Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
|
|
|
RE: Grisha blows their minds in Texas
|
You are logged in as Guest
|
|
Users viewing this topic: none
|
|
Login  | |
|
   
Adam
Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
|
 RE: Grisha blows their minds in Texas (in reply to Ron.M)
|
|
|
1) Congrats Grisha!! Great review and I'm sure the concert was even better than the review makes it sound.
2) I don't know if this guy is a "flamenco aficionado" or not - in fact, I don't know what the qualifications to be an official flamenco aficionado are - but the last couple of paragraphs make it sound like he's got at least enough of a familiarity with flamenco to make him more qualified to write about it than the vast majority of American newspaper music critics, much less the other music staff at some random paper in Austin, TX. Should no paper write a review of a flamenco concert unless they have a certified aficionado on staff? I'd add (to a rapidly growing list of points) that someone who's more familiar with a related field - guitar in general, maybe classical guitar - is easily more qualified to review a flamenco concert than a random dude off the street, even if the review may still be missing something.
Ramon, out of curiosity, how would you have written this review? Bearing in mind that this guy had no incentive to put some comment about palos or rasgueo or whatever (which is what you've apparently been asking for) purely to signal to aficionados that he knows what he's talking about, what details about flamenco would you have put in which would have made this a more informative review for a flamenco neophyte? How would you have added a comment about his rasgueado or his interpretation of the palos or something without becoming boring and pedantic? It's possible, but very difficult - flamenco is much less accessible to a typical American than, say, classical piano - and for a general audience review I really don't think it's necessary. But I am quite curious how you, presumably as more of an expert, would have done what you're asking for, and in service of the review rather than of signaling to other aficionados.
3) Whether or not the reviewer is a certified aficionado, the following two sentences are awesome:
"The best flamenco guitarists express a potent blend of pathos and masculinity, a sort-of Spanish version of ‘man enough to cry.’ Paco exudes that quality, which is perhaps best exemplified in Flamenco singers, who sound like they’re rubbing their very souls with sandpaper during performances."
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 29 2010 17:52:33
 |
|
Ramon Amira
Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City
|
|
RE: Grisha blows their minds in Texas (in reply to Ron.M)
|
|
|
quote:
Ramon, out of curiosity, how would you have written this review?
Hi Ramparts –
That's a fair question. First –I would not consider that I was writing for, as Bill mentioned, "a small audience of flamenco aficionados," or, as you mentioned, "signaling to other aficionados." I always tried to comment on specific aspects of technique where that seemed appropriate, and then add a few explanatory words to help the neophyte understand a bit more about flamenco. For example, I recall in some of my reviews using the word "falsetas," followed immediately by parentheses (variations). I recall sentences something like a reference to rasgueado, followed by "a rapid strumming of the strings." That way both the aficionado and non understood what I was referring to.
With respect to individual palos, the number one obligation of the critic is to be specific. He must comment on the pieces that have been played. Otherwise you get, as I feel was the case here, a general review more or less to the effect that "he was good," etc. But how and where was he good? And why? He might have written something along these general lines – "His Soleares well revealed the deep melancholy of this form." Any lines to that general effect, and analogous lines referring to other palos, would be immediately understood by a neophyte, would help the reader understand why the critic thought the artist was good, and would be informative to the reader with respect to gaining a little insight into flamenco by learning the way that the various palos express emotion, and yet would not in any way be "signaling to aficionados."
Ramon
_____________________________
Classical and flamenco guitars from Spain Ramon Amira Guitars
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jun. 29 2010 20:26:52
|
|
Ramon Amira
Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City
|
|
RE: Grisha blows their minds in Texas (in reply to Ron.M)
|
|
|
quote:
Maybe we should have our hearts broken in March, June, August, October, and December. . . just to stay in compas. . .
That's really very funny, but if our heart is broken, we're more likely to be playing Siguiriyas, so that Soleares/Alegrias/Bulerias compas doesn't work. We have to get our hearts broken in January, March, May, August, and November. 
Ramon
_____________________________
Classical and flamenco guitars from Spain Ramon Amira Guitars
|
|
|
|
REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 25 2010 3:19:14
|
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Forum Software powered by ASP Playground Advanced Edition 2.0.5
Copyright © 2000 - 2003 ASPPlayground.NET |
0.078125 secs.
|
Printable Version
You´re amazing!
