El Pinini's tenth anniversary

Back in 2004, or somewhere around that time, I decided to start researching a book about the family tree of an old flamenco singer called El Pinini. Not much had been written about this man because little information existed at that time, other than time-worn tales and stories that had been passed down through the ranks of the family. The research was by no means easy and there were times when I almost gave up on the task, but being 'extremely British' in my attitude towards difficult projects, I decided to take a deep breath and carry on. That deep breath would continue for around seven years, as I painstakingly pieced together this mammoth Gypsy lineage. The book was published in 2011 by Flamenco Sapiens, the Seville based publisher that had produced my first book - Flamenco; an Englishman’s passion.

Two years later, the Spanish version of the book was published under the title of Herecia del Tiempo. The presentation of this edition took place in Seville during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The book, The Clan of El Pinini, charts this family’s history from their arrival in Andalucía in the seventeenth century until the present day. The mythical El Pinini was patriarch to a family that has produced some of the most respected flamenco singers of the twentieth century. La Fernanda and La Bernarda de Utrera, Miguel El Funi, Juana La Feonga, Pepa de Utrera, Bastian Bacán, Fernandillo de Morón or Pepa de Benito are just a mere few of these illustrious flamenco performers.

In order to complete this project, it was necessary to spend much time in Utrera, a small flamenco enclave in the province of Seville: this is where the mysterious El Pinini had spent the majority of his life. Even though I had access to the relevant civil registries and churches in my search for documentation, I soon discovered that many of the vital marriage, birth or death certificates were not available, or never existed in the first place. This prompted me to try to make contact with some of the great-grandchildren of El Pinini: to my delight, they helped me patch together the family’s immense genealogical tree - a chart that contains more than two-hundred flamenco performers, all of whom are included in the book.

I suppose the 'broche de oro' was having the mammoth family tree commissioned by the flamenco museum (Museo del Baile Flamenco) in Seville, where it has been on permenant display since 2018.

El Pinini was born in Lebrija on 10 May 1863, so the tenth anniversary of the book dedicated to his elongated family will coincide with his 158th birthday.

The Clan of El Pinini is available from https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Bryant/e/B00S19QOWK/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

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Tony Bryant

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