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Ricardo -> RE: Book about Paco (Jun. 18 2012 20:04:20)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ramirez
Yes - I thought it was fairly appalling. Though he claims to be a family friend, as far as I remember Don wasn't Paco's biggest fan and fails to give any real insight into Paco as an artist or man.
He spends a great deal of the book of the book yearning for the days of 'real' flamenco - when he would spend many a happy hour enjoying himself, pressed up close against other drunken sweaty Americano gentlemen in a dark Peña, listening to Diego de Gastor play for hours using only his thumb.
It's a slim volume crammed with the most inept music criticism you can imagine. He also labours the point that much of Paco's work isn't real flamenco. In fact, he spends much of the book labouring a very punchable point about how Paco's music should be described as "FLAMJAZZ" or "FLAMFUSE (FLAMFUSION). As if this isn't annoying enough, he then goes onto to use the term himself repeatedly - as if trying to enter his phrase into popular consciousness - as he reviews each of Paco's albums. It made me want to attack Pohren with his own book.
Its one saving grace is that, as far as I know, FLAMFUSE didnt catch on amongst music critics and no one has ever used the phrase FLAMJAZZ again. Apart from me right now. Which I hate myself for.
I think Don wrote the book to capitalise on Paco's name rather than anything else.
Really Paco's work deserves a lot more effort, intelligence and insight than Pohren can offer.
So it's just as well that Paco Sevilla wrote a much more worthy book on Paco that is well worth a read: "Paco De Lucia: A New Tradition for the Flamenco Guitar". Now if you can get a copy, in contrast, it's really very good.
I concur whole heartedly. Pohren is very opinionated writer. AT the flamefuse section refered to, I literally tossed the book across the room in anger....no joke. Still and saddly those ideas are all too common amongst many flamenco fans though I don't want to blame it on HIM. Threads in this forum are a testament to the issue.
Anyway Paco Sevilla book was much better with the aside story of camaron. I read THAT in a day it was very good reading. As for Pohren's book, the black and white phots where good and plentiful...I tore those out of the book and trashed the rest of the total crap writing.
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