Ian Davies? (Full Version)

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Ron.M -> Ian Davies? (Oct. 11 2003 11:16:13)

TJ (Steenland) has mentioned on the FT site that English Flamenco guitarist Ian Davies has passed away.
I'm quite stunned. He must have only been in his 40's.
I've done a search on the Net for more info, but can't find anything.
Can anybody confirm this?

Ron



gerundino63 -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 11 2003 13:50:04)

Hi Ron, here is the orriginal message steenland is revering to.
greetings, Peter...................
I heard from a friend last week that the great English Flamenco Guitarist
Ian Davies has passed away after battling cancer.
I had the good fortune to meet him on my trips to Spain in 1975, 1990 and
1995.
He lived in Madrid for many years working with greats like Serranito at the
Cafe de Chinitas.
He was a good friend of my teacher Juan Maya "Marote" ( who also passed away
last year).
He will be sadly missed by all who knew him as a great guitarist and nice
bloke.
Antony



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 11 2003 15:12:53)

Thanks Peter,
That's very sad. I heard of him first in the late '60s. He and Philip John Lee were Paco Peña's best students back then. He must have been only 16 or 17 when he appeared on a spot on a popular TV show here in the UK.
When I lost track of his activities I had assumed he'd given up the guitar to pursue a more "sensible" career, but I later found out that he had gone to live in Madrid and work as a guitarist. So he really was a truly dedicated guy after all.

Ron



Jim Opfer -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 12 2003 14:21:45)

Hi Ron,
Yes, that's a pitty, I bought his tutors 'Flamenco Tradicional' in the late 80's and had read about him in Guitar International, a few years earlier. I have one of his recordings 'por los cuatro costaos' a good album recorded in 1990.
I heard thet when Fernanda and Bernarda came to perform in London, their guitarist fell ill and their preference was to called in Ian to accompany them. That speaks volumes about his ability and reputation.
A fine player.
Jim.



Guest -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 15 2003 19:37:33)

Well I'm stunned, I had a lesson with him once when he was working at Juan's shop in London, London Guitar Studio, I remember he used to smoke a pipe, does anyone know what kind of cancer he got.
Cheers
Billyboy



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 15 2003 19:58:18)

Yeah Billyboy,
I'm pretty stunned and saddened too.
To be honest, I totally hated him when I was in my early 20's, (envy really!).
The fact that he was only 15 or so and got personal lessons from Paco Peña and his dad took him to Madrid to meet Serranito etc.
I thought he was a typical "rich kid" who had all the chances.
That's why I thought he'd given up the guitar and probably gone into Advertising or the City Financial Sector to earn a "decent" easy living.
But I was totally proven wrong in the fact that he kept true to his beliefs and continued in a quiet way with the flamenco guitar.
So in a way, although I never met him, he was part of my life.

By the way smoking is only one way to kill yourself, there are plenty others.
Such as living! LOL!

cheers

Ron



Billyboy -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 16 2003 13:32:35)

Yeh I smoke myself Ron, but lots of things can kill ya. I didn't know much about his background, but I had a similar attitude to Peter Holloway who's parents financed his years learning his trade in Spain instead of going to University etc. Iam digressing a bit now but most virtuoso or child protégés have had a lot of encouragement, both financially and mentally from their parents. I was only listening to Ian Davies's solo album the other day, Its damn good actually, If anyone is interested I could upload a clip. The Album was called Los Cuatro Costoas, spelling is wildly wrong I know.
Cheers
Billy



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 16 2003 14:45:47)

Yeah Billyboy,
That would be great if you could upload a (low quality) mp3 of a Bulerias or something.
I've still got his very first album, which he made in his teens.
It's competent, but he was too young to have anything to say musically.
I heard that when he was playing in Madrid in later life he was brilliant, so would love to hear something from that period.

cheers

Ron



Guest -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 16 2003 18:19:17)

I'll try and dig it out, haven't got a sound card lead at the mo, so I'll have to get one off my mate, and I'll try and do it tomorrow, the tarrantos and Alegria, I think were the best on the album, the Tarrantos I transcribed many moons ago, but never wrote it down, which is a shame. The amount of time I've spent slowing stuff down, spending months transcribing, only to forget everything later, is absolutely criminal, but there you go.
Cheers
Billy



Billyboy -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 12:18:10)

This is a Taranto of Ian Davies from his album "Por Los Cuatro Costaos"
I will post the Alegria if I can in the next post below, The sound is a bit rough to keep the file size down.
Cheers
Billy



Billyboy -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 12:23:26)

This is the Alegria Ian Davies



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 12:37:27)

Thanks for that Billyboy,
Well his sound is certainly more mature in that piece....I can hear quite a strong Serranito influence there.
Actually I'm not that keen on Tarantas and Granainas and the other "free forms".
I dunno why, I just sort of went off them for some reason....
Too much "drama" and fast ligado and pregnant pauses for my liking, and I find I start to lose interest after a minute or so and my attention starts to drift.
So that's probably not a great example of his playing for me, but he certainly plays like a pro!
Thanks again!

Ron



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 12:46:35)

Wow! Nice Alegrias.
Nice style and touch!

Thanks again Billyboy,

Ron



Escribano -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 15:38:00)

Sounds like quite a life. News item on his passing here [:(]:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/16/db1603.xml



Guest -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 17 2003 17:44:00)

I didn't realise he did all that stuff myself, all I new him from was the articles on him in Mags like Guitar International, Classical Guitar magazine and a concert he did north of England in the 80’s, Does anyone agree with me that the reality of trying to earn a living as a musician in general, but flamenco in particular is so difficult, that the stress can shorten your life, not to mention all the substance/ alcohol abuse that goes on in the Gypsy community over in Spain, I'm not saying this was the case with Ian, but I don’t think I would encourage my kids to try and make a career of Flamenco.



Ron.M -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 18 2003 10:33:23)

quote:

I don’t think I would encourage my kids to try and make a career of Flamenco.


Rob MacKillop, the Scottish Lute player who used to post sometimes on the FT Forum has after 12 years of professional playing/teaching and 7 CD's to his name has decided to pack it in due to the constant struggle to earn a half decent living.
He was on the TV News yesterday talking about the dire lack of support or interest in non-mainstream music in this country.
Over the last year he has had to sell all his Lutes and tonight he gives his last recital before handing his last remaining Lute over to it's new owner.
I met Rob when he came up to Aberdeen and we played and discussed Flamenco Guitar for which he had a keen interest.
He is a fine guy and a fine musician and performer.

His site is at www.robmackillop.com

Ron



gerundino63 -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 18 2003 11:30:28)

One more reason, to cherish, each other,
And give eachother a lot of credit,
we are with so little people...
greetings, Peter



Guest -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 18 2003 17:21:31)

What a depressing concert that must be for him, hardly a gig to get fired up about.
Strangly some small intrest musicians seem to be making a packet. Simon Dinnigan, classical Guitarist, has a full concert diary, and did a gig at the Palace a while ago, and he is not a house hold name, and there are loads of good classical guitarists in this country all competing for a small wedge of the pie.
Billy



Thomas Whiteley -> RE: Ian Davies? (Oct. 18 2003 18:29:11)

Ron;

I really enjoyed my e-mails with Rob! He is a nice fellow. Too bad a person cannot do what they love in life and are good at too!

The reality is that not all artistic endeavors allow one to survive. The name of the game is survival. Commercial success comes with a price also.

If you want to be a commercial success you have to have an audience that pays well. That means do your marketing research and attack as required. Join into the feeding frenzy like a shark.

Should you want to do something that is not main stream then your chance of a “normal life” is in trouble, if you have to support yourself.

There are many tradeoffs in life. Personally, I would like to see Rob and people like him succeed. They are of real value to society and our culture. Technology as an example is of value for an instant, replaced and sometimes forgotten.

We can spend billions to destroy small parts of the earth but little is spent to preserve art.

By the way I feel lucky that I own every instrument I have owned since I was 10 years old. They are like family members. If I had to give one up it would be like selling a member of my family.



Guest -> RE: Ian Davies? (Dec. 12 2003 2:57:50)

I was stunned to hear of Ian's death, especially since he was 2 years younger than me. I've just registered so I don't have email, etc., in system yet. I have some very unique memories of Ian from 1972, especially re his relationship with Juan Maya Marote, Serranito, etc. from those days. If anyone is still interested.

Pedoviejo



Billyboy -> RE: Ian Davies? (Dec. 12 2003 9:50:17)

Pedoviejo, I would very much like to know what Ian was up to in his later years, he seemd to go off the horizon, was he ill, had he other problems? This would intrest me more than anything, as Iam wondering if the flamenco life style killed him.
Cheers
Dave



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