Pointing out a few paralells between flamenco and the original blues leads
to comparisons between origins, genealogies and lines of descent as the mys
tery of jazz is seen to be a problem. Probably less well known to readers t
han blues or jazz, flamenco cante has not, till present, mixed with other m
usical currents in a stream as vast as jazz, a stream that maintains and re
news the music while making it universal. Evidence of this contrast is soug
ht in certain recent syncretic trends in flamenco (flamenco-rock, etc.), wh
ich are, however, threatened by pure juxtaposition. All these questions run
through anthropology. If jazz has turned out so good, the reason is that i
t is a kind of musical anthropology.