Bulerías is one of flamenco’s most flexible forms – constantly changing, spontaneous, humorous, equally at home on a concert stage or at a private juerga. It’s the Rock’n Roll of flamenco – fast, rhythmic party music laced with social commentary that mocks the rich as it entertains them.

Cantes por bulerías began with Jerezano singer Loco Mateo (c. 1832-1890), who would conclude his specialty, the soleares, with a remate (ending) por bulerías.

Bulerías is closely associated with the City of Jerez de la Frontera, specifically Barrio San Miguel, the home of many of flamenco’s most influential artists, including Loco Mateo, Agujetas, and Don Antonio Chacón.

Rooted in the soleares, the bulerías also has aspects of older flamenco forms including jaleos and bamberas. The word ‘bulerías” comes from the word “burlar,” meaning to mock, outwit, or escape danger.

Despite its name, Sevillanas did not originate in Seville; it was derived from an old Castilian folk dance, a seguidilla. Sevillanas is extremely popular throughout Andalucia where it is danced mainly at festivals – especially the famous Feria of Seville. It is a colourful dance performed by couples, frequently with the use of castanets and with an accompaniment of guitar and singing.

Sevillanas has a definite form in which the guitar first sets the rhythm with a short rasgueado section. This is followed by the salida, a short melody introductory section. The salida is linked by a short rasgueado section to the copla or verse, at which point the dancer joins in. The copla frequently finishes with the melody of the salida and is repeated three times, with or without variations. The whole is repeated four times, so that the overall pattern consist of four sets of three coplas each. The coplas may be varied in melody and key, but the rhythm and form must remain constant.

The milonga is a colourful style of Argentinean folk song that is still popular in the Río Plate area of Argentina.

It is said that it arrived in Andalucía via the port of Cadiz, and the story goes that Josefa Diaz, the daughter of the famous bullfighter, Paco Oro, was contracted to sing in Argentina, bringing with her on her return, this new and exciting style. It is performed in the same rhythm as the tanguillo, a lively style of song which originated in Cadiz.

Once again, it was Pepe Marchena who excelled with these songs, and although he was capable of performing the purest, most profound styles of flamenco, he preferred these styles known as ida y vuelta.

I worked this tune out from a recording many years ago but don’t remember who wrote it – however, I believe it is in the style of a flamenco rumba.

The rumba originated in Cuba and is a popular Latin American dance floor style, which has sexy and suggestive hip and body movements.

In their original Cuban form they had difficult and complicated rhythms, but by the time they reached Europe, a more simple style had developed. In the 1950s it was adopted by the gypsies, becoming the rumba gitana, which retained all the sensuality and charm of the gypsies. Later, in the 1970s Paco de Lucía and Cameron de la Isla transformed this style, which created an opening for hoards of flamenco fusion groups, such as the Gypsy Kings, who based there fusion on the rumba.

The first flamenco artist to record the rumba was La Niña de los Peines, and one of the best performers of the rumba was the singer / guitarist Manzanita, although today it is the jerezano singer Capullo de Jerez who excels with his extremely exciting styles of rumbas.