Martirio -Maribel Quiñones is happy when she takes off her sunglasses and loses her sweet tooth in the fishmongers- with the good reception of the tour of ‘A Bola de Nieve’, in which she shares the stage with the pianist Chano Domínguez. Happy and always looking for letters, caresses, brotherhood, “good people”, love, beauty. “My very clean soul waits for love,” he says. What a delight his last concert at the 2021 Cartagena Jazz Festival! Wherever they see her, no longer those tremendous combs that made history crowning her head free of thorns, bad vibes and prejudices, legend has it that Martirio’s homemade meatballs – born in Huelva in 1954 – are only surpassed, in taste and in the speed with which they disappear, for the heavenly pasta with salmon that he prepares. Perhaps her secret is that she sings divinely while cooking: it does not matter ‘Green eyes’ than’ Composed and without a boyfriend ‘than’ If I told you ‘that if’ I’m bad ‘than if’ What would you say about me ‘or if’ Alma mine’. It is fortunate that Martirio exists, that she sings to you and makes you her own, and that she is unique and unrepeatable. «My whole soul is clearly visible to me. She sees me, she escapes me and I have to go behind her to pick her up, ”he launches into the air.
– What is he humming around the kitchen?
– Wow, well, I was humming that beautiful Machado from “my childhood are memories of a patio in Seville, and a clear orchard where the lemon tree ripens.” My mother always said: ‘I want to have a house with a lemon tree’. And I, when I bought a house in a small town in Malaga, the first thing I did was plant one.
– What do you usually sing in the suntoyes?
– When I sing at home, they are always happy things, unless I am rehearsing for a concert. And I sing a repertoire of the most varied, because since I have that head in which everything fits; well, removing reggaeton and the odd style that I don’t like.
– Reggaeton zero?
– Zero zero. There is electronic music that I do like and with which I have even worked. It seems good to me that people dance and have fun, but, given the choice, I prefer rap to reggaeton; I find it much more meaningful and it has more rebellious lyrics.
– And those lyrics described as “macho” that are heard by a massive female audience, what do you think?
– I think that, perhaps, many times you do not even realize what you are hearing, and even repeating, until someone comes and makes you think. I prefer to think that all these women are not realizing what they are hearing, because otherwise it would imply an involution that cannot be allowed after so many years of struggle by so many of us to take our place.
– Has it been more difficult for you because you are a woman?
– I have never taken advantage of being a woman, in the sense of buying and selling, I mean. And I have sometimes found that having my own criteria, having independence, having an absolute desire for freedom, as a woman I think it is much more difficult. But, come on, I don’t complain about what I have achieved, because I have gained respect and that seems great to me.
– What has predominated in your relationship with men?
– I’ve been a romantic all my life. Yes Yes Yes; love and lack of love have been the career that I have studied. They have loved me very much, I have loved me very much, I have fallen in love strong like three or four times, and then I have had enough stories to have a full heart; now I have not been with anyone for a long time, but I am quite well, although I do not close any doors. I am very calm. And I have to tell you that I have been the teacher of many men, and those who have come after have benefited from that ‘education’ of men that I have carried out.
– What have you taught them?
– To many, to show their feelings since the leading role in the couple is between equals.
– Amazon of love she liked to call herself. Keep it up?
– The fuck is still there [risas]. I keep giving a lot of love. Whether or not I have a partner, I can speak of love with all property because I have always given myself and because I think I know almost everything about him.
– What have you not yet told about your relationship with the great Compay Segundo?
– [Ríe] Compay influenced me a lot and I was very happy to be able to work with him because he was an absolute wise man and he had no age. I already told him that, with his 90 years, he looked at me and I got nervous [sonríe]. I can assure you, he had wonderful strength, and I remember very well the day he told me: ‘I tell you that you are an artist.’ I felt as if they had put on me a queen crown ‘very remarkably’ [risas]. I had a lot of fun, I learned a lot, and I have it on an altar, as I have so many people, because I have been fortunate to collaborate with many older teachers who have loved me and have taught me a lot, from Chavela [Vargas], Omara [Portuondo], Marta Valdés, Soledad Bravo …; everyone I have admired and continue to admire.
– Is there an Hereafter?
– I have the intuition that there can be reincarnation perfectly. In fact, I still have a long way to go to become the piece of pure soul that I want to be. My soul is on the way.
Slap to love
– What do you propose?
– You have to hold the hand of love, love in general. I tell you about my experience: when things are very bad, I pull out like a kind of invisible hand and give a love slap. And works!
– How’s the ‘A Bola de Nieve’ tour going?
– I am in love with music above all else, and I continue to enjoy concerts very much. These now with Chano are being blessed glory, because we are both in love with Bola de Nieve, to whom we wanted to pay this tribute so that he may know much more. Without cutting his veins, with as much tenderness as pain, with a tear full of modesty and depth, he was able to reach the hearts of all. Now, Chano and I are preparing with great enthusiasm, for 2022, a series of concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our album ‘Coplas de madrugá’, which was very important in our careers and I think it left, because of that wonderful mix flamenco and jazz tradition, a very beautiful and special memory in so many people.
– Good music to isolate yourself for a while from so much noise and so much trouble.
– There is a lot of noise and a lot of anger, it’s true. Maybe it has to do with a special planetary moment that favors us not understanding each other, that one is saying white and the other is understanding black.
– As an artist, do you go through a special moment?
– On an artistic level I am very happy because I continue to do what I want, and because what I want is waiting for it and many people like it. Right now I notice affection and respect from the public, who already know perfectly what I do, which after so many years of struggle is very gratifying. The public knows who Martirio is, they know what I offer them and they know where to look for me when they need me.
– Why do you sing?
– I make art to mobilize, to help, to stir, to caress the public. I have never been a commercial artist, nor have I pretended to be, although I could have been.
– His character of Martirio has been reducing more and more the doses of eccentricity and betting on a very powerful elegance.
– I have been refining a lot, but always making it clear that everything I have done since Martirio began has been my decision and was part of me. Nobody told me what combs I had to wear. I have had a lot of fun with them, just as I have a lot of fun with the image and with the aesthetics, which I take great care of.
– Have you ever been manipulated?
– No. They told me sing this or sing the other and that way you will be more famous, or if the sevillanas have worked well for you, why don’t you record 500 more sevillanas. No, my life was going a different way: to look for different types of music, to relate them, to take out of the trunks the most beautiful songs from the popular Latin American and Spanish songbook. People already know perfectly what they are going to see when they come to my concerts, although of course the public likes that I keep wearing things [ríe].
– Do you keep diving inside to put yourself in order?
– Yes, I try to be very centered, very clean, very clear, to know very well what I want to do and where I want to be. I am very interested in communicating the truth and doing everything possible so that we can all be happier. We have to be clear about what decisions to make in our life, who we vote for, what is important and what is not.
– Are you asking for something impossible?
– I do not want to think that what I dream is impossible. No, I do not think that a friend, a partner, a partner who can grow with you, who is sure of himself, and who tolerates and enriches your own passions and your own independence is impossible. I think you can find that wonderful, friendly, sexual, fun man. I ask for those things, but I also give them. My very clean soul awaits love. I have carried out a fundamental job: to eliminate any kind of grudges.
– What do you think will happen?
– I hope that the time for happy men and women, for wise, committed, intelligent, responsible and honest men and women will come, now. I hope, I wish and I have faith that yes, that this hour will come. More fertile times are going to come, more attentive to human beings, more careful with nature. This is going to improve, I’m sure, because I believe in people, especially young people.
– How are you guardian angels now?
– Wonderfully. I pray a lot, and I have my saints, my ceremonies and my incenses. I entrust myself to higher beings.
– Do you listen to him?
– Yes, and see that I’m wrong. But here we are to learn and to evolve. When that is clear to you, life turns differently and gives you much more of a hand in sorrows and joys.
– What does it avoid?
– Be afraid, because as fear takes hold of you, you are lost. But, of course, I am just a woman who sings, and I am afraid that things will overtake me, overtake me and prevent me from being me. I am afraid that one day the light, the illusion, the strength and the desire to continue fighting will run out.
«I trust a lot in laughter»
– Tell us something for bad time and bad mood.
– I trust a lot in laughter and smile. And if you have a very bad mood, go to other parts of the Earth where people are having a much worse time than us – those who are not starving directly – and for much longer. And you’ll see.
– Don’t you ever plan to take off your sunglasses?
– There is no money in the whole world to pay for that naked eye of mine [risas]. Going out glamorously disguised on stage has allowed me a wonderful intimacy, to be able to walk like anyone on the street without anyone recognizing you, and even to listen to conversations about me while I am in front of you.
– By the way, do you remind me what you call ‘alobarse’?
– I call ‘alobarse’ what happens to a lot of people. To have the coconut absorbed by something or someone and wanting nothing more than to snuggle into it.
– Don’t you sometimes feel like, as you also say, ‘take the door’?
– Sometimes, but I try not to give place to it trying to avoid being with people who do not interest me. When I feel uncomfortable, then I pick up the door. I tell him to take the door to run like crazy giving ‘shouts’, to leave with fresh wind, to give himself the whistle.
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