Cabales

The 'cabal' is one type of style of the 'seguiriyas' and it is usual to denominate 'seguiriya cambiá -the famous siguiriya of the singer María Borrico-. It seems that the term 'cabal' comes from an anecdote attributed to el Fillo. This anecdote -true or not, very propagated- says that el Fillo sang for the famous torero Paquiro lots of seguiriyas and that Paquiro, delighted and generous, gave to the gypsy a gold coin. When the gypsy went to the market and wanted to change the coin, he realised that the coin was damaged. El Fillo decided to go to Paquiro and he told him: "Tell me, maestro, is something missing in my song...?" The torero, surprised, answered no. Then the singer added: "Were they 'cabales' the seguiriyas that I sang yesterday?" After the second affirmation of Paquiro, el Fillo said: "I gave you a good coin, a cabal coin. However, you gave me a damaged coin!" Since then, the seguiriyas cambiás are named 'cabales'. This term refers probably to the change of tonality that distinguish 'cabales' from the rest of the seguiriyas. In the flamenco world, the 'cante cabal' is the one that is interpreted with knowledge and seriousness. It is different to the seguiriya due to its intonation, because it is realised on the major tones. The most famous syles are the ones of los de Silverio y El Pena.

Coming from: Cádiz, Sevilla.