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Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
Paco Pena Performing in Washington, ...
Tonight Paco Pena performs at George Mason University's Center for the Arts. Been waiting for this for a long time. His performance is entitled "Flamenco Vivo," and the play bill describes it as follows:
"Paco Pena brings his troupe of brilliant flamenco musicians and dancers to the Center for a tour through the history of flamenco. The journey begins with the most primitive forms of this captivating art form and travels to the highest levels of modern flamenco, demonstrating the rhythmic complexities of its latest variations."
It will be interesting to see how he arranges the program in presenting this history.
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."
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to BarkellWH)
Got my tickets for LA yesterday, can't wait. Although, last time he came through LA I payed $30 for front row tickets, this time it's $70 for a few rows back.........
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to BarkellWH)
Paco's one of the greats. I had the great privilege to attend Paco's Cordoba summer school in 1990 having been a fan since the late 60's I hope you enjoy the show. Jim
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to BarkellWH)
Too much jazz for me!
Seriously I would love to see him but I have to do my gig tonight. i never get to go to concerts on weekends. I was so glad PDL came during the week in April.
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Seriously I would love to see him but I have to do my gig tonight. i never get to go to concerts on weekends. I was so glad PDL came during the week in April.
Sorry you will not be able to attend the concert, Ricardo. My wife and I are going together with Paco de Malaga and Ana. It's always fun to be with them; and, as I lack the deep background, experience, and talent of someone like yourself, I am always learning new things from Paco, not only guitar technique, but also anecdotal bits of flamenco history. Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to seeing how Paco Pena arranges his program to present the "History of Flamenco," the theme of his performance tonight.
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."
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to BarkellWH)
Paco Pena's performance last night was a real treat, especially for someone like me who prefers more traditional flamenco. The troupe consisted of Paco, two other guitarists, a cajon, two cantaores (one male, one female) and three dancers (one male, two female). No electric bass guitar, no harmonica; just the essentials for a good evening of traditional flamenco, with enough of more modern sounds to satisfy those so inclined. My wife and I attended the concert with our good friend and my guitar guru Paco de Malaga and his wife Ana. Paco de Malaga, who as a young teenager of 14 or 15 studied under Paco de Lucia's brother Ramon de Algeciras, is in the same age cohort as Paco Pena, and he told me that at the time all of them were becoming proficient, the biggest influence was Nino Ricardo. There was a bit of that last night, and a lot of Sabicas as well.
One of the interesting pieces last night (and I saw it similarly performed when Paco played here three years ago) was a duet, consisting of Paco playing guitar while facing one of the dancers who was seated and playing castanuelas. Paco would play and she would accompany on castanuelas, all the while making cocquettish movements and finishing up each segment with a flirtatious sort of finale of the castanuela in front of Paco.
For the finale, everyone, including Paco, was standing up, and each did something different than his (her) specialty: One of the guitarists became a cantaor and sang, the cantaora got up and danced, the cajon player danced. It was a riot, and everyone was having a great time.
It was a great evening of flamenco.
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."
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
WHat no harmonica? What is with this guy Paco Peña, he hates modern or what? No harmonica, no show IMO. Glad I missed it.
You would have loved it, Ricardo. As for the harmonica in Paco de Lucia's performance last year at Strathmore, I actually enjoyed it very much and thought the guy played it well. I just didn't enjoy it as flamenco. OK, I know I just set myself up as a target again!
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."
Posts: 149
Joined: Jul. 14 2011
From: Newark, DE, USA
RE: Paco Pena Performing in Washingt... (in reply to BarkellWH)
It was a good show. I thought the dancing was particularly strong, although, I have to admit that I don't get as much exposure as to the aspects that survive on CD. The finale was indeed really cool. Sometimes I thought the three guitars got a little muddy, but there were still plenty of high points.
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