Jose Soto Soto, better known as Jose Merce (His artistic surname is a tribute to the years when he sang in the choir of the Basilica de la Merced, in his hometown), he was born in Jerez de la Frontera in 1955, specifically in the neighborhood of Santiago. Great-grandson of Paco Luz and nephew of Manuel Soto, he has always breathed flamenco on all four sides. At only 13 years old, he went to Madrid, where he began to accompany dancers such as Mario Maya, Carmen Mora and El Güito, after which Antonio Gades joined the dance company with which he toured Europe and much of America. Mercé collaborated with Gades between 1973 and 1987, also participating in the films "Bodas de sangre" and "Flamencos", by Carlos Saura. In 1983 he recorded “Reed green"With Tomatito and Enrique de Melchor, who will follow in 1987"Royal roads of the sing”. In 1991 he outdid himself with “Deep roots", And three years later, in 1994, he published"Stripping the soul”. However, it was in 1998 when his artistic career took an important turn, when he recorded the album “Of the dawn”With guitarist Vicente Amigo. That album offered a renewed image of flamenco art that was complemented in 2000 with “Air"And later with"Mess”In 2002, an album that Mercé himself defines as“ an album made with the heart ”, in which he had the collaboration, among others, of Enrique de Melchor. More recently, in 2004, he presented “I trusted Fuá”, An album in which he showed a display of cantaor mastery through a mixture of songs and the most authentic cante.
Great Successes:
For the first time in his long career, José Mercé publishes an album with all the songs that have made the Jerez-born cantaor the greatest figure in flamenco today due to his ability to reach all audiences without losing his essence or depth. The album Greatest Hits by José Mercé is released on March 26 and contains 17 songs that have allowed him to sell more than 600.000 copies of his latest albums over the last decade. Songs like Air, Spring, At dawn, I will paint you, I remember you Amanda, Clandestine, Of the dawn, Mess, mammy blue… Original themes and versions that meet for the first time in Great successes of José Mercé, the story of the greatest phenomenon that flamenco has produced in recent years. It was in 1998 when José Mercé recorded his first album with Virgin: Of the dawn. Produced by guitarist Vicente Amigo and with songs like Spring, José Mercé reached a young audience and did not follow flamenco, selling 190.000 copies of the album. Two years later, he broke his own record with the following album, Air, which sold more than 230.000 copies including a version of Al alba, a Luis Eduardo Aute classic. The success of their versions will be repeated in the albums Mess 2002 (José Mercé sings I remember you Amanda by Víctor Jara); on I trusted from fuá of 2004 (Clandestine by Manu Chao) and in What is not given of 2006 (mammy blue of Pop Tops).
All these songs are on the album Great successes of José Mercé, along with others that have been taken from his last five albums: Of the dawn, Spring y It touches you and burns you belong to the album Of the dawn (1988); At dawn, Air, Life goes out y Pending to disk Air (2000); I remember you Amanda, Mess y The Filarmoney of the Santiago neighborhood a Mess (2002); Clandestine y I trusted from fuá to album I trusted from fuá (2004) and mammy blue y I will paint you a What is not given (2006). Along with them, The Brief Space In Which He Is Not, a recreation of Pablo Milanés' classic included in the album Flemish territory, The king and a Solea by right. It is the most recent and successful story of José Mercé, an artist from the cradle, since he was born in Jerez de la Frontera, in the Santiago neighborhood, in the bosom of the Soto family. He recorded his first album when he was just a child. Later he sang in the company of Antonio Gades, participated in the film Bodas de sangre by Carlos Saura, collaborated with the National Ballet, won the Córdoba National Flamenco Art Contest in 1986, artistically resurrected in 1998 ... His best years are summarized in Great successes of José Mercé, the singer who has best known how to convey that flamenco is for everyone.
So that you can appreciate the art of José Mercé here is a video clip of Mess: