The first film they took to see in a cinema Michael Poveda it was ‘Superman’. That kid from Badalona who had a black and white television and windows open to the neighborhood was not so impressed by the superhero in the cape as by the city over which he was flying: New York.
In that dark room, Poveda’s mind and dreams were opened to other lives and other places, to a world without limits. A fondness for New York was also born that would prove indelible, especially now that Poveda has tattooed the ‘skyline’ of the city on his arm. And since it’s quite true what is said about New York giving what it gets, the city has also been marked this week by the cantaor’s mark.
a miraculous effort
The Thursdaywith two years late tax by the pandemicPoveda finally got up on a New York stage to kick off the 20th edition of the Flamenco Festivalan appointment that Miguel Marín conceived and set up and that, like those skyscrapers that the singer who has just released ‘Diverso’ likes so much, has grown and spread throughout the United States at the cost of an effort in his two decades of life titanic and sometimes miraculous.
Poveda returned at the Skirball, the New York University theater that was also reopening after the coronavirus closures. She did it in a concert that also served to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the King Juan Carlos I Center de NYU, which is dedicated to the promotion of Spanish and Spanish culture. And there was so much cause for celebration, and so much accumulated desire, and so much genius gathered on stage, that there was a authentic recital.
luxury on stage
Poveda proposed from the outset to leave “everything ugly and bad” out doors. He promised to try to get those present out of the Skirball with the joyful soul. And he got it accompanied by a star squad: the teacher Joan Albert Amargós on the piano, Jesus Warrior on the guitar, Paquito Gonzalez on percussion, ‘El Grilo’ and ‘El Londro’ in the clapping (with the latter also demonstrating his genius in cante), and the spilled talent of the Flamenco dancer Antonio Molina, ‘El Choro’.
Poveda was the crooner and the singertroubadour and balladeer, strength and control, genius and figure. It was the voice that the same climate emergency awareness that claims music and popular genres that were key in their childhood and that have often been looked down upon. It was once again the vehicle for his beloved Federico Garcia Lorca but he also dared to take the iconic ‘New York, New York’ by Frank Sinatra through bulerías. And possibly nothing would happen if you did without the videos that are projected at some moments of the show, but little else is left over in a concert capable of warming up the night of cold rain with the essence: siguiriyas, soleás, malagueñas, guajira, alegrías, tangos…
Poveda has appointments with the Flamenco Festival in Miami and Los Angeles before resuming his Spanish tour. But before he offered this Friday a second concert in New York. The ink settles on his skin, he settles his mark on the city.