Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Full Version)

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srshea -> Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 9 2009 18:39:00)



This has been my favorite youtube vid this past week. Those thumb/index falsetas he plays starting at 1:20 are just OUTRAGEOUS and are really one of the most exciting and inspiring things I’ve come across in a long time. It’s amazing to see someone do something so powerful and effective with what is, on a technical level, very basic. This just absolutely rips.

I love the bit at 2:30 where he “dances” his guitar at the end of the falseta. One of my favorite things about Cepero is the way he projects his personality, not just in the playing itself, but in the expressivity of his physical demeanor as well. He’s just got a very playful almost impish quality to him that comes out and works perfectly in this situation. Everyone really seems to be having a good time.

Each time I watch this I catch a great, new little detail. Check the bit at 4:14 where Lebrijano hunches his shoulders up in time with the upstroke of the rasgeado.

I’m not sure if I’ve heard an entrada sung like that before. They both have kind of sly smiles on their faces afterwards, so I’m curious if Lebrijano is playing around in an out of the ordinary way here at all or is this just standard stuff?.....

Oh, and this one has a “watch in high quality” option which looks and sounds considerably better.



Pgh_flamenco -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 9 2009 19:38:08)

At 1:20 he appears to pick notes on the up stroke and down stroke of the thumb during the alzapua antigua? It seems unique to me. Adam Del Monte uses p up and down strokes occasionally, too.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 9 2009 20:11:49)

You think he's doing the index strokes along with, rather than between, the thumb strokes? Man, this is way over my head and too fast for me to tell what's going on.

The Melchor de Marchena alzapua about halfway down the page on Norman's site here seems to be a similar approach.


http://www.ctv.es/USERS/norman/alzahist.htm



Pgh_flamenco -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 9 2009 22:28:59)

quote:

You think he's doing the index strokes along with, rather than between, the thumb strokes?


No, I think it is something like p down, i up, p up, etc. If he was plucking with i and p at the same time the rate would not increase beyond the rate of normal alzapua antigua.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 9 2009 22:50:41)

The vid/audio quality in this one’s a bit rough, but this is pretty great, too. Ten minutes long with a LOT of space. He plays a lot of the same falsetas, but with a kind of stretched, hanging-in-the-air minimalism. And talk about playfulness!



What’s with that crazy little riff at 8:33?!



Anders Eliasson -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 10 2009 9:10:49)

quote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j37-lRNiAi8


Thats the kind of playing and singing that moves me as well. Besides, its played "al aire" (no capo) I find this heavy myself, but it doesnt seem to bother Cepero.

also a nice collection of kitchy dresses and necklesses.[:D]



Ricardo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 10 2009 9:51:28)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Pgh_flamenco

At 1:20 he appears to pick notes on the up stroke and down stroke of the thumb during the alzapua antigua? It seems unique to me. Adam Del Monte uses p up and down strokes occasionally, too.


No. ppi, ppi, ppi. First 2 notes per beat, then triplets. No up strokes. The same note is heard twice because he plays D on the 5th fret of A string, AND open D.

Ricardo



NormanKliman -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 10:20:19)

Yup, ppi just like Ricardo said. There's a version of that falseta on a recording of Juan Villar.

Cepero and Paco have really strong alzapúas but are about the only ones nowadays who haven't completely given up on the p-p-i version. If anyone knows of anyone else who plays this way, please post to let us know.

Like Paco, Cepero's taken it a step further, creating his own peculiar versions of this fingering. Aside from that falseta that's already been mentioned, at 4:03, for example, he doubles up with the index for his variation on this characteristic part of bulerías. Counting with a 12-beat compás, that'd be p-i-i-i in eighth notes: thumb down, index up, index down and index up. Twelve and one and two and three and... Too much for my right hand!

Most of the cantes and letras are standard stuff. The entrada "Me comprometes" is a little weird, but not too far out for bulerías. The "cantarillo" thing at 3:35 was recorded by Cancanilla de Marbella back in the 1970s, but I think he got it from a much older source. I think Camarón's mom used to sing the "molinera" thing at 4:36. You can check it out on Rito y Geografía, Carmen Linares also recorded it on her anthology and there's a great version on Juncales or Cayos Reales or whatever that recording's called, sung by La Piriñaca's daughter, I think. The last cante, "El tío de las castañas," was recorded by El Sevillano on several occasions.

Edit: Vallejo recorded that last cante in 1934.

The harmonized thing at 8:33 in the second video is an idea that Cepero used to play a lot, precisely on Pansequito's recordings. I don't know if he's still doing it today, but he used to play it all the time in the 1970s.

Great video; thanks srshea! Notice how Cepero calls out to Lebrijano at 0:26 and compare it to that video of Camarón, Turronero, Cepero and Paco, where he does almost exactly the same with Camarón (but nearly 20 years earlier), right down to the facial expressions. My favorite is the look of absolute concentration as he waits for Lebrijano to sing at 2:30-2:38. Notice how his eyes follow the singer's head (probably focusing on his mouth).



Ricardo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 12:18:43)

quote:

Cepero and Paco have really strong alzapúas but are about the only ones nowadays who haven't completely given up on the p-p-i version. If anyone knows of anyone else who plays this way, please post to let us know.


NUÑEZ!!

and I have caught vicente doing here or there. But nunez all the time. Maybe Tomate once in a while too.



takitaka -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 13:04:19)

sorry to disagree but he IS playing the thumb upstroke at the same time as the octave D ! [:)] (at 120 ish) The tone of the d string changes on the 3rd note of the triplet more metalic .



Ricardo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 14:15:31)

quote:

ORIGINAL: takitaka

sorry to disagree but he IS playing the thumb upstroke at the same time as the octave D ! [:)] (at 120 ish) The tone of the d string changes on the 3rd note of the triplet more metalic .


Sure it's not just string buzz from B string, or accidental catch on the up stroke? On the G note version, he hits the open B string with the i up too, i thought. Did you slow it down or something?

Anyway, if it is a simultaneous p up WITH i, and intentional....YIKES![8D]



takitaka -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 14:34:29)

yeah i slowed it down ,it's got more balls with the 3 thumbs .i think it's 2 thumbs on the g part with the index catching the g and b like you said [:)]



NormanKliman -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 15:35:30)

quote:

NUÑEZ!!

and I have caught vicente doing here or there. But nunez all the time. Maybe Tomate once in a while too.


Thanks for the tip, Ricardo. I don't know if we're thinking of the same idea, especially when you mention Vicente, but I'd like to hear that. I'm thinking of thumbing the melody (in B-flat for example) on the basses while brushing the trebles with the index, mostly in triplets and sixteenths and more in soleá and tangos than bulerías. Basically, what Melchor and Morao used to do that ended up being replaced with real alzapúa.

In any case, I have to say that I haven't listened to that much of Gerardo's playing. I only just recently got the recording he made with El Indio Gitano and I thought there were some interesting examples of development of certain techniques like alzapúa. If you can recommend a selection of the best bits and pieces of his recordings, I think that'd be something a lot of people would enjoy reading.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 21:48:05)

Thanks for all the eagle-eyed analysis everybody, and thanks for the healthy dose of cante-nerddom, Norman. (By the way, do you have all this stuff in our head available for instant recall, or do have to sit and mull it over for a bit!?)


quote:

ORIGINAL: NormanKliman
p-i-i-i in eighth notes: thumb down, index up, index down and index up. Twelve and one and two and three and...


That description sounds like standard horquilla to me. Is what Cepero’s doing here just a super-fast version?

quote:

Notice how Cepero calls out to Lebrijano at 0:26 and compare it to that video of Camarón


In the Lebrijano vid it sounds like he’s saying “bonito”? In the Rito vid it the first thing he says sounds like “doce” but with the accent on the second syllable (no comprendo), and later on it sounds like he said “Sevilla”?

quote:

My favorite is the look of absolute concentration as he waits for Lebrijano to sing at 2:30-2:38


Nice catch. One of the things I really like about owning the Rito dvds is that you get such a richer viewing experience in the sound and image and all the little subtle details you can see on your TV rather than a crappy little youtube screen. It’s cool that so much of that stuff is out there on the internet, but there’s also plenty of stuff from that series that’s NOT on youtube. They ain’t exactly cheap, but for anyone out there reading this who doesn’t already have it, I can attest that those dvds are worth every penny and absolutely worth owning.



NormanKliman -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 22:29:00)

quote:

(By the way, do you have all this stuff in our head available for instant recall, or do have to sit and mull it over for a bit!?)

I just make it up as I go along, ha-ha! It's no big deal, really. Question of paying attention to the letras, sometimes I go back to check and realize that I've goofed, and it's often a question of coincidence, of recordings that have stuck in your head for one reason or another. For example, I listened to the Cancanilla recording a lot over a period of a few weeks just because it was what we had in the car. When Cancanilla sings that letra, the guitarist Antonio Arenas lets loose with some kind of exclamation, sounding surprised and impressed. That drew my attention to it, because, otherwise, it's not much of a cante, although the letra fits the cante nicely.

In any case, a very large amount of flamenco consists of versions of things that have been around for a while. That's part of why you so often hear people say "el cante ya está hecho" and things like that (cante has already been created). It doesn't mean that good singers don't invent completely new cantes, but, as Vicente Sordera said, "that's a hard card to play."

quote:

That description sounds like standard horquilla to me. Is what Cepero’s doing here just a super-fast version?

I'm not sure what you mean by horquilla. For me, that term means a kind of arpeggio with simultaneous index-middle or middle-ring strokes. What Cepero does there is basic bulerías index-finger strumming, but thumbing the basses and using the index for every other note, rather than just the off-beat upstrokes (on the "ands"). Uh, that explanation is a little too obvious, so I think I'm not understanding what you mean.

quote:

In the Lebrijano vid it sounds like he’s saying “bonito”? In the Rito vid it the first thing he says sounds like “doce” but with the accent on the second syllable (no comprendo), and later on it sounds like he said “Sevilla”?

I noticed that, too. I don't know, "Juanito"? For Camarón, it's probably "José" but lisping the s. I'll go back and have a listen to both, but that's probably what he's saying.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 22:58:38)

Hey, Norman.

Well, the horquilla I know I learned from an old Juan Grecos book. Seems to be a bit old-fashioned, and I don’t recall seeing it elsewhere: thumb downstroke on a bass string, and then up, down, up with the index on the trebles, played as four eighth-notes. So, thumb/bass melody and then a kind of loose strumming inbetween. It seems like the same thing Cepero’s doing, but with maybe a difference in emphasis between the bass and trebles?....

Regarding the recall of all the cante connections, however you do it, I’m impressed. The file clerk in your head deserves an Employee of the Month plaque!

Thanks,

Adam



NormanKliman -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 23:39:22)

Hi Adam,

Had another listen to both videos, and it sounds like "Juanillo" and "José" (no lisp) to me.

Well, that horquilla thing you describe is certainly what Cepero's doing. I've always found it a l-o-t more practical to use either just the index for the whole thing or thumbing the basses and catching the rhythmic counterpoint (upstrokes on the "ands") with the index, or maybe alternating between the two forms, but "the full treatment" is a bit much for me.

About the file clerk, I'm sure you do the same thing with films, for example, if you're into that. I've got friends (some younger than me) who "leave me in the ditch" as they say. Wow, that sounds pretty ugly! [:D] What I mean is that they're a lot better than me at this sort of thing. It also helps to have an elderly friend or family member who's also been at this his/her whole life!!! Another factor involved is how much pleasure one is able to get out of old recordings, because there are a lot of good aficionados out there who don't like old recordings. Their taste doesn't usually coincide with mine, but they might be the ones who are actually playing flamenco today, which does a lot more for the art form than just criticizing everything new and different.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 11 2009 23:55:41)

Hi, Norman,

I actually did get into a forensically nerdy discussion about underground film this afternoon, so, yeah, I guess everybody’s got a thang…

The horquilla I mentioned from the Grecos books is used in a farruca falseta. It’s actually really easy and pretty satisfying to play and has a nice folksy/funky feel to it, with an emphasis on those bass notes. But yeah, applying that same technique to some full-speed bulerias? I’ll leave that to the experts, thank you very much!

So, “Juanillo” as just an affectionate little nickname? Hmn.

Thanks again,

Adam



Stu -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 12 2009 2:42:47)

That was a good vid man thanks!

quote:

Each time I watch this I catch a great, new little detail. Check the bit at 4:14 where Lebrijano hunches his shoulders up in time with the upstroke of the rasgeado.


i liked that bit!

and the treasure chest round his neck

thanks again.



Ricardo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 13 2009 12:45:54)

quote:

ORIGINAL: srshea

Hi, Norman,

I actually did get into a forensically nerdy discussion about underground film this afternoon, so, yeah, I guess everybody’s got a thang…

The horquilla I mentioned from the Grecos books is used in a farruca falseta. It’s actually really easy and pretty satisfying to play and has a nice folksy/funky feel to it, with an emphasis on those bass notes. But yeah, applying that same technique to some full-speed bulerias? I’ll leave that to the experts, thank you very much!

So, “Juanillo” as just an affectionate little nickname? Hmn.

Thanks again,

Adam


Terms get tossed around, but horquilla as I learned is as Norman described. A sort of "lazy" arpegio, where you use thumb, a and m together, and i. Nino Ricardo does it all the time. check his only solea vid.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 13 2009 23:35:29)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Stu

i liked that bit!

and the treasure chest round his neck


If you got it, flaunt it.

In case anyone has missed it, there's a very nice Cepero bulerias falseta tabed with audio over at Flamenco Teacher:


Cepero Bulerias Falseata

It's very much in that same stripped-down, minimalist style as most of the falesetas in all these vids. Out of my league as far as being able to take a serious stab at playing it, but the tabs let me kind of get my fingers on it and fool around with it a bit, and it should be pretty easy for a lot of people here.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 13 2009 23:47:58)

Thanks, Ricardo.

I checked Nino R. solea, and I see what you’re referring to. I made a very quick, rough vid of that farruca falseta. As I mentioned before I think this particular thumb/index approach seems to be sort of old fashioned, and I don’t know that people play it much any more.



Anyway, I haven’t played this in a while so it’s very sloppy (I’m not catching as many of the trebles on the upstrokes as I should be…), and shouldn’t be considered as an “official” upload. Just trying to add an example of one of the similar-but-different techniques being mentioned in the thread.

edit: man, I hate the bouncy, jumpy thumb. Can't seem to git rid of it.



mark indigo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 5:02:24)

quote:

where you use thumb, a and m together, and i


hi ricardo, do you mean thumb plays at same time as a and m together, and then i plays; or do you mean thumb plays, then a and m together, then i?

paco uses p, am, i quite a bit in some of his earlier stuff i've looked at (haven't got onto his later stuff... yet!) and also uses p, i, i, i (where the i strokes are up, down, up)....

....but i thought "horquilla" was when you play p together with m, and then i, as used a lot in older type granaina and taranta....

is there/are there definitive definitions for these 3 techniques? or are they all variants of "horquilla"?

ps total respect to you for being practically buddha like and saintly in some of some of the other threads lately... i'm sure you know which ones i mean!



Ricardo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 6:22:31)

quote:

is there/are there definitive definitions for these 3 techniques?

Well apparantly not.[:D]


quote:

or do you mean thumb plays, then a and m together, then i?

Yes, like a triplet. For 16th note rhythms, a pull off is added.

That is just how I first heard the term. Since norman and i are on the same page with the definition, I am happy about it being "correct". The other thing described is just compas strumming to me. Personally I dont really need a name for everything, so long as everyone is on the same page of how some technique is executed. Even the term "arpegio" can mean different things.

Ricardo



mark indigo -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 11:15:41)

quote:

Personally I dont really need a name for everything


me neither, nice to know what some of the things i do are called tho'!

quote:

Even the term "arpegio" can mean different things.


yeah, i thought the p, am, i, thing was just a triplet arpegio, i use it in a few things, a paco siguiriya falseta i play, and i first learnt it in an old buleria falseta from pepe martinez. if a dancer does triplets in alegrias footwork i usually use that technique to play triplet arpegios, with the usual escobilla bassline variations, then if they go into 16ths i play p, a, m, i, arpegio using the same notes on the same top three strings....

any idea what that pm, i, thing i thought was "horquilla" is called? paco uses it in the rito y geografia rondena for example



ddk -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 12:18:25)

Very nice Adam. Straight forward and clean. I'm trying to be more simple and clean in my playing. What guitar do you use there? Nice sound.

Also, great Lebrijano vid. I love that whole clan.

Thanks... [:)]



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 19:23:50)

Thanks, Dean, that’s kind of you to say. I wasn’t really expecting feedback on this, but I do plan to work up something for a proper upload in the next couple of weeks.

The guitar’s a Rafael Romero 120. I like it. It’s a pretty basic student job, but I think it’ll be enough guitar for me for a good while….

Couldn’t agree more about that whole Lebrija/Perrate/Pinini group of folks. All that stuff is at or near the top of my list.



Anders Eliasson -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 14 2009 23:25:55)

Nice Cepero falseta.

I´ll have a go on it. They are easy to read and understand, but in order work propely you need a very good, dynamic and precise tecnique.

There arent any big passing chords where you can hide.



srshea -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 15 2009 0:03:48)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson
in order work propely you need a very good, dynamic and precise tecnique.


That's why I can't really play it! [:(]



Anders Eliasson -> RE: Lebrijano/Cepero Bulerias (Jan. 15 2009 9:29:34)

me to, I always lack this little extra... Comes a time...



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