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A hundred years ago, on March 16, the great Sabicas was born. He died April 14, 1990.
Nearly forgotten in Spain for thirty years after fleeing the Civil War, he is today recognized as one of the all-time greats. Many of us who lived in New York were lucky enough to have known him personally.
At Deflamenco we put together a tribute with photos, articles and other documents.
Thats crazy! And very interesting. Seems like Sabicas could be founder of the blues brothers style. ^^ And that picture "Sabicas 1990" Scary!! Omg... Crazy article. Thanks for sharing!
sabicas is, and was, THE MAN!. the story goes that sabicas and carmen amaya were lovers but the amaya clan stood in the way of them becoming more than lovers. one can only wonder if they had gone the distance and had a child what that child would have been like.
One thing that always raised my eyebrow about the history.... they say his records did not come to spain till when exactly, the 70's? So he was not known in Spain till much later in his career. Well, how did young PDL know to go seek him out in New York City in 1965??? I guess I can understand the influence later on PDL, doing some Sabicas licks on his first two records, and then of course Escudero's Impetu and the Esteban de Sanlucar pieces, etc, all after his first trip to the states. But still, how did he even know about sabicas and those other guys BEFORE he went to work for Greco? Perhaps he only heard about them from others after he arrived???
ORIGINAL: Ricardo Well, how did young PDL know to go seek him out in New York City in 1965??? Ricardo
Sabicas' "Flamanco Puro" came out on Hispavox in Spain in 1961.
RNJ
Ok so then he WAS a recognized flamenco guitar star as of 1961? They just seem to imply he was not recognized in Spain until later....its vague to me. And also not clear why he could not come to spain and play before say PDL played Teatro Real 1975, etc....and all the recordings he made with andaluz cantaores....those were done where? In NYC??
ricardo, as i recall from the carmen amaya documentary which had a lot of history about sabicas, sabicas was known in inner circles in spain but his fame went, to use a modern word, viral, in the 1970's--probably very similar to paco who was known in inner circles but went viral when he decided to cross two bodies of water.
ricardo, as i recall from the carmen amaya documentary which had a lot of history about sabicas, sabicas was known in inner circles in spain but his fame went, to use a modern word, viral, in the 1970's--probably very similar to paco who was known in inner circles but went viral when he decided to cross two bodies of water.
Ok I guess that makes sense. But again about about his recording with singers?
years ago i read paco sevilla's book about paco de lucia and i recall (with a good amount of vagueness) the meeting between paco and sabicas was through jose greco's company which brought paco to n.y.c.--if i am not mistaken, paco was playing with greco's group.
ORIGINAL: Ricardo Ok so then he WAS a recognized flamenco guitar star as of 1961? They just seem to imply he was not recognized in Spain until later....its vague to me. And also not clear why he could not come to spain and play before say PDL played Teatro Real 1975, etc....and all the recordings he made with andaluz cantaores....those were done where? In NYC??
Marote quoted Sabicas saying he was afraid to go back to Spain. Sabicas is also quoted as saying he was not political. Maybe he wasn't, but flamencos and Gypsies in general were usually left of the center of the political spectrum, and there was plenty to fear from the Franco regime.
Somehow it became safe enough for him to return to Spain in 1967, to great acclaim.
At least from the 1950s onward there was a steady circulation of flamencos through the Americas. Manolo Caracol, one of the most famous cantaores of all time, as well as a movie star, had a club in Mexico City that regularly brought artists from Spain. So did the club Zambra in New York City. Sabicas frequented both places. I was at a few after hours juergas at Zambra where Sabicas showed up and played until dawn. My impression was he did it just for the hell of it, not for money. He was making money off records at the time.
Sabicas' discography is quite extensive. Some have studied it systematically. I just bought his records as I came across them. Many were recorded in New York, some with artists who were passing through. I think Domingo Alvarado, who appeared on several Sabicas discs lived in New York, at least for a while. Offhand I don't know of any recordings from Mexico.
Ok so then he WAS a recognized flamenco guitar star as of 1961? They just seem to imply he was not recognized in Spain until later....its vague to me. And also not clear why he could not come to spain and play before say PDL played Teatro Real 1975, etc....and all the recordings he made with andaluz cantaores....those were done where? In NYC??
Ricardo, if you scroll down from my article, past the photos, you'll see a number of original documents that hold the answers to your questions. Brook Zern for one, describes arriving in Spain almost ashamed of "only" knowing Sabicas material and wanting to discover "real" flamenco, but he soon learns there are old-timers who worship Sabicas and thought he was dead. It was a case of "out of sight, out of mind".
There is also an interview with Sabicas himself in which he describes how wildly popular he was before fleeing: "even the stones knew my name". The many recordings with singers were of course made before he left Spain.
You'll also see a conversation reported by Juan Maya "Marote" in which Sabicas explains he is fearful of returning to Spain, even though the was was long over.
There's really a lot of material there, you have to click on the documents to read them. For the couple of things in Spanish, click for the English translation.
So it seems Sabicas could have maintained contact with the inner circles this way, while not really becoming viral until later on. So maybe, Paco being part of the inner circles, heard some stories and made it a point to go see him in NYC?
Sabicas went "viral" around the age of 10 when he gave a solo recital in Madrid, and his fame continued to grow exponentially from there on until he left Spain to get away from the war and be with Carmen Amaya.
Again, it's all in the articles and interviews we put up with the main article...Paco had heard Sabicas' recordings and having been weaned on Ricardo's musically brilliant but sloppy playing, was astonished to see what beautiful sound the guitar was capable of producing. Sabicas considered Paco his disciple, and Paco worshipped Sabicas.
I think Domingo Alvarado, who appeared on several Sabicas discs lived in New York, at least for a while.
Domingo is a good friend, he's been living in New York City for over 50 years. You might enjoy a piece I had him dictate about his memories of Carmen Amaya in whose group he worked with Sabicas:
years ago i read paco sevilla's book about paco de lucia and i recall (with a good amount of vagueness) the meeting between paco and sabicas was through jose greco's company which brought paco to n.y.c.--if i am not mistaken, paco was playing with greco's group.
More or less... Paco was in New York playing in Greco's company. Guitarists Pedro Cortés Sr., Emilio Prados and Sabicas' brother Diego Castellón, along with singer Paco Ortiz took Paco, by then a young adult, to meet Sabicas at Paco's request.
This was not Paco's first U.S. tour with Greco...in the first tour he was described by Julio de los Reyes as wearing short pants, sprawled on his hotel bed reading comic books, like any young boy. Another guitarist with Greco, Manolo Barón, had taken Julio along with Mario Escudero, Juan Serrano and singer Pepe Segundo up to the room and asked the boy to "play a little something for these friends of mine". Paquito obediently picked up the guitar and played some bulerias, causing all jaws to drop.
The information given in this thread is fascinating and instructive. Many have stories that humanize Sabicas. The only ones I can remember were in the Teatro Monumental in Madrid in 1974 {look at the last 3 lines of the script under the autographed picture for the date of the concert}. Sabicas had signed on to do something like a month run there and I went to see him the second night, I think...or maybe the third {whatever} and the last night. It was all you could expect, of course, so I need not go there. What was interesting was the last night he was to play. The Monumental held, I think, about 1200 people {yes, yes, I could be wrong...but not by much} and there were only about 12 people there...can you imagine? I got a seat about 10th row center and was happy as a clam. Interestingly, down on the front row were some old geezers {like I am now} and one of them was my first guitar teacher, Rafael Nogales. Every time Sabicas ended a number, he would stand up and yell “Bravo, Maestro!”. The old fan club, no doubt. The other thing that stands out in my memory was when I went backstage to do the fan thing and get his autograph. His brother Diego graciously led me to the door and opened it so I could go in. Sabicas was seated right in front of the door and beholding the guy was like a religious experience to me. Chills, heart pounding, etc…we’ve all been there when we see an idol up close. So I’m looking at Sabicas and he beckons me in {how many thousands of times had he seen a star-struck fan and recognized the “symptoms”}…anyway, as I entered I could see more of the room and I noticed another person seated to his left. Who else? Paco… Whoa, sez I, I’ve hit the jackpot! BUT…I noticed a distinct scowl on Paco’s face and a look that shot daggers….{I distinctly remember that look…no mistake – I remember it after all these years} I had inadvertently intruded on a meeting of the greats and, by Paco’s expression, was really not welcome. Sabicas, however was the soul of graciousness and very slowly and painstakingly signed the program you see in the picture. I have heard stories {and that’s all they are} of him not being able to write {like Django, who was taught to sign his own name by Stephan Grappelli}. It would be interesting to know. Being the normal American guitar fan, I took my Nikon and my Sony cassette recorder and got some lovely substandard photos and bad quality recordings, one of each I offer {check the sound file "Sabicas Taranta 1974 concert tape" in the "Audio & Video Uploads" section} for archival reference if nothing else.
On a separate subject, I would like to hear Sabicas talk! if you watch this clip by YouTuber “Sabicas17” you will see him being interviewed {at 1:57} on RTVE in Spain in black and white, but “Sabicas17” decided to record over the interview with a guitar number. Does anyone have the original? http://www.deflamenco.com/revista/pagina.jsp?codigo=3426
More to the point…does anyone have any tapes they might have made back then of Sabicas talking, practicing, or whatever? I’d like to hear some outtakes of this great man before the lid closes, folks. Dedos
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Dedos--i have a video tape, probably 3rd or more generation given the sound/picture quality, of sabicas in one of his last concerts where he speaks between a few numbers. the concert ends with him doing a southern u.s.a. diddy--i cannot recall the diddy at this moment. i suspect this video can be purchased on the market.
as a side note jocelyn ajami did a documentary about carmen amaya and there is a lot of sabicas material on the video. years ago i had the pleasure to attend a showing of this video with ms ajami doing a discussion afterwards. the documentary is: carmen amaya, queen of the gypsies.
sabicas was one of the first artists i really listened to alot in flamenco, his falsetas are timeless and with beautiful musical craftsmanship..you play his falsetas today and they still sound cool and "authentico"
i really love that "wet" sound he got on the trebles doing his tremolo...amazing ;)
I just received two Sabicas CDs I had on order: "The Fantastic Guitars of Sabicas and Escudero," and "Sabicas, Flamenco on Fire." Great stuff! I treasure my Sabicas CDs, along with my compilation of Ramon Montoya's early playing entitled, "Ramon Montoya, El Genio de la Guitarra Flamenca: Grabaciones Historicas, 1923-1936."
I would love to locate a CD featuring Nino Ricardo alone. I have one CD entitled, "Masters of the Flamenco Guitar," featuring Nino Ricardo, Sabicas, Manolo de Huelva, and Marchena de Melchor, but I have never seen one featuring Nino Ricardo alone.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
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."
ORIGINAL: zata ...Ricardo's musically brilliant but sloppy playing...
Huh?
"You're killing me smalls."
In the 60s and 70s all the guitarists were playing Nino Ricardos material. Ricardo composed amazing material based on the toque of Montoya, but original in some ways. His toque however, was very sucio (dirty). When Paco finally met Sabicas he realized that it was possible to play at high tempos and be very clean. Sabicas had incredible technique.
Um, I know the history behind this, I just take issue with the characterization of Ricardo's playing as "sloppy" or "dirty". I think the more proper word is "authentic"...
Back in the 80's, Aida Gottilieb was the General Manager for "Latin American Productions" here in the NY area. She was responsible for setting up many concerts for me during that period. I was still quite young and Sabicas was a regular performer with "Latin American Productions" at that time and unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to meet Sabicas. I met other artists such as the tenor Alfredo Sadel, Tito Puente, etc... It would have been such an honor to meet him but things just did not turn out that way.
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