BarkellWH -> RE: Sabicas's Advice to Non-Spaniards Playing Flamenco Guitar (August 1982 Interview by Paul Magnussen (Jan. 17 2017 15:11:06)
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quote:
I think the "flamenco atmosphere" is a moving target. To a certain extent it is like any other cultural attribute in that it is affected by the political, economic, and social currents of a given era. In Spain that would have been the case even if the Republicans had won the civil war. Nevertheless, core elements of that atmosphere, while affected, maintained a recognizable continuity. I'm sure that Sabicas was well aware of Spain's history, but I'm equally sure that he would have believed that non-Spaniards must absorb the "flamenco atmosphere," however defined in any given era, in order to play with "aire," which is what I think he was driving at. I suspect Sabicas would not have thought it necessary to absorb that atmosphere only in Spain. There was a very vibrant flamenco community in Buenos Aires in the '30s and '40s of which he and others were a part, and there is no reason to believe the core of what he called "flamenco atmosphere" could not have been absorbed there. The trick, as I understand Sabicas, is to learn, practice, and play flamenco within that "flamenco atmosphere" if one wants to reach beyond mere technical proficiency. I doubt that he would quibble over whether one accomplished it in Andalucia, Madrid, Buenos Aires, or for that matter New York. Bill
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