Manuel Torre

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Manuel Soto Loreto, known as Manuel Torre or Manuel Torres (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, 1878-Seville, Spain, 1933, flamenco singer.

He was born in the neighbourhood of San Miguel, which together with the neighbourhood of Santiago, are the traditional centers of flamenco in Jerez. One of the most representative singers of Jerez, he was influenced by singers Manuel Molina, El Marrurro (from Jerez) and Enrique el Mellizo (from Cádiz). He developed his career in the cafés cantante of Seville. In his turn, he was one of the main influences in the work of singers like La Niña de los Peines, Antonio Mairena or Manuel Agujetas.

An encyclopedic singer, he excelled in siguiriyas, soleá, saetas, and fandangos. However, he rarely entered the recording studio, and his recordings are of irregular quality:

The flamenco fans who have only listened to him in recordings only know his shadow, because he made all those recordings in a state of unconsciousness. (Mairena 1976)

[edit] Discography

Historic Recordings / Grabaciones históricas 1909-1931, Empresa Pública de Gestión, 1997 (Complete recordings)

[edit] Sources

ÁLVAREZ CABALLERO, Ángel: La discoteca ideal del flamenco, Editorial Planeta, Barcelona, 1995 ISBN 8408016024

MAIRENA, Antonio: Confesiones de Antonio Mairena, Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, 1976 ISBN 84-7405-031-6