From Catalan underground comic character to manager. From researcher and journalist, writer and critic to music producer. Concert organizer and cultural activist black leg. An encyclopedia of flamenco, rock, hybridization and ethnicity, with worn jeans and a leather jacket. We all have an indelible image of him. flash among the neons of our history. The teaching and the anecdote to be told about it.
José María Esteban left us quickly and calmly, without making a sound. It’s quite the hustle and bustle that he carries throughout his life. I was still lucky to be able to say goodbye to him three days before we said goodbye. I called him, as I’ve been trying to do regularly for the past five years, and the truth is, I wanted to ask him what he thought of Sinatra being on the cover of Popular 1. popular, of the month of April. And that, for sure, we’re not talking.
He said with joy and optimism that the transplant was going well, that he had some issues that needed to be resolved urgently, but was discouraged. Good head and soul is the most important thing. His body had long been an extreme medical team that remembered the past very closely but took the dance away from him.
The body has a memory, it remembers everything we did to it, you bastard.
In three different stages, our paths coincided with intervals dictated by good friendships and commitments we made during the journey. We met in a magnificent newsroom on Calle Orense in the late nineties, and our initial suspicions turned into the beginning of a long friendship. When the new century began and the attempt was false, we rode together again.
The end of the second decade of the 21st century has found us again. There José María was shaken by the remnants of the shipwreck required by the endless night. But it also gave him a very high level of calmness, knowledge, and responsibility. Especially when it comes to the care of his mother, whom he does not leave alone for a moment, until he leaves him under the constant care and love of his son, whom he loves very much.
This was the moment to push him out of the few. spider webs generating nostalgia and melancholy as he will recover the grand project that was the definitive work of his extensive career. Thanks to the University, the State Legislature and Aguas de Alicante, we were able to see the light of immeasurable volume. Thanks for being here. Stories of the Alicante movement.
You wouldn’t understand everything that spanned several decades in this city without a book that is part of Esteban’s being, his soul, and his heart.
It is important to remember that he maintained his interest in what was going on in the recording studios to the very end, thanks to a large community of colleagues who told and informed him through social networks and the telephone. I was, and still is, aware of everything and everyone.
Whether it’s about football, politics, literature and especially friendship, his clearest thoughts and thoughts are now floating in that virtual world. Free from prejudices, a great communicator, diffuse and didactic, without poses and tricks. With José María, we leave another Alicante sparkle that makes us happy then.
Say hi to Sergio and Enrique’s for me. You will always be loved here.