Miguel de Maria -> RE: Flame Wars (Aug. 11 2003 15:07:05)
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Guys, you know I just got back from Seville, and had the chance to see a lot of stuff there live, that before I had only listened to on CDs or seen on videos. It's an interesting scene, when you go to a festival and see someone accompanying Chocolate, playing nothing past 1950, and then the next group is Antonio Canales, dancer, who is dancing something the purists won't even acknowledge as flamenco, and whose guitarist doesn't play a single picado or unaltered chord the whole act. I have always loved Paco de Lucia and Vicente Amigo, so I considered myself on the modernist side of the fence, however, when I saw people live who emulate them, or what you might call "post paco" guitarists, I felt a certain lack there. When a guitar is playing with a cajon and a bass, the guitarist must necessarily play less. Like any other kind of band, there is a sonic space and it must be shared. But this is a sparse, lean style of playing, when compared to some of the old masters, who had to shoulder the whole load themselves. The new style of playing, and of course this is merely a generalization, lacks rhythmic drive. I don't like a guitar that just adds flavor here and there, "lead licks." I like when the guitar grabs a bit more of the responsibility for the rhythm as well as melody. One of my teachers in Sevilla went to a Gerardo Nunez workshop in July. He said that Nunez' technique is phenomenal, quite beyond describing. I said, "is he as good as paco?" He replied that he was better, although not necessarily to his taste. Nunez plays almost all free strokes for his lead lines, although he can play picado too. Anyways I know Nunez can play anything he wants to, but his playing is a bit floating and subtle for me. I like flamenco guitar al cajones.
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