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I thought this was posted here already. I guess it was over at FT.
Interesting things I noticed watching it a second time, his posture, he's not watching himself play and then at about 03:40 he adjusts his tunning a couple times with hardly a break or glance.
It would be interesting to know whether he got that good before he was blind, or whether its something he developed after. Sometimes people who lack one sense learn to compensate for it in other ways.
If he got that good after, then I might try playing blind-folded and see how I get on...
Yeah, Jose Feliciano is good musician and a good singer. He's very professional and a great crowd pleaser. I like his stuff... I have an album of his actually, and it's great. However, his stuff has as little to do with actual Flamenco music, as does the music of Barry Manilow...
This is the curse of this music.. If you want to make any kind of real progress at it, you will have to study for years and years, perhaps even travelling to Andalucia, learning all sorts of things that are extremely difficult and "foreign"... that won't really entertain your friends and family, and will probably only get a lukewarm round of applause amongst the few actual Flamenco aficionados you actually meet, who will point out where you lost the rhythm or otherwise went wrong...but "good effort anyway!"... keep practising!
On the other hand, you can "alter" the music so that it has a much larger appeal, with a more familiar 4/4 beat, or even "free form", so you can play with other musicians and everybody, especially the audience, will catch the vibe and everyone will have a great night! Folk will applaud and cheer and you will leave the stage a happy man and pick up a big cheque for your appearance and asked when you will be available again for another gig!
IMO folk study Flamenco music for a few years, gain some technique, realize the length of the road ahead and decide that it's too much to ask and "convert" their gained knowledge into their "own" music. (Which to me anyway, always sounds pretty similar to every other Flamenco dropout's music, though spiced up with ouds, electric violins or sitars etc, to make it appear "new" )
"..Leo Ferrero first took up the guitar at the age of 10...by the age of 12 he was awarded First Prize at the Viewmount High School, Ohio.. and later went on to study with the great guitar maestro Juan Vivamillo... At the age of 18, he travelled to Spain, studying with the great Gypsy masters in the backs of their horse-drawn caravans, achieving the highest honour in all Flamenco of playing at a campfire Gypsy wedding... Wishing to attain higher goals, Leo then travelled to Morocco where he lived in the desert with the Nomads, aquiring the intricate skills of rhythmic accompaniment, known to only a handful of outsiders... On a chance meeting with visiting Indian Grand Master Sitarist, Banji Durvekki, who, on being taken by Leo's skills, invited him to study at his Himalayan retreat. This album is a personal tribute to his masters and a unique event in musical history, containing a blend of all these influences that makes Leo Ferrero the only Artist in this field of music to this day..."
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Jose Feliciano is not a "Flamenco dropout" or anything. He developed his own Latino based style ages ago, even before PdL, which is cool! He's a nifty guitarist living in the W.Coast US.. and very professional and has taken a Sabicas composition and done it in his own style. Which is great IMO.
I like it as a guitar solo...
But it has absolutely nothing at all to do with Flamenco. But it does get a lot of dollar paying audience members saying .."Holy **** ...how does that guy do that stuff...incredible!"
Logically, the best music to play for financial and artistic success is "Fusion Flamenco"..
Flamenco "puro" is just for the nutters who got addicted!
Yeah, I know all those things about flamenco, it's an endless road, actually this is the case with almost every musical genre.
I was amazed because I didn't know he could play that well. I thought he was just another lousy musician. It's not flamenco, but it is a very pleasing guitar playing.
ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria Feliciano is pretty amazing. He has a "Flight of the Bumblebee" on Youtube too. Sloppy and weird, but fast! He really has some fast twitch muscles.
I just looked that up Miguel, did you notice he starts playing with a pick but eventually loses it (intentionally? Doesnt look so) and plays on finger style! Wow hehe but i always liked Jose, actually his singing more than his guitar.
Ron is right- not much to do with Flamenco. But every now and then a guitarist comes along who is blind, or plays with his feet. And I think people like that are an inspiration to all guitarists regardless of genre.
I tried playing blind-folded last night. Well, actually I just closed my eyes because I couldn't find a blindfold. But it certainly wasn't easy...
I managed to find the 1st and 6th string after some fumbling, and then slid my left hand down the neck to find the nut. I was able to fret a few chords in first position, but anything further up the neck became a guessing game.
I think if I practised a lot, I could probably play something very simple without vision. But removing my hands from the guitar (for example to change the tuning) and then carrying on would be a nightmare.
So... its not Flamenco, but still quite impressive. Maybe one day we will have a blind Flamenco guitarist?
Do you guy's actually play while looking at your hands? I usually don't as I was told a long time ago by my first teacher not to. Sometimes I have to though.
I noticed that he switches to fingerstyle and it sounds horrible. But I didn't really know if he meant to do it or not. It's a pretty awkward rendition. But it does show off some speed and not too bad for a 20 year old who's probably self taught (and blind). Although I'm not really sure being blind is a handicap for musicians.
ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria Ron, it was my understanding that Malaguena is a composition by the Cuban Ernesto Lecueona.
It is, but you won't find many one-handed pull-off legato sequences a la Hendrix in Lecuona's composition.
Jose does his own thing with the theme, which is traditional anyway, just like hundreds of other guitarists.
BTW, thanks for posting this, I keep getting asked if I know anything by Jose Felliciano and up to now I hadn't even heard him. Least I know what people are on about now.
ORIGINAL: Ron.M On the other hand, you can "alter" the music so that it has a much larger appeal, with a more familiar 4/4 beat, or even "free form", so you can play with other musicians and everybody, especially the audience, will catch the vibe and everyone will have a great night! Folk will applaud and cheer and you will leave the stage a happy man and pick up a big cheque for your appearance and asked when you will be available again for another gig!
I first heard Jose Feliciano on Mexican radio here in Phoenix. I was just listening one day and I heard this singer with a nice, catchy song, playing pretty cool, jazzy guitar. I caught the name of the singer, and got a compilation of his under the label "Platino". (get it, Latino and Platinum?)
The album has about 20 songs, including "Una Aventura Mas," the one that drew me to him. Most of them are bolero-type slow songs. He's essentially a pop singer who at least in this compilation uses a lot of Latin/Spanish folk elements (along with jazzy chords) to create his own style. He's a decent singer and obviously has incredible musical range. The guitar work on the album is great. He accompanies himself wonderfully and the solos are full of whimsy, invention, and flashy RH tricks.
I don't think he's ever claimed to be a flamenco guitarist, although he obviously has heard a little bit of it. He's just one of those guys with a gift for mimicry and uses it for flavor in his music. He's also a showman ala Sabicas, full of tricks. The album I have is cool because it has a lot of great standards, such as "Usted" and "Sabor a Mi." (It also has a Spanish version of Strangers in the Night!)
Ron, it was my understanding that Malaguena is a composition by the Cuban Ernesto Lecueona.
Yeah Mike...What I was meaning is I think his arrangement of it is from the Sabicas version. Did Lecueona actually write the piece for the guitar or is it an orchestral thing? I've seen his name credited to Malaguena pieces by various Flamenco players with different arrangements, but carrying the outline of the same tune.
I'm amazed that a lot of you guys haven't heard of Jose Feliciano, but I guess it just shows my age! Jose was hailed as a guitar genius amongst (pop) guitar players in the 60's and held in the same sort of artistic esteem as say, Stevie Wonder. He was the idol amongst the guitar players at my school!
(Now don't say "Who the hell is Stevie Wonder??".... )
Do you guy's actually play while looking at your hands? I usually don't as I was told a long time ago by my first teacher not to. Sometimes I have to though.
I was taught exactly the same by all my teachers. It makes sense, especially if you have to read music from a page at the same time as playing. But personally, I find it difficult, especially when doing more complex chord changes. Just inexperience, I suppose.
Not sure about Miguel's comment that being blind isn't a disadvantage to a musician... learning any instrument must be tricky when you've never actually seen it and probably never will.
I never really look at my hands when I play anymore (maybe from using a mirror or closing my eyes to help with memory work .. dunno) but I'm not sure this is a good thing. I think watching your hands can be helpful when memorizing early on in a piece so that you get a clear mental picture. I guess I use my 'mind's eye' these days. However, when you do a large 'leap' or position change you should definitely look to where you are going on the fingerboard then move there. This will give you a 'never miss' technique for that stuff. It is very common to be looking at where you where while your hand tries to figure out where it is supposed to be going :). I think you also have to watch your technique when learning new techniques to make sure nothing weird is going on ... I guess after that it's hard to start looking away.
The only thing(s) I knew about Feliciano was that he did Feliz Navidad until recently when hewas featured in an acoustic guitar rag where he said he considered himself primarily a guitarist.
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