo,” “¡Tele y ele!,” and “Coplas y toros.” He also performed in the Spanish Protectorate of Tetouan during the 1940s, at the Teatro Calderón in Madrid, and on television.
Palos and discography
His specialty lay in soleá and seguiriya, cantes he performed with a depth highly valued by the critics of his time, in addition to personal fandangos, malagueñas, bulerías, and flamenco-tinged songs. He incorporated spoken recitations into some of his creations, a device that became popular among audiences. It was said of him that he made no distinction between cantes chicos and cantes grandes, and that he put his soul equally into any style he tackled.
Legacy
Pepe Pinto died in Seville on November 6, 1969, from an intestinal hemorrhage. He is remembered as one of the great masters of the cante of his generation, capable of bringing flamenco to a wide audience through theater and flamenco opera without ever giving up the authenticity of his style, and his legacy lives on among enthusiasts who value emotion above technical virtuosity.