pjn -> RE: Paco de Lucia has passed away (Feb. 27 2014 15:47:03)
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I want to relate two anecdotes which exemplify for me the quality of Paco's humanity, mentioned previously to set up the lame joke about Ruben Diaz. A friend of mine here in New York, who has a shaved head and a somewhat exotic look, went to hear Paco and his group several years ago. He was having a smoke at intermission, around the side of the building, when Paco and a couple of the group came out to do the same (no can do inside any more). Paco smiled at my friend, said "soy gitano?" (big compliment of course). Friend says "no, aleman." Paco laughs, asks for a light, makes idle chit-chat in Spanglish for the duration of the smoke, says "hope you are enjoying the concert, hasta luego" with a handshake, and is gone. Here's a better one: flamenco player in New York, Latino (Puertoriqueño think), just a local hacker like me, is playing at a flamenco bar (there used to be quite a few centered around the north part of Greenwich Village). He told me this story, confirmed by others there. Paco walks in with some people, nods at the guitarist, who is now in a state of extreme panic. He gets through a couple of numbers and takes a break, about ready to be sick. Paco comes over to him (not the other way around), introduces himself (clearly not necessary!), asks the guy's name, compliments his playing, etc. etc. Guitarist has now recovered enough to stammer something about how nervous he was to play in front of Paco -- Paco says "nothing to be nervous about, we're all in the same boat. And anyway, I'm always nervous when I play in front of people." As I said in the previous post, I have heard and of course read other stories like this -- Paco seems to have been a great man in the most fundamental ways, as well as the most exalted.
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