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Mark, this is simply my taste, which is becoming a bit more rigid...pre Paco for collaboration, post Paco for solos. Just taste, I won't make aesthetic judgements.
But yes, I think it might not be going too far to say Vicente has a bit of genious flying about him. I am salivating at the chance of getting this DVD!
I saw VA play last year and I'm a huge fan as well. He played so strong it was really incredible. But what I personally enjoyed the most was when he played the solos and falsetas I was familiar with, such as the ones on his first two records. I've messed around with the Solea por buleria in Eb on his first record and it's so hard to make that music sound good that it felt like i was starting to play all over again after twenty years. I doubt i'll ever be able to play that solo, but do want to get a few of the falsetas down. But man, that guy can play the heck out of the guitar. Have to say though that PdL came through town this year and the concensus amoung the better players here in town was that he blew VA off the stage. To me they both are supernatural level players.
ORIGINAL: Mark2 Have to say though that PdL came through town this year and the concensus amoung the better players here in town was that he blew VA off the stage.
I can pick out and play chunks of VA stuff (the easier stuff ), but I find Paco MUCH more difficult, its all so relentlessly loud, relentlessly fast, relentlessly hard!
Paco still seems to have the technical edge on everyone, IMO, although I have to agree with everyone else that posted recently here about Paco not being their favourite player. Give me Tomatito, Vicente, Moraito anyday.
Just found this flamenco forum, its amazing and it has actually got posts on it too, wow. Anyhow its great to find this site, maybe it will inspire me and others to keep playing the flamenco guitar, {yep i dabble in flamenco guitar}. I have been working so hard paying the bills etc.. that the flamenco guitar went on the side line for a while, but now Im out of work :-( and the flamenco guitar is back in my lap :-) LOL...how i missed it!!!.
Just thought I'd say hello to ya all and let you know a bit about me, well I've been playing the flamenco guitar for a while now and actually have a degree in flamenco guitar performance!LOL, yep I'm the fool who got a degree in flamenco guitar performance LOL and can't make a living out of it!! I've done something wrong somewhere along the line.. But just lately I've been making contact with some of my old performing buddies and the flame is awakening again, which I'm not sure is a good thing as I need to get out there and make money. And the guitar for me has never been about making money, it is about the music not a financial transaction..
So its back down to the job centre LOL. or maybe I should make some money out the guitar who knows, iv e never been a good busisness man, so never made any monies out of, just liked playing... oh well this old fool is rambling now so better go before I make a fool out of myself.
Well it was at Dartington college of Arts, in Devon. I was the only one there who was doing flamenco, so I had a teacher from Germany come over and in the summer had lessons with Juan Martin, he was too exspensive to have as a private tutor full time on my student allowance for private lessons, so I settled for his summer workshops at Dartington.
As you can imagine doing a degree in flamenco performance I had to learn and perform on a regular basis, as part of my assesments. All my waking hours were spent practising, I'm not kidding, I used to practise 8 hours a day and more, it was the only way to do it. It was a tough choice and I dont regret it, despite now being poor, i would not change it.
My German teacher was Friedhelm Turinsky, he was a fountain of knowledge and material LOL, and that is how I managed on a student budget to get all the Flamenco video's and books and study.
I also studied African drumming, which helped me with the rhythm side of flamenco!.
I went on placement in schools doing Flamenco workshops in palmas etc, which the kids loved, it was great to see the kids faces and body language when they are trying to do contra palmas lol, and they loved the rumba and palmas combinations. In one school the kids go on the tables and started dancing LOLOL, the teacher was really good about it!.
Anyhow to learn the flamenco guitar in such an environment meant lots of hard work and no parties for me :-( LOL but at the end of the day i got a good mark for flamenco performance. And achieved something I always wantedf to do.
I think I should add that I had a funny childhood and hence didn't have a qualification to my name and got into collgeg with my guitar playing, and now have a degree LOL not bad for an old fool.!LOL
Juan Martin is a controversial figure for non-Spanish flamencos, exalted as he is by some and despised by others. Could you give us your impressions of him in terms of personality, technical skill, performing ability, teaching ability, and repertoire?
An impression of Juan Martin? Well he is very precious about flamenco he sees it as a jewel that needs looking after and protecting. I have seen him and performed in workshops with him with dancers and singers and have always been amazed at his ability to be heard playing, even in a room full of dancing wannabees and budding guitarists you can still hear his guitar loud and clear above the rest. And full of feeling.
He doesnt believe in being clever to the detriment of the flamenco feeling, that should always come first, il duende.
His teaching has always been methodical and he always stated to play slow and correctly and in time to a metronome before going for speed, and has shown me some wonder full sounding chords not to mention respect for the art of flamenco.
I remember at one of his workshops I was with him and two other poeple in what was callled the black room, it had wonderful acoustics, and he was playing a fandangos, all of a sudden the music took on a dark nature and his face changed, it was an amzing experience almost magical, in fact it was magical, I believe it was the Duende we experienced in that room, it looked like something had taken him over. I wont go on it was a personal experience, but his guitar playing on a one to one has always been outstanding and a joy to behold.
I have seen performances with standing ovations for a simple Zapateado and on other occasions they were not so impressed, so what can I say??
On one occasion I had the oppurtunity to play with him for a singer and it was a wonderful experience, the singing is so powrful on a one to one basis and cant be captured on a recording. He has been the one to show me true flamenco and I havn't a bad word to say about him.
Apart from the fact that his lessons are very expensive!!! LOL, hope this answers your questions, it would take a long time to give you a full answer to them.
You obviously have a high regard for Juan Martin from personal experience, can't knock that. Did you ever come accross my big pal Mike Holmes, he took one of the summer courses for Juan at Dartington?
I remember Mike Holme LOL, I was at my first Juan Martin summer school many years back, and Mike was there, nice bloke, lost touch with him , is he still playing strong?? and organising workshops and stuff?
Sure is, most of the UK mob on FORO have had some skirting contact with each other. Mike's still playing away and totally absorbed in flamenco guitar. He's had a bit of bad luck over the last few years but he'll bounce back and no doubt set up a get together for us to look forward to.
Sorry for the late reply, inly just found it, I dont know how to get around these forums yet...
Is make actually performing these days?? The last I remember is that he was helping Juan in the Dartington summer school, and was recovering from a nast accident, is he ok?
Were you at one of the summer schools? I remember a Jim being there LOL
Is make actually performing these days?? The last I remember is that he was helping Juan in the Dartington summer school, and was recovering from a nast accident, is he ok?
Were you at one of the summer schools? I remember a Jim being there LOL
Mike's fine now, he plays full time and does gigs up and down England. He's got an agent I think in Brighton and always has somewhere to go, weddings, restaurants etc. Mike's one of those guys with a huge flamenco guitar rep and can play for hours.
Not that Jim, not guilty 'your onher' I've never been to any Juan Martin workshops, I don't have the same regard for him, but no dissrespect intended.
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), but I find Paco MUCH more difficult, its all so relentlessly loud, relentlessly fast, relentlessly hard! 
Didn't you recognise my name in the above post? 
I have seen him and performed in workshops with him with dancers and singers and have always been amazed at his ability to be heard playing, even in a room full of dancing wannabees and budding guitarists you can still hear his guitar loud and clear above the rest. And full of feeling. 
I've never been to any Juan Martin workshops, I don't have the same regard for him, but no dissrespect intended. 
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