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Manitas de Plata's crowning moment was around 1969 when he played for Brigitte Bardot while she played with her hair, sucked her finger, and gave Manitas the most adoring looks one can imagine. (No girl ever looked at me like that while I played my guitar!) The video can be accessed by typing in the key words "Manitas de Plata and Brigitte Bardot." It really is worth a look, just to watch Brigitte Bardot's reaction. Apparently, Manitas was BB's lover (or at least one of them) during this period.
Cheers,
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Yes. The girl portrayed in the back is some sort of gymnast who got famous online for having that facial expression when she won the gold medal. The facial expression makes her look "un-impressed", and this became a meme people would use where they would have something awesome going on (such as Manitas giving a concert at the age of 102), while she is in the background appearing "un-impressed".
Manitas de Plata as the world's first known successful case of cryonics (often erroneously termed cryogenics), having been brought back to life after being cryopreserved.
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
I found this video of Manitas de Plata playing at the age of 89!
The guy from Status Quo very much wants his wig back.
I find it amusing to watch Manitas de Plata's videos. He gives the appearance of being disconnected from what he's playing - almost like he's a member of the audience.
The other strange thing about him are his fans - they are somehow convinced he is a serious contender for world's best guitarist.
The video can be accessed by typing in the key words "Manitas de Plata and Brigitte Bardot." It really is worth a look, just to watch Brigitte Bardot's reaction. Apparently, Manitas was BB's lover (or at least one of them) during this period.
Cheers,
Bill
Just had to check that out, thank you for the pointer. In the following I saw comments about BB´s today´s appearance. Makes you wonder whether commenting dumbs ever consider what they´re doing to the people. Asides from their other trend-following eternal youth mania that makes them blind for the other kind of beauty that a once naive chick developed while becoming a lady. Not fond of age in the mirror, as a photographer though appreciating portraits of wrinkled motifs.
The gripe I had about BB was her sympathy for Le Pen. However, seeing how meanwhile the right wingers occupied themes lunatic establishment decided to ignore, I can´t mind her even that. - Never thought to one day agree with such a party, but a sinking western ship of culture beats me to it.
So at what age does flamenco guitar technique start to decline instead of advance? I am 58 and only playing a year, so I hope I have at least 10 years of improvement ahead of me.
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Ah well, there was a fantastic passion there, in my case anyway. I discovered flamenco very early on. It grips you in a way that you can't get away - Paco Pena
So at what age does flamenco guitar technique start to decline instead of advance? I am 58 and only playing a year, so I hope I have at least 10 years of improvement ahead of me.
A few years ago I saw Pepe Habichuela at a show in Granada. I commented to some local friends that I thought you could tell he had aged and it was getting harder for him to play (he must be somewhere in his 70s at this point). I got harshly reprimanded for even suggesting that...though I didn't mean it as any kind of criticism, he still plays far better than I'll ever be able to. Arguably even Paco was probably not at his peak during his last years as far as technique is concerned. There are so many things that can influence technique that it's hard to say how much age actually factors in. For my part, I just try to focus on telling a story through music within my technical limitations, whatever those may be. (One of my teachers set me straight once when I was probably complaining about having started too late in life, never being able to catch up with Pdl's speed, etc. etc. and he said "if you think Paco is better than you just because he plays faster, you're dead wrong. He could play a simple open E string and make it sound better than you." Harsh but I know what he meant.. it's all about what you put into it, every single note)
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
So at what age does flamenco guitar technique start to decline instead of advance? I am 58 and only playing a year, so I hope I have at least 10 years of improvement ahead of me.
You can play solid flamenco with a few falsetas, a few chords and some pulgar, but I still haven't figured out how Then again, I never learned to accompany cante, where it all comes together.
A good friend of mine, 72 years is learning the Soleares, once every three weeks I visit him to go trough some falseta's. Everytime he is getting better, to say with his own words " I get less worse everytime".......
Well Paco Pena probably my favorite is 73, I think he is not playing as sharp as when he was younger but he was the very top and still is probably the top 0.1%. It seems he has other priorities these days as well.
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Ah well, there was a fantastic passion there, in my case anyway. I discovered flamenco very early on. It grips you in a way that you can't get away - Paco Pena
Well Paco Pena probably my favorite is 73, I think he is not playing as sharp as when he was younger but he was the very top and still is probably the top 0.1%. It seems he has other priorities these days as well.
Paco Pena has been my favorite of those running the circuit for many years now. I like his more traditional style of play. It's not that he hasn't evolved. He has, but less so than others, including Paco de Lucia, Vicente Amigo, and others who probably are more popular. Paco Pena is much more steady and old-school in his approach. I hasten to add that mine is a minority opinion among Foro members, but there it is.
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Well Paco Pena probably my favorite is 73, I think he is not playing as sharp as when he was younger but he was the very top and still is probably the top 0.1%. It seems he has other priorities these days as well.
Paco Pena has been my favorite of those running the circuit for many years now. I like his more traditional style of play. It's not that he hasn't evolved. He has, but less so than others, including Paco de Lucia, Vicente Amigo, and others who probably are more popular. Paco Pena is much more steady and old-school in his approach. I hasten to add that mine is a minority opinion among Foro members, but there it is.
Bill
Bill,
I agree with you 100%. I know Vicente is popular and his technique is over the top, but his music is so abstract I can't really even listen to it. I think Antonio Rey has a good balance of traditional and modern and his technique is every bit as good.
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Ah well, there was a fantastic passion there, in my case anyway. I discovered flamenco very early on. It grips you in a way that you can't get away - Paco Pena
That video with Bardot is obviously staged. There is no way guitar playing can have that effect on young women. They basically don't care about it.
I don't think it was staged, Grisha. For one thing, my understanding is that at the time (around 1969) the video was made, Manitas was Bardot's (or at least one of Bardot's) lovers and she was his paramour. So it may have been more than just the guitar.
Additionally, I have seen young women really swept away by flamenco guitar, and not just flamenco but Spanish guitarists playing other Spanish genres as well. It never happened to me the way BB is reacting to Manitas, but I do think a well-played Spanish guitar does have an effect on many (if not all) women.
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
There is no way guitar playing can have that effect on young women
It's the long lush hair. I can't compete on that level. I'm just biding my time until bald(ing) becomes the new sexy.
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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
ORIGINAL: Grisha There is no way guitar playing can have that effect on young women.
She's sandwiched between 2 guitars playing chico style with a belting rythme just 30 cm either side of her. That distance in stereo doesn't only make the sound very impressive - it makes her the center of attention. All eyes are on her. There's a lot more going on there than afficion for flamenco. They're panderring up her ego so it wouldn't have matter all that much what they played (although Seguiryas would not have had the same effect)
You are playing far too well. At least that's my theory. My vastly inferior playing has on occasion resulted in attracting attention from females, although that has waned considerably as my age has increased. If it was about the playing, you'd be surrounded by females of all description. Who can figure the minds of women anyway? Not me for sure.
Play for dance classes Grisha, it'd be shooting fish in a barrel for you. My terrible mediocre flamenco and metal playing has gotten me plenty of ladies that would normally be out of my fat hairy bearded league. Lolol Maybe it's the classical crowd you hang around, they expect virtuosity instead of being impressed by it.
One need not play well at all to have charisma. Manitas yes he banged Bridgette...while that fact must be over shadowed by the realization that the guy had something like 40 children. Despite the obvious negative implications of such a thing, the "sons" and "daughters" in the Gitano community are quite proud to admit who their biological father is.
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