Manuel Morao
Who is Manuel Morao?
Manuel Moreno Jiménez, known as Manuel Morao, was born in 1929 in Jerez de la Frontera, into a gitano family with deep artistic roots. He learned the craft from Javier Molina, a leading figure of the Jerez school, and began performing on stage from a very young age: at barely twelve he was already accompanying figures such as La Niña de los Peines, Perla de Cádiz, Pastora Imperio and Antonio Mairena, and he toured with the companies of Caracol, Lola Flores and Concha Piquer.
From that early schooling, and from his later contact with the playing of Manolo de Huelva, Ramón Montoya, Niño Ricardo and Melchor de Marchena, Morao forged a Jerez style marked by rhythmic interplay and a very personal way of playing with syncopation, always at the service of cante and dance.
Career
In the 1950s he became the first guitarist of Antonio Soler’s Ballet Nacional, with which he toured stages around the world for fifteen years. In 1967 he launched the so-called “Jueves Flamencos” in Jerez, a series that in 1970 was renamed “Viernes Flamencos” and became a regular platform for young talent. In the mid-1980s he brought his art to the United States, on a tour that culminated in a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York.
His work was documented in more than sixty recordings across shellac, vinyl and CD, nine films and thirty-five television programs, including the series “Rito y Geografía del Cante.” He recorded above all with Terremoto and La Perla de Cádiz, and also with Talega and Antonio Mairena, leaving behind a catalog that documents much of Jerez cante in the second half of the 20th century.
Style and discography
His playing is marked by notable rhythmic innovation: he pioneered multiplying syncopation and off-beat accents within accompaniment, a device that went on to become a hallmark of the contemporary Jerez school. He was especially skilled in the alzapúa technique and in highly precise cante accompaniment, qualities reflected throughout his extensive catalog of recordings.
Legacy
In 1989 he founded the company Gitanos de Jerez, a platform from which he supported young artists such as José Mercé, La Macanita, Antonio el Pipa, Sara Baras and El Torta, extending his mentorship beyond the stage. Throughout his life he received numerous honors, including the Giralda de Plata (1964), the Premio Nacional Patiño (1965), the Premio Nacional de Guitarra from the Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez (1969), his induction into the Real Academia de San Dionisio de Jerez (1986) and the title of Hijo Predilecto de Jerez (2016). His nephew, Moraíto Chico, carried on the family tradition of Jerez toque, going on to be considered one of the leading figures of that school.