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Paco Pena-comments
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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Paco Pena-comments
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I recently acquired a Paco Pena double CD, half a "recital" of solo pieces, the other half segmented into Paco playing the pieces of Ramon Montoya and Nino Ricardo. As I listened to Paco, a few random thoughts came to me: 1. the main reason Paco de Lucia sounds better than Pena is rhythm--PDL's sense of rhythm and how he accentuates it is simply on a different level than PP. 2. that being said, PP is a highly accomplished technical guitarist. 3. His duos, again, fall short of the gold standard accomplished by Paco's ensembles and recording work. 4. Fandangos de Huelva makes a dynamite guitar solo. Like Ron said--what's up with that, man? Why aren't more people playing them? 5. one of the pieces, "Cancion", is a Peteneras based on a theme popularized by Lorca. This is a beautiful piece. 6. It is official--I am "old school". Listening to this stuff makes me realize that I much prefer this era, roughly--maybe 1950-80 to broadly generalize. I really don't care for recent stuff very much (except for some exceptions, including the artistry of Vicente Amigo). 7. I am going to learn about every falseta on this record! Except for the bulerias. I don't think bulerias is PP's strength! 8. In his liner notes, it becomes obvoius that PP is not ashamed of being an exponent of the solo flamenco guitar. I think he feels that it is a worthwhile endeavor and an art form of itself. I saw PP last year, and about 1/3 of the show was solo, and the rest with various ensembles. I have to say that I enjoyed the duo and trio (guitars) the most, followed by the fin de fiesta, then the guitar and bailaor, and finally solo guitar... 9. PP believes that the two most important guitarists in flamenco have been Ramon Montoya and Nino Ricardo (he wrote this in 1987). I have only heard a little bit of Nino Ricardo and didn't care for his playing in the least. It's hard to believe there is a whole generation of players that idolized him.
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Date Mar. 12 2005 3:31:39
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RE: Paco Pena-comments (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Hola Miguel quote:
I have only heard a little bit of Nino Ricardo and didn't care for his playing in the least. It's hard to believe there is a whole generation of players that idolized him. I think it's about time you listen a bit more to El Niño. When I get tired of a bit of le - le -le etc, it's always him who saves my flamenco heart. I think he's pure Andaluzian soil and spirit, and a true monster playing siguiriyas. I put him high above Sabicas, even though he hasn't the charm of Sabicas. Ricardo is a lot more heavy, and is IMO one of the best exponents of the pena gitana. He's really strugling and turning out his inner soul when he plays. I agree with your Paco Peña comments, especially on the rythm and bulerías comments. About Fandangos de Huelva, I'll only say that I find it very difficult to play. The rythm is difficult to master, and in general, they ask for a high level of tecnique in order to have this flow they need. Nice playing Anders
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Date Mar. 12 2005 7:07:06
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Ricardo
Posts: 14845
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Paco Pena-comments (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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I actually think Paco Pena has a very driving and even bulerias, and rhythm in general. PDL does more w/ synchopation, which goes along w/ what you said, but still it is a different style. PP plays a lot of Sabicas and Ricardo stuff, cleaner and more rhythmically even than the orginal versions. I enjoy his take on it, it is different. Sabicas was a better a better player in terms of speed and cleanlyness, but I like Ricardo's right hand style that he developed. Musically, I try not to compare these guys since they were both similar because of the times, and unique w/ there own compositional ideas. Old PDL has tons of Ricardo licks. But since we are comparing old guys, I learned Mario Escudero's Impetu awhile back, and man it is a real work out. Harder than Sabicas/Ricardo/ or even modern stuff like Nunez. I recommend you guys to check that one out. Very advanced player for his time. Left hand wise, there is nothing new in modern bulerias por medio that you can't find in this piece. Also Pepe Martinez was playing stuff by Sabicas, Ricardo, etc, but had a special groove and a cleaner technique than those guys, sort of like Pena. And Juanito Serrano's Autum Leaves por bulerias? He really kicked butt back then, forget flamenco/jazz fusion. I like it all really. Ricardo
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Date Mar. 12 2005 20:11:11
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