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I like a lot of the modern stuff, but here's some old school cante. Rafael Romero "El Gallina" accompanied by Perico El del Lunar hijo, por caña at Zambra.
In 1957 I was 19, in Spain on my own for the first time. At Zambra in Madrid the left wing intellectuals were out in their tweed jackets and black horn rim glasses, smoking their pipes. Their dates wore cardigans over cotton blouses, plaid wool skirts and sensible shoes.
They were there listening to flamenco in silent protest against Franco.
I would be hard pressed to choose any particular piece by any particular performer within each palo, as there are many good versions by various artists. I do, however, prefer the "Old guard" such as Nino Ricardo and Sabicas to the Moderns in just about every respect.
Nevertheless, if I want to listen to a piece that is evocative of the old Moorish influence in Andalucia, I can think of nothing better than to listen to one of the three or four Zambras performed by Sabicas. It conjures a vision in my mind that is not replicated by other palos.
For many years I lived in the predominately Muslim countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan. For completely non-religious reasons, I never tired of (in fact I enjoyed) listening to the Muezzin's call to prayer (the "Azan") five times a day. And the most moving and haunting was the "Maghrib," the call at sunset. Recited in Arabic, it had the haunting sound of a minor chord on the guitar, and it seemed a fitting end to the day as the sun set. I would often follow it up by playing a recording of Sabicas performing a Zambra (evocative of the oud), with its promise of a good dinner and a glass of wine, to be followed by whatever the night might bring.
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."
RE: Best piece in each Palo (in reply to Francisco)
quote:
Bulerias - Juan Martin does a bulerias ala Diego Gastor on his Flamencos Solos that is one of my favorites.
I have to agree, this is the piece I'm currently working on. It caught my attention since it's very unique and stands out among other bulerias. I also like his arrangement, it adds to the feel of the piece.
Yeah one of my favorites too, and maybe one of his favorites to play live. I always felt it was more like a classical piece until I saw him play it in my face, with so much strength, drive, and jerez flavor. These things don't always come through on a recording. Anyway, this type of bulerias is in a genre all its own, like Escudero's Impetu, Moraito's Vals-Buleria, and many other similar pieces where the rhythm and melody is maintained by arpeggios mainly. In fact there is a little quote in Trafalgar from Escudero's Impetu that you might notice.
Ricardo
If it is possible please, I would like know more about the features of Trafalgar and what features make this Buleria distinguished from other buleria pieces.
Yeah one of my favorites too, and maybe one of his favorites to play live. I always felt it was more like a classical piece until I saw him play it in my face, with so much strength, drive, and jerez flavor. These things don't always come through on a recording. Anyway, this type of bulerias is in a genre all its own, like Escudero's Impetu, Moraito's Vals-Buleria, and many other similar pieces where the rhythm and melody is maintained by arpeggios mainly. In fact there is a little quote in Trafalgar from Escudero's Impetu that you might notice.
Ricardo
If it is possible please, I would like know more about the features of Trafalgar and what features make this Buleria distinguished from other buleria pieces.
The original studio recording does not use any rasgueado strumming to maintain or express compas. There are a couple of short remates (mii, and pai jabs), but everything else is arpegios, or pulgar melody, a couple of scalar phrases. The driving force is the very precisely controlled arpegios. And while the formula a-m-i is a primary, there is no rule about it. The opening rhythmic theme is a place to start,
a…m-i-a-m-i-a…a-m-i repeat.
The figure keeps the half-compas rhythm locked down as he moves in and out of it in the beginning. It doesn’t always count out to 12, so you just feel that constant groove in 6’s. If you wanted it to be 12 then you have to add or subtract one of those to taste.
The beginning is D phrygian and then after a move to Bb major with up and down arpegio (ala Niño Ricardo type patterns at :34), he modulates via A sus to A major to the parallel key of D major. From there he expresses the same intro melody (studio version) that was free style, but in compas of buleria using the up and down arp patterns again (:47). Some basic and pretty 4-5-1 type things happen and then he darkens the mood with a “chorus” of sorts that goes to Dm (1:17). It is again up and down arpegio. This moves to the striking baroque sounding sequence in Dm that is a quote of Escudero’s Impetu (1:36). After this a brief rehash of the D major melody. This eventually moves to another D phrygian section that continues using the up and down pattern mixed with basic a-m-i repeating phrases (2:05, my favorite part). He repeats the chorus in Dm, then another D phrygian phrase this time using pulgar (2:43). This is interesting because the previous year he had forgotten this section and I requested he teach it, so he re-learned it. He gives me a look and smiles at 3:08 because of that. A Tricky bass arpegio section, essentially using a-m-i again in D phrygian is the last part. There is a short held chord section where the percussion does a brief solo, before the final chorus.
On this class demo here, since there is no percussion, he expresses the held chords doing some funky rhythm (3:48), and he repeats the entire major key section because he missed a note the first time, before doing the final chorus.
The original studio recording does not use any rasgueado strumming to maintain or express compas ......
Dear Ricardo... I always use your lessons on Foroflamenco.com and You here (at foroflamenco) have taught me a lot directly and indirectly although i am here with a nickname and you even don't know me personally.. But this time, with your lessons regarding Trafalgar , You surprised me a lot. I Thank You so much.. I really don't know how can express my respect to you and say thanks, since English is not my language and finding suitable words and phrases in English to say Thanks is not easy for me..
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