Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
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 and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Fantastic website. I enjoyed all the audio samples you have uploaded currently. I agree, it will be great when the eShop is working on your site. Looking forward to ordering both audio and sheet music. Thanks for sharing.
I bought one of our LPs "Flamenco Guitar " from 1967 And sent you a mail after hearing it. It dosent sound like "forign" flameno at all. I was blown away.
Henrik
_____________________________
This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.
Phillip, I bought your first album LP in 1971 and was amazed how you played. I have been hoping it would someday be available on CD, so thanks for the new website and e-store. I have always considered you a master flamenco guitarist and an inspiration that a non Spaniard can capture the true emotion of flamenco.
I've been a fan since I bought your Flamenco guitar LP back in 1969. A true burst of sunlight over the dark north west of scotland. I'm just one of the 250k who discovered flamenco guitar with your help back then. Really good to know you're hear and I have to say your record, even in these modern times, remains inspirational. Nice web site and I'm looking forward to seeing tab for that marvellous Solea. Regards Jim.
Hi Philip! I too have several of your albums. I only just realized you have been a member for a couple of years.
You've posted very little since then.
Your ideas and views would be very welcome here.
OK...here's my question, (which I'm sure everyone here would love to hear your views on).....
You have been playing Flamenco Guitar professionally practically all of your adult life now, and in various countries.
What is your own personal experience of how "extranjero" Flamenco is accepted and appreciated in various countries and how does it go down in Spain?
(I once saw the late Ian Davies" in "El Cafe de Chinitas" and IMO, he was indistinguishable from the rest of the guitarists...but I never got the chance to speak with him afterwards)
A good question Ron , and I must say that I have not really found any animosity or any prejudice against non Spaniards in Flamenco , I think that as long as one has good compas , the minute that one starts to play , people tend to forget where you come from and just accept the music for what it is . When I first went to Seville in the 1960s as much as being English it was considered strange that I , as a young man was playing in a very old style , this was because I had been learning from very old recordings . I do remember from that time a bit of rivalry between gypsies and non gypsies , I had met up with Antonio Sanlucar , the brother of the legendary Esteban and spent the night playing the guitar with him and accompanying the local singers and it was the next day when I took the bus up to San Juan de la Aznalfarache to hang out with the gypsies , my friend Juan said " I hear that you have been playing the guitar in Triana with Antonio Sanlucar , what do you think of his playing ? " when I replied that I thought he was really good , Juan then said " yes he plays well , but not like us , he is not a gypsy " . Juan also found it odd that we had gypsies in England but they did not have Flamenco . I am talking now about the sixties and the gypsies were much more isolated then . Outside of Spain I don't really think that anyone really cares where one comes from and I think that if one understands the genre and has the intrinsic elements that go to make up the music instinctively people will pick up on the fact that you have got it right .
as a young man was playing in a very old style , this was because I had been learning from very old recordings .
This is what impressed me so much about your playing then and still does today. You captured the old school feeling, something that we don't hear much anymore and something that is difficult learn. Who were your early influences?
Thanks Sam , I like what you say about the old school feeling and you are right , I suppose you had to be around at the time , it was a different world then and when I started out there was no Paco de Lucia on the scene the idea of flamenco with a frettless electric bass and Cajon and a flute would have been unimaginable . Occasionally one might hear flamenco with an orchestra as with some of the early Pepe Marchena with Ramon Montoya , then , the orchestra was mostly used to just link up verses of straight Flamenco . The first record that I had was a really good Sabicas LP , I would have bought that in 1960 and that was how the guitar to me should sound and it also set the standard that one should aim for . then I discovered the very eccentric playing of Jose Motos from an album I guess from the late fifties , I could hear that he was good and I would try and get the falsettas from both records and mix and match , the next record I managed to find was of the Jose Greco company and I could see then how this solo guitar thing related to the dance and song and there was a bunch of other falesttas to learn and if not actually learn just take the idea and make it your own , and this is how it was then , as I got more into the old singers there was a whole world of guitarists all with there propio sello or personal stamp , people like Antonio Moreno , Monolo de Huelva , and of course Ramon Montoya and Nino Ricardo who were not only great accompanists but also wonderful soloists and creators of falsettas and other guitarists who may not be big on falsettas but could accompany the cante like the guitar and the singers voice were one entity I am thinking here of the likes of Melchor de Marchena . Another great thing about these days , a lot of these people were still around , it was when I went to the theatre in Seville in the early sixties that I saw Angelillo and Juanito Valderrama being accompanied by Nino Ricardo , I still have the signed programs from that evening . It was easy to learn Flamenco then , It was a real tradition that once one understood the elements that go to make it up , was there to be dived into , assimilated and played around with . Coming to Flamenco guitar now must be very confusing as there is so much stuff out there in the way of transcriptions and DVDs etc.
Hi Philip, LOL! Yeah, if you were prepared to save up, give up your job, learn Spanish and get on a train and car ferry to Spain and then live as cheaply as possible! For there was nothing available in the UK except for your ear and a few notes on LP cover sleeves! Oh yes...and "Flamenco en la Madrugada" from Sevilla, which you could sometimes (just) hear on Medium waves after midnight on the radio if conditions were right (like Radio Luxembourg). These days there are on-line lessons, books, instructional DVD's, Tab Books, etc etc.
Phillip, After a 35 year break from flamenco due to having to work hard labor to support my family, I hear what you are saying ... it wasn't that PLAYING flamenco was easier in the 60-70's, it was just focused on the music more than all the technique we see today that can become confusing and discouraging. Strumming with the index and or middle finger and the 4 finger rasqueado was accepted, now I read this is a thing of the past. I was told my using old school technique makes me a dinosaur and dinosaurs are extinct. Oh well, I play for myself anyway and have no delusions of ever playing in public. I am still excited about getting your CD's. I received my dual CD set of Ramon Montoya last week and it sure brings back memories of a bygone era.
Printable Version
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread