Homenaje a Inés Bacán
Inés Bacán was born in Lebrija in 1952, and grew up in the heart of gypsy flamenco, which in the 1950s and 60s was an everyday way of life with in the gypsy communities.
This was centered on strong family tradition, and intimate gatherings of normal everyday people who would sing and dance flamenco at any opportunity, a birthday, wedding, even a wake, where the most mournful siguiriya would be sung over the body of the deceased.
To these people, of whom many lived on the bread line, flamenco was a way of expressing feeling and emotion, just a part of everyday family life in which everyone participated.
Inés Bacán learnt her family’s flamenco tradition from a very early age, although she was in her late thirties before she turned professional.
Many of the older members of this large clan were not professionals and had no intention of ever becoming one, but they passed on the secret of their art to the younger members of the family who in turn continued to perform in their styles, adding their own stamp and identity.
Inés Bacán is one of the finest singers of cante jondo to appear from Lebrija of late and her voice is enriched with the haunting echo of her aunt, la Fernanda de Utrera.
She sings in the traditional Lebrija style, her song is full of slow, long drawn out words, sometimes extremely sad, as if weeping mournfully and hoping for an answer to a question that has no answer.
The early part of her career was spent under the wing of her brother, guitarist Pedro Bacán, who directed her career; he was her teacher and guardian.
Pedro was the most relevant member of the clan; not only as a guitarist, but also with his continuous efforts to reproduce the flamenco he had been part of during his own up bringing . He created and organized shows in which many of his relatives would perform, and for many of them it would be the first time in front of the general public.
Pedro Bacán suffered an untimely death in a car crash on his way home from a concert in 1997, and suddenly Inés Bácan was on her own. But she picked herself up and carved out a career, appearing at many of the festivals, and she recorded several Cds, one of which is dedicated to her late brother.
On this Cd, Pasión, she pours out her soul with siguiriyas, and soleares, and she sings a sevillana that is so flamenco, so Lebrija, and her voice is so deep and so painfully timeworn.
She is the cousin to Miguel El Funi, who is a singer and dancer who was also born in Lebria, in 1939.
Inés Bàcan is one of today’s true great singers; she performs the ancient styles of her father Bastian Bàcan and possess the old age type of voice which sends your hairs to a shivering attention. She excels in the gypsy style of tiento tangos and bulerias, which have all of the qualities of the other great artistes in her family. She regularly appears at local festivals and peñas with the guitarist Moraito as well as her cousin Pedro Peña and she demonstrates that the Lebrija style is one of the oldest and most original styles in the history of flamenco.
To date she has only recorded two Cds but she is definitely one artist that excels with her live performances.