BarkellWH -> Paco Pena's Superb Performance in Washington, DC (Mar. 14 2011 13:20:04)
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Went to the performance of Paco Pena and his group in Washington, DC last night (Sunday, 13 March), and it was absolutely superb! At the risk of offending those on this forum who refer to Paco de Lucia as "God," I have to say that I enjoyed Paco Pena's performance more than I did Paco de Lucia's when I saw him perform a few years ago. I realize all opinion is subjective, depending on the observer's taste, but my taste in flamenco runs more to the traditional, and although Paco Pena has made concessions to some fusion in playing and ballet in dance, he remains much more traditional than PDL, Vicente Amigo, and others. One thing Paco Pena did last night that is rarely done anymore, he played a solo that consisted in large measure of tremolo. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful tremolo. Another thing, he played a couple of guitar solos (Soleares) with one of the women sitting next to him playing castanets. She wasn't dancing, just adding the wonderful percussive background of castanets to his playing. The entire group included, in addition to Paco Pena, two other guitarists, two singers, three dancers (one male and two female), and a cajon player. Whether your taste in flamenco, like mine, runs more to the traditional or more to modern fusion influenced by jazz, my advice is if you have an opportunity to see Paco Pena in performance, take it. He was great. Cheers, Bill
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