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Grisha -> RE: Sabicas had no compas (Feb. 10 2019 17:20:27)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Andy Culpepper
Does his music have the harmonic or rhythmic complexity of PdL's? Of course not, because no one did until PdL came along.
Of course, you are right.
Seeking new ways of expression is a great thing. Expanding musical vocabulary is an obvious way to grow as an artist.
The danger, however , is to blur everything out and to dilute too much.
Flamenco is the kind of music that deals with powerful experiences, with greatest joy, human drama and terrible grief. In its purest form it is passed to the listener/spectator with brutal clarity. Nothing is prettified, just the pure concentrated essence of the subject. This is what I picked up on as a child, that flamenco spoke the truth, it never lied.
What I am seeing today among many contemporary artists, is that they took the harmonic and rhythmic expansion to such unprecedented heights, that it kills the meaning of the message. This is very unfortunate, because there is a lot of work and years of study behind such proficiency, and it is very difficult to compose with such a level of detail. But at some point this complexity over-saturates the music and becomes its main feature.
It is like language. Imagine that you have an amazing vocabulary and use it in every single sentence, giving preference to those synonyms of simple words that are most rarely used. Now construct long, complex sentences to better showcase your ability. To my ears, a lot of modern flamenco guitar is approaching this point.
Now imagine you are at the deathbed of a beloved one (let's hope not!). Will you finally part with your style of speaking to say the last words to him/her?
I am not against complexity if it adds to the meaning, but a better balance must be found.
Just my opinion.
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