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The genre today had the honor of being mentioned in the online site of "Der Spiegel".
I sent it through google tranlastor and ironed out the most missing out parts.
quote:
El rubio con barba - the blonde with the beard, such the members of the ensemble Festival Flamenco Gitano called the enthusiastic young man who brought them on 15 November 1965 after a concert at the Berlin Titania Palast to record in a recording studio directly on the wall. Siggi Loch wanted by all means to release an album of the band that was touring through Europe.
"It was about authentic Flamenco, plans for a flamenco-jazz fusion did not exist back then," said Loch, who three decades later would become initiator of internationally esteemed jazz-flamenco recordings. His productions of the Festival Flamenco Gitano original of 1965/66 will be appearing at the end of the month as a double CD.
Jazz and flamenco: Vitale rhythms and improvisation determine the two musical genres. Both are hybrids of several influences. Their protagonists - Blacks in America and Gitanos (literally translated "Gypsy") in Spain - originating from disadvantaged minorities. From there it was only obvious to lable the flamenco as "Iberian Blues".
With "Sketches of Spain" in 1960 two Americans recorded the first successful jazz-flamenco album: Miles Davis and Gil Evans. For Spain's jazz musicians flamenco was no topic; at that time they like all of their European colleagues were aiming for US idols. Jazz stood for cosmopolitanism; national folklore was considered bitchy.
When the German Jazz Promoter Joachim Ernst Berendt was seeking Spanish flamenco jazz musicians in 1967 at the Berlin Jazz Festival for "Jazz meets the World", he found only the saxophonist Pedro Iturralde. On special request ("a guitarist ought to participate") Iturralde brought Paco de Lucía with himself. The then just 20-year-old was one of the first open-minded from the flamenco stock. Commuters had to have courage: Because the "purity" of the respective genres next to the legendary "jazz police" was observed by a "flamenco police".
Proud Art in bad bars
True is that flamenco was already being presented in a form of kitsch long ago. Accordingly, the poet Garcia Lorca lamented in 1922, that the proud art of deep inner singing (cante jondo) was heard in bad pubs and brothels. In the early sixties the German Spain- and jazz expert Olaf Hudtwalcker wrote about the transformation of the "ritual substance of flamenco dance into a striptease-substitute". Flamenco as a shallow nightclub entertainment for tourists.
But also the serious study of the Flamenco was controversial. So American musicians such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane were blamed for approaching this music from a dominant jazz perspective and that they were merely decorating jazz with exotic elements. Participants in flamenco jazz projects would "not really make love with each other" uttered the Spanish drummer Marc Miralta. The pianist Chano Dominguez dreamed of an "equal marriage of flamenco and jazz."
Dominguez (55) from the Andalusian Cadiz is at home in the jazz as well as in the flamenco. His definite succeeding with a fusion is documented with his new album with the WDR Big Band "Soleando". Along with Dominguez two Spanish percussionists and the flamenco singer Blas Córdoba joined the orchestra, that had already recorded "Jazzpana" in 1992 with the same guest conductor Vince Mendoza and with Spanish and American soloists . The project was established in 2000 and continued in 2015 with Dominguez. It is a milestone in the history of the Nuevo Flamenco.
Characteristic of this contemporary music are instruments that are not found in traditional flamenco - like piano or saxophone. And the ever since to the flamenco belonging guitars enrich the music with unheard harmonies. Sophisticated rhythms are also generated with handclaps and finger snapping. Further, steps of dancers coming in like percussion solos. It is for instance how things are with the new CD of Maria Serrano, who is being celebrated as the "Queen of Flamenco". Dance as acoustically perceivable art - which only is to be had in Flamenco.
Current flamenco CDs :
"The Festival Flamenco Gitano Original & Da Capo " ( ACT ) , 2 CD set , from 30. 10. commercially
Chano Dominguez & WDR Big Band : " Soleando " ( Delta Music / WDR )
Maria Serrano : " Flamenco Por Derecho " ( Connector Records / Inakustik )
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Morante)
quote:
Flamenco jazz does not exist. It is just jazz.
How would you define the mix of concepts from both genres? Flamenco jazz or Jazz flamenco is simple and it's pretty clear what the listener should expect... do you have a better one?
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Ruphus)
Boring article....
If there is existing a fusion or not .... I don`t care. Flamenco it self comes out of different roots.
It works always... see vicente amigos new CD (spanish-celtic) Radio tarifa etc. at the end of the day...it`s all flamenco. El compas de la solea, tango o buleria...eso es.
But one of the most fascinating project for me was Morentes OMEGA.
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Ruphus)
When the need for another description arises, I am sure the distinction will be made. When I read "flamenco jazz" I know what it means.. even though I don't really like it.
Spanish jazz for instance would be a term that could mislead people.
For that reason, I am also ok with "new age flamenco" and similar descriptions. If it was called "guitar/spain" I could be tricked into listening to it.
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Ruphus)
Okay here's the different genres names to lessen confusion.
1. Flamenco palos played by non-traditional instruments 2. Flamenco guitarists trying to play jazz 3. Jazz musicians incorporating tiny pieces of flamenco and Spanish music 4. Flamenco musicians incorporating tiny pieces of jazz
recorded nov.3 1958 in NYC. True fusion of both styles. Miles Davis only had flamenco elements such as the scale and the titles "solea" for example, is NOT a solea.
Later on RUMBA, a debatable pure flamenco form, as per it's ida y vuelta nature, opened up to latin music, which is sometimes called Salsa, and when done instrumental often called "latin Jazz"...to contrast with "straight ahead jazz" or "swing" type big band music. To this day nothing has really changed in that regard...you can hear in piano used with salsa type patterns over rumba gitana all the time. Later, PDL fused more rumbas with the guitar trio, incorparting things he learned from fusion vamps and waltz grooves, BACK into his flamenco compositions. (Everybody and his brother uses that Meeting of the Spirits Mahavishnu arp for some flamenco thing or other these days, or the "Passion Grace and Fire" al dimeola lick for buleria/siguiriya cross string arp rolling falsetas...standard flamenco schtick these days).
There was only one proper fusion done I am aware of called "Chiquito" where PDL took the tricky compas of Solea/Alegrias and overlaid a complex harmonic chart of chords over which they improvised solos. The genre called "Jazz fusion" covered a wide range of things going on 70-80's before "smooth jazz" took over. So best to refer to that piece by PDL as "Jazz fusion flamenco fusion"...as it's not necessarily straight ahead jazz due to the rhythm.
Carlos above is one of the first, and of the few, that is fusing his flamenco style of playing with straight ahead Jazz. Around this time, Juan Serrano also did his buleria version of Autumn Leaves, a straight ahead jazz standard, that I would consider also "jazz and flamenco fusion"...
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RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Juan Serrano also did his buleria version of Autumn Leaves, a straight ahead jazz standard, that I would consider also "jazz and flamenco fusion"...
I would consider it something shorter and somewhat more colourful.
Here are a few lines from an interview I did with Juan in 1987:
On one of your albums, you recorded Flamenco Variations on Autumn Leaves. That’s not exactly pure Flamenco, is it?
No.
So what made you record this?
Make money! Of course! I don’t want to lie. The record company said “If you record something they like, we are going to sell a lot more albums. And not only will you make more discs, your name will become very well known; because you will reach, not only the flamenco people, like now, but everyone else. Pay attention to that!”
When I was young, people considered me traditional. But flamenco people didn’t buy the records.
They spoke well of me. You ask La Paquera? “Oh, I want to record with him, because he’s the best”. Antonio Mairena said the same, Jarrito, Los Pelaos… any time they were asked what guitarist they wanted, they said “I want Juanito”.
But I wasn’t making any money at this time, because flamenco people don’t buy records—they don’t even have the money. Besides, as I said a while ago, to reach another audience you have to do something they will understand. And what they understand is Impressions of New York.
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Leñador)
I did not know this one from Carlos.... really spunky for that time. We forgot the Flamenco players who play with italian Barocque musicians (fpwpwibm)
For me one of the best ever:
The musicians are just wonderful and Pepe is magic
RE: Flamenco review in todays SPIEGE... (in reply to Perrate)
quote:
I did not know this one from Carlos.... really spunky for that time. We forgot the Flamenco players who play with italian Barocque musicians (fpwpwibm)
For me one of the best ever:
Wow how did i miss this, what a beautiful piece of music.
I wondering why the are no more flamenco/classic music fusion. This works so well togethter. Camaron records like nana de caballo or Nino Miguels walz is epic!
So, if sombody knows more in this....let me konow!
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♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪ Olé Bagreeee!!!
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