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Paco Toronjo y Nino Miguel
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3433
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: Paco Toronjo y Nino Miguel (in reply to mezzo)
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Alcohol...
Sometime in the mid-1980s I was at La Guitarrería in Paris, in the Rue d'Edimburg, near the Gare du Nord and the Conservatoire. It was (probably still is) run by a formidable Spanish woman.
There were racks of classical guitars, some extremely good. I tried a few, and happened to play a soleares falseta or two. A middle aged man went to the back room and emerged with a case. He left it for me to open it and pick up a beautiful Paulino Bernabe blanca. The woods and workmanship were exquisite, the pegs worked beautifully, and it had a real flamenco sound.
He continued the conversation in Spanish, telling me he was the brother of the proprietress. She had rescued him from a life of drunkenness and flamenco. The Bernabe was his. He had got a good deal through his sister, and would make me a good price. I found a cejilla in the case, and played a little Niño Ricardo rosas. He told me he used to work with Ricardo's son. He said a little about both the father's and the son's struggles with alcohol. He said it had killed both of them--the son with throat cancer.
I asked him to play a little so I could hear the guitar from another perspective. When I tried to hand him the instrument, he shrank back with a look of fear.
"No, señor. Please excuse me. It would be like taking the first sip of manzanilla."
RNJ
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Apr. 16 2010 11:32:33
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3433
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Paco Toronjo y Nino Miguel (in reply to mezzo)
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The guy really looked spooked when I tried to hand him the guitar. Of course there's more than one possible explanation for that. But I had been to Bernabe's shop in Arcos de Cuchilleros a few times, and had bought one guitar there. The starting price the guy in Paris offered was a fair beginning point for bargaining, but not low enough for me to immediately reach for my wallet.
The woman who ran/runs La Guitarrería definitely was/is a payo who spoke in a high falutin Castilian accent. The man said he was her brother within her hearing, and bore enough family resemblance to be credible.
The first time I went to the Conde Hermanos shop in Gravina would have been in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I asked the kid behind the counter for one of their best guitars to try. He brought out a guitar and quoted an astronomical price. It was villainous. The neck was bowed. The fretboard looked like it was yellow pine covered in shoe polish. The frets were rough and uneven. The soundboard was sinking in front of the bridge, and the tuners practically took a wrench to turn. I looked it over carefully, asked for a tuning fork, tuned it up and played a few falsetas of soleá. One of the Conde women was in the front of the shop. She disappeared into the woodwork and brought out Faustino, who listened for a moment. I handed the junk guitar back to the kid without comment. Faustino sent the kid for another guitar. He brought out a top notch media luna, but quoted the same ridiculous price.
I played for a while. Eventually there were 8 or 10 people in the shop listening. A kid was sent down the street to fetch the professor, who stood nodding and mentioning the sources he heard. I'm not saying I was great, far from it, but I had a fairly fluent technique and it was long ago enough that it was extremely rare to hear a gringo play in compás.
I knew a half dozen guys in Austin who took lessons from Ed Freeman in Dallas. I didn't take from Freeman because I knew I wouldn't get along with him. Each of us had a temper. But I got to know him a little, and picked up a fair amount from his students and records. I profited by a good education on another instrument.
Faustino spoke to one of the women, who came and offered me a very fair price. I thanked her, complimented the guitar, bought some strings and left. Any time I returned after that, I was treated with courtesy and honesty.
By then I had spent a fair amount of time in Spain and Latin America. Long enough to be prepared for the "tourist price" and the "stupid gringo" scams.
RNJ
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Date Apr. 16 2010 17:50:38
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Anders Eliasson
Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006
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RE: Paco Toronjo y Nino Miguel (in reply to mezzo)
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quote:
quote:
The documentary itself, I didnt like.
I have a mixed opinion on the documentary. In a sense it is true that it is not so great. It's really a shame we have no information on the period of 90s. Nothing about his illness...
But on the other side thanks to this film I have a better idea of who is Miguel.
I agree.
In the documentary, there are a lot of celebrities saying that Miguel was so fantastic. The documentary doesnt talk about where all these people were when Miguel was left in the streets for around 2 decades. Then, in the eyes of these people he was just another farout junkie. Now he´s close to dying and everyone has to wash their hands.
Another thing that I dont like about the documentary is that it doesnt catch the spirit of Miguels playing nowadays. Miguel is a spirited person, means that he plays well when he´s in the mood. In the docu, he´s just been placed somewhere and told to play. Spirited persons dont work like that. I´ve heard Miguel many times, live, close to him, and when you catch him on a good day, its something really special. I´ve also heard him when he´s just playing because he likes to play and doesnt really like to talk, then its not so interesting.
With respect of Toronjo. Yes he was very charismatic and extremely intense also when he wasn´t (that) drunk. I get a little tired of him after some 5 - 6 fandangos. he repeats himself a lot.
_____________________________
Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/
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Date Apr. 16 2010 23:42:22
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