La Voz de Almería (A News paper from Almería, Spain)

Written by José Luis Laínez

Published: March 12, 2004

When I sang my first saeta I was thirteen. It was to the image of the Virgin of Soledad, of which I am a devout follower.

It is the Good Friday, 1999. The Virgin of Soledad is finishing her procession and it is going to be placed in the Church of Santiago of Almería. Hundreds of people are waiting, expectant; they are sure that the costaleros –those who bear the religious images during processions- will carry it out perfectly. The saetas can be listened to on the streets, as every year during those Easter nights. Just outside the temple, the cantaores make an effort and try to sing the penultimate saeta with their damaged throats. But a little girl is going to surprise everybody: she is thirteen years old; she approaches the Virgin and she dedicates the most beautiful saeta to her. That little girl was María José Pérez.

When I remember that Good Friday I am still moved.

I still don’t know how I was  able to sing there, I am usually a very shy person! I used to see the saeteros –those who sing saetas- singing to the Virgin of Soledad every year. I have been a member of this procession since I was seven. So, in that moment I said to myself -it's now or never-and I started to sing.

You were just thirteen; you still played with dolls.

I was very young. It was difficult to sing in public for the first time. However, I did it and I have kept on singing since then. The following year, I sang to the Virgin in the Paseo de la Macarena (Macarena Avenue, in Almería); and this year will be the fifth time I have  sang to her in Holy Week.

This great love of flamenco and saetas has to come from somewhere…

My whole family loves and enjoys flamenco. We always finished by singing in all the events, either my sister or me. As you know, Montse, one of my sisters, sings flamenco as well. I started to go to the Antonio Torres Peña and there I learnt some saetas and flamenco lyrics.

 You also sing flamenco, don’t you?

Yes, I do. Cante jondo, such as Niña de los peines, La Perla or Chacón. It is a cante that I feel deep inside, so I like to transmit those feelings when I perform it. I will present my show soon in Estepona, province of Málaga, in Murcia and I will do the opening Holy Week speech in the town of Dador, in the province of Almería, with my sister Montse.

At the beginning you used to sing always together with your sister, but not so much nowadays....

Yes it is changing now; we tend to sing more independently. But do not think that we have drifted apart; we are as close as always.

Where are you going to sing during this Holy Week?

Well, I will sing in different places in Almería, such as the Capitol, the Quiosco Amalia, in the Museo del Aceite (Oil Museum), in La Marina, etc.