henrym3483 -> RE: Did flamenco swallow you up from your previously preferred genre ? (May 2 2022 22:40:58)
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I was into and still am into all sorts of music, most of my teens and early 20's were spent listening to sound garden, NIN, smashing pumpkins, nirvana, foo fighters, pearl jam. Didn't pick up a guitar until i was 18 and spent pretty much spent all that time hanging out and learning from some of my other friends who were musicians and gigging at the time, got competent, learned to play most of the songs off the 'color and the shape' and 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' When i turned 21, I first saw flamenco on one of the BBC shows, and as far as I remember it was Tomatito, and I was blown away. I picked up Juan Martins books and Aaron Gilmartins DVD and tried to teach myself. I ended up going to saint nazaire, france for an internship and met my first flamenco teacher Erwan LeBrenn, he took lessons in Jerez during the 60's and 70's and showed me a lot of the basics and material for solea, seguiriyas, tientos/tangos etc. I came back to Ireland after the internship, and ended up on the foro. Thats what prompeted me to going to Gerardo's Course in Sanlucar. Man that was wake up call and it was crushing, felt like i knew nothing about the guitar, the atmosphere was great and the parties but it hit me hard i could never follow note for note what was being done. The subsequent curso's i went to, i took antonio carrions cante accomp class which i found to be very enjoyable. I'll return to the curso sanlucar later I went to Jerez numerous times and studied with alot of people, learning falsetas for each style, el carbonero, nino jero, jesus agarrado, miguel salado, Juan Manuel Moneo. Last few times i've gone back have been better, I can follow the material and pick it up. also had a few talks with teachers and basically showed me a few short cuts on jerez style and how falsetas evolve or get changed. I had a hiatus of about 5 yrs playing, as my heart wasnt in it and needed to sort my life and career out. These days, i have less time to play but more money, but i enjoy practice and working cante tracks and when the opportunity presents dancers. 2019 was the last occasion i was at Gerardo's curso, and while it was tough to follow, the material made much more sense and I could work it out later. Looking forward to heading back this year and hopefully see some familiar faces. Most days if driving in my car its flamenco, and mostly old cante, last few weeks have just been re-listening to paco's discography, its and amazing body of work...this week i'm going to listen to gerardo nunez's and next week tomatitos albums. I don't think flamenco has replaced all the music i listen to, but its a large part.
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