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This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva, Tom Blackshear and Sean O'Brien who went ahead of us.
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Posts: 15882
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien
Heard last night that he has passed away. I loved that guy constantly spamming us with great cante videos and complaining how we only care about guitar. Foro will never be the same without him and his love of the Taurino culture. Looks like his last post was the one to me June 25 about Enrique del Melchor. I don't know what happened if anybody has news. Very upsetting. Vaya con dios.
Posts: 3502
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
That is a shock, Ricardo. How did you hear he passed away? Were you aware that he was ailing at all? Morante was an "original" for sure. DEP.
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: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Oh no, this is heartbreaking.
I spent some time visiting with Seán and his lovely wife, Chari, a couple of years ago. They were gracious and generous hosts and I immensely enjoyed the time I spent with them.
Subsequently, my sister and her husband visited Cádiz earlier this year and delivered the "Innocents in Iberia" book to Seán, a gift from Kitarist. They found Seán to be quite charming, a very educated and sensitive man with numerous interesting life experiences and opinions to share. They ended up hanging out together for the duration of their visit and met for lunch or dinner a number of times. I was part of their WhatsApp communications, more as a silent observer, and was happy to see how well they got along. Seán gifted a couple of copies of his José Millán CD to my family.
I'm really really sad to hear this and will pass the news along to my sister. Although Seán was known to tease me on here occasionally for my lack of knowledge (taste?) concerning flamenco, he always treated me with patience and kindness and I considered him to be a friend.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
You know when we say someone will be missed after they pass away…
Sean was a subtle but vital part of my/our flamenco experience here on the Foro and will be missed.
During coved he went out of his way to send me some material and I felt I was never able to repay his generosity…
HR
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I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Oh ****. I am so sad to hear this. I had just sent some tapes back to him that he sent me of Diego del Gastor and some other stuff he'd recorded in the '70s, and the José Millán CD he produced. I had transferred the tapes to digital and sent them back with thanks and a book. The courier tried to deliver them on 09 July but no-one was in. I've have had no response to messages since. This is awful news. I will really miss his presence here.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
This is really unfortunate... we're getting old, my friends. Be kind to one another and cherish the folks around you. You never know when the last time you get to spend time with them may be... RIP Morante!
Posts: 6448
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Such a shame. We met in Cádiz some years ago. He donated a lot of money to the forum and gifted me a Gibson P90 pickup. I have added him to our roll of honour at the top of the page.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Escribano)
I had a brief conversation with Chari this morning to express my condolences, as well as to send condolences on behalf of the Foro. Needless to say, she is devastated by her loss.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Sorry to hear that. I didn't know him, but I enjoyed the interactions we had here on the forum. DEP and condolences to those of you who knew him, as well as his family and loved ones.
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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."
Posts: 1772
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
That is very, very, Sad news. We know him for a long, long time. Some of us even back in the time of flamenco teacher forum. I had long correspondence with him about Gerundino and his guitars in the past. Rest in peace my friend
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Sad news indeed. His periodic postings felt like landmarks, or rather buoys attempting to steer us back to the correct course as he saw it. I enjoyed the inevitable wry grin whenever I opened the foro pages to see a post headed 'Flamenco', knowing that Sean had dropped in to grab us silly pluckers by the ear and march us down to some hidden bar for some proper cante.
It's nice to read the tributes from people who knew him. I always suspected that he was not as grumpy in person as his persona on these pages.
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Estevan)
I don't want to soften the image too much with all my talk about "sensitivity" etc...lol. When I met him I had to laugh because he was pretty well exactly like what I expected from his online persona. A little old school, but in the best of ways. Nothing pretend or made-up about that fellow.
What wasn't apparent online, however, was his obvious love and devotion to his wife. To me, they appeared to be one of those fortunate couples for whom the honeymoon had never ended. There was a balance there. I ended up really liking both of them a lot. I'm going to miss his posts, that's for sure.
I don't want to soften the image too much with all my talk about "sensitivity" etc...lol. When I met him I had to laugh because he was pretty well exactly like what I expected from his online persona.
Haha, thanks Rob; that's actually kind of reassuring. That's nice about the pareja, too. (- which reminds me, I'm going to echar de menos those randomly bilingual posts of his.)
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Sad news indeed. I did not know him, but he was nice enough to provide some advice and insight when I decided to purchase a Jeronimo Perez negra. In honor of him, may I say it is a wonderful guitar, and I know he was proud of his familial link with Jeronimo. RIP!
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"I'm just a poor crazy man in love with his art." Santos Hernandez
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Well now it up to the rest of us to post a sarcasticly titled post once in a while and credit him for reaching to us from beyond the world of ours.
‘It’s the flamenco with singing, not thumbing”
‘Hello, does anyone remember cante, or are you simply having rock stars sign your Conde with a fat sharpie”
‘If you can stop filing your thumbnails and listen, I’ve found a you tube video with some singing’
If anyone ever runs into a video or something that would have set him off, post it with a sarcastic title and it will help keep his spirit nearby. I’m also sorry because I liked arguing with him, knowing that if I ever go to Spain again I’d go see him. 😂
RE: DEP "Morante" Sean O'Brien (in reply to Ricardo)
Chari contacted me this morning and asked that I share the following message with the Foro:
"Dear (Foro), I'm Chari, Sean's wife. I wanted to thank you to all members of the forum flamenco but I don't know how to do it, especially you, Edguerin, Ricardo,Sildd.... Tell Sildd that the tapes and the book arrived and that Sean saw it. That after 14 days in the Hospital, Sean died peacifully and sedated. The ashes into the sea between Cádiz and El Puerto de Santa María, where he was very happy. With much love, Sean says goodbye to the forum."