Remate Pedro Bacán 2022 CD PWC002

In the art of flamenco, one may rematar.*
A remate is a particularly dynamic part of baile (dance), toque (guitar playing) or cante (song). A remate is used to conclude a moment of artistic expression with an enhanced effect: accelerated rhythm, intensity, a dramatic climax before a sudden end, before silence.
In 1996, Pedro Bacán’s art was at its peak. He was a singular, leading figure of flamenco guitar, a true philosopher of this musical genre and the Gitano-Andalusian culture, into which he was born. Both perfectionist and researcher, he became a sort of innovative, reliable memory of flamenco.
« What I have in mind is this big house. Full of music, dominated by my grandmother’s personality, where we could meet at any time, without any other pretext than the need to be together and sing. »
Joined by a few fellow musicians and artistes from his family, he formed the Pinini, and set out to transfer his experience of an intimate flamenco performed in the family circle to the grandest theatre stages, to create the convivial atmosphere of informal flamenco gatherings, and to share an experience with the audience that went far beyond music. He devised concerts that also shone the spotlight on a lifestyle. His fluid, passionate, visionary guitar played the central role. Through his search for a sense of sincere communion and his quest for metaphysical emotion, he avoided all the pitfalls of folklorism. The concert performance staged in 1994, Pedro Bacán et le clan des Pinini, met with huge success in theatres across the globe.
The collaboration with Pee Wee Music began at the Auditorium des Halles, Paris, in November 1995, during three concerts that can only be described as memorable.
The particularly intense moments of the work we shared remain unforgettable. Seldom had we frequented someone who searched for such perfection of sound, for exactly the right vibration produced by the guitar each time. His sister Inés later summed it up brilliantly: « He had an ear like a cathedral ».
This demand for perfection had kept us busy for a whole afternoon before the first performance and gave rise to a marvellous rapport, a dazzling musical friendship.
Pedro Bacán then decided to entrust Pee Wee Music with the recording of his show and suggested our burgeoning label create a flamenco section.
Thanks to the commitment made by the then director of MC93 Bobigny, Ariel Goldenberg, and the kindness of Frédéric Deval, artistic director of the record label Auvidis, with whom Pedro Bacán had signed his most recent album De Viva Voz, a date was set in May 1996 for live recordings of the three performances in Bobigny’s main auditorium.
The original CD, the fruit of these performances, contains all the emotion, beauty and quintessence of Pedro Bacán’s musical art at the height of its intensity. Immediately acclaimed by the critics, it met with considerable success among the public.
In January 1997, on the eve of a series of concerts at MC93 Bobigny, to coincide with the album’s release, the guitarist lost his life in an accident on the road from Seville to Lebrija, his native village.
Twenty-five years on, we feel it is important to pay tribute to Bacán’s genius and the mysteries of his music. Together with Carole Fierz, who was also involved in the production of the original CD, we have designed this new edition complete with unprecedented points of view and listening, in an attempt to describe a musical and human adventure, at once singular and memorable.

Réédition sous la direction de : Carole Fierz et Vincent Mahey
Production exécutive : Virginie Crouail, François Yvernat, Simon Goubert
Entretiens, textes : Carole Fierz, Francis Marmande, Pedro G. Romero
Photographies : Philippe Fresco
Traductions : Carole Fierz (fr), Pilar Altinier (es), Pamela Hargreaves (en)
Mastering du CD 2 et re-mastering du CD 1 : Raphaël Jonin J RAPH i.n.g. (mars 2022)
Conception graphique : Atelier Bagarit
Peinture: Sophie Beau-Blache

CD 1 : édition originale (1996)
Direction artistique, composition : Pedro Bacán
Production, enregistrement, mixage : Vincent Mahey pour Pee Wee Music
Conseil artistique et coordination générale : Carole Fierz
Production exécutive : François Yvernat
Enregistré en public à la MC93 de Bobigny, du 9 au 12 mai 1996
Avec l’unité mobile Pee Wee Music préparée par Frédéric Bailly
Mixé au studio Bob Mathieu Draveil, octobre 1996

CD 2 : inédits (2022)
2 Bulería : enregistrement inédit issu des concerts "Pedro Bacan et le clan gitan des Pinini" à la MC93 de Bobigny (mai 1996)
4 Granaína : enregistrement inédit issu du concert "Pedro Bacan et le clan gitan des Pinini" à la Scène nationale de Châteauroux, (novembre 1996)
1 & 3 : paroles extraites du documentaire "Inés, ma sœur" de Carole Fierz, avec l’aimable autorisation de JBA Production.