Son of Firefingers

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Son of Firefingers

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Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

Son of Firefingers

Simon, and some of the guys might remember the incomparable Firefingers from last year. Now...see this. Especially check out the videos on the DVD page...if you can bring yourself to do it!

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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 1:34:22

Skai

Posts: 317
Joined: Sep. 12 2004

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

There isn't a link!

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Try some Enrique Iglesias for some great cante.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 1:47:11

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

http://www.firefingers.tv/

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This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 6:46:49

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Can´t find any DVDs on his page?

http://www.firefingers.tv/

_____________________________

This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 6:48:36

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Damn, I always do that!

introducing, son of Firefingers:

www.benise.com

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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 14:12:06

XXX

Posts: 4400
Joined: Apr. 14 2005

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Watch out the vidz have 30MB !

Miguel, what was your inspiration? I looked at the 2 trailers, couldnt find anything worth mentioning.

Deniz

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Фламенко

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 17:51:28

ToddK

Posts: 2961
Joined: Dec. 6 2004

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

wow..........im speechless.

The continueing decline of music as we know it.

I loved when he said, "each song is its own piece"

WOW, what a friggin genius.

OK, its official, im a fulltime studio engineer.

Im putting my guitar away for good. There is obviously no point.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 17:59:12

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

...im just.....

......well...eh..

_____________________________

This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 18:29:03

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

You know, I was about to accuse Todd of moonlighting as this guy. But Todd, you cut your hair. Okay, I believe you, You're not Benise!!:) Hey, I was just joking!

Watching these videos left me with a slightly sick feeling in my stomach. This guy reminds me of an 80's rock guitarist. He's an 80's rock guitarist who got him an A/E and now jams on stage with looks to be the same stage moves. I guess Ottmar started this, but this guy has really brought it all the way, hasn't he? I wonder if he got the idea from that guy in Florida who plays the duet with his son while muting the guitar.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 19:59:01

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

WooooooW, this guy is the best thing since canned bread!!!! ;)

Nevertheless, I remain very impressed and envious, for all the wrong reasons.

The documentary trailer is like Spinal Tap Flamenco version. And PBS picked it up? Shame, shame. Thank goodness he is not coming to my town and disturbing my peace with his "pieces".

-Connie

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 20:29:05

Gummy

Posts: 495
Joined: Nov. 27 2005
From: North Carolina, USA

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

I wish I had a woman doing acrobatics above me when I play!
Hey Toddk, he uses a pick too...

Sorry man(for the pick joke), I really am inspired by your vids. Maybe you could have some acrobats in your next video though. :)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 11 2005 23:09:08

Thomas Whiteley

Posts: 786
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: San Francisco Bay Area

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Mike;

I bet he laughs all the way to the bank!

Katy and I watched a few minutes of his program as he was on all the PBS stations over the weekend. Not flamenco and not our cup of tea.

Benise was very careful to point out all the important aspects of his production. There are those who will love this production and those that will not. There was enough electricity used to light a small city. Such is life.

Just imagine all the money put into this show? Wow! You could feed a thousand starving children for a year! Well, what is PBS for after all?

Now this might be political but it is true.

Karl Rove (the Bush administration man) is a personal friend of Ken Tomlinson, who was appointed the President of PBS. Now you know – PBS - the Public Broadcasting System – that entity that is receiving less and less funds from the federal government?

PBS and Fox News were at opposite ends of reality until Mr. Tomlinson took over PBS. Mr. Tomlinson saw to it that PBS did not get our of line with Fox News or the Administration's point of view.

Being a Vietnam vet I am reminded of the position of PBS during the period of 1965-75 in Vietnam. For many years during the Vietnam War only PBS would speak out about other than the administragion line.

Well, after all the nice things that Mr. Tomlinson did to get rid of objective journalism on PBS (Bill Moyers as an example) we have a legacy of excretion for entertainment. There is a four-letter word (Old English) for excretion but regardless of what you call it is smells the same!

Perhaps someday PBS will return to a source of programming worth watching. In the mean time it is off to the bank for the great entertainers that we are presented with.

What is important though is that the masses enjoy themselves. Just like the Roman Circus.

_____________________________

Tom
http://home.comcast.net/~flamencoguitar/flamenco.html

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 1:11:15

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Tom,
I hear ya.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 3:40:56

Francisco

Posts: 879
Joined: Jun. 13 2005
From: SW USA

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

Watching these videos left me with a slightly sick feeling in my stomach.

Ditto

quote:

I bet he laughs all the way to the bank!

Fortunate for me, I don't need money/laughter bad enough to bastardize an entire genre of music.

quote:

PBS and Fox News were at opposite ends of reality until Mr. Tomlinson took over PBS

Interesting, since Rupert Murdoch (who owns Fox) also owns CNN. There are no 'fair and balanced' sources of information left, are there?

Oh well, I'll leave you with some Yeats:
"A statesman is an easyman, who creates his lies by wrote. A journalist creates his lies, and rams them down your throat. So sit back, drink your beer, and let the neighbors vote." Or something like that.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 9:19:02

henrym3483

Posts: 1584
Joined: Nov. 13 2005
From: Limerick,Ireland

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

man dat trailer smelt more than a cappamore field on slurry day(lil bit of a limerick phrase)

appauling, sheer trash.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 17:00:42

Patrick

Posts: 1189
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Portland, Oregon

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

John Tesh, Kenny G and Charo all rolled into one. It just doesn’t get much better!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 17:40:14

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

I was going to write something about how who cares, blah, blah, but after watching his video trailer, think this guy's show is really a fraud. He even has his musicians thinkin they are doing some kind of flamenco. And the dancer thing, man, I hope none of those girls are really flamencas, that would be sad. PBS sucks to support this crap. To think what kind of flamenco show they could have presented the public, and with tax money they give us this crap. Ole you smucks.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 18:13:19

Florian

Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Hehe, i gues all the sudden Manits de Plata dosent seem like such an imposer :-)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 18:35:10

Cloth Ears

Posts: 152
Joined: Apr. 26 2005

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

tosser

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 19:29:36

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Florian)

quote:

Hehe, i gues all the sudden Manits de Plata dosent seem like such an imposer :-

LOL!

Manitas wasn't that bad really...I still have a soft spot for him.
I think he was a genuine guitarist happy to play just for himself and friends, before the marketing people descended upon him and told him that he could make heaps of money with their help. (after they took their cut off first of course.. LOL)
I haven't been able to download the video, but the mp3 tracks I can.
He's a strong and confident player, with a good sense of (albeit 4/4) rhythm, but it's all pretty one-dimensional, mainly focussed on this "trill" picado style.
For me, as a Flamenco enthusiast, it gets boring pretty quickly.
But he's got a flashy, "in your face" style, that I can appreciate relates quickly to entertainment audiences who care little about music.
He also seems to be very image conscious, which I think plays a big part in that style of music.
At the end of the day, who am I to say if it's good or bad...
It's certainly got nothing to do with Flamenco whatsoever.
But if he's happy playing that stuff and audiences are willing to pay to hear him, then that's what it's all about...
Good luck to him.
It's very hard to make any money in music for most musicians.

cheers

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 20:30:00

Patrick

Posts: 1189
Joined: Jul. 7 2003

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Post has been moved to the Recycle Bin at Dec. 12 2005 20:47:16

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 20:45:53

Mark2

Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Ron, you've got to see the video to understand what it's all about. I wasn't offended by the music, but by the show, and the mindset behind it. It's an impersonation.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 21:22:34

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

It kind of makes Esteban seem authentic.

PBS specials

1995 Gipsy Kings 2000 Esteban 2005 Benise!?

Is it me or are things getting worse?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 21:58:15

koella

Posts: 2194
Joined: Sep. 10 2005
From: holland

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Ron you should have watched the video.
Picado is not the word. He's ingwee malmsteen who returned from a holiday in Spain.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 12 2005 22:21:45

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to koella)

Finally managed to download one of the videos.
Hmmm...I see what you mean LOL!
More of an "extravaganza" or "spectacular" than a concert.

I mean...jumping around the stage with all those beautiful half-naked girls and getting well paid for it...
Terrible! I don't envy him in the least...

cheers

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 8:27:47

JasonM

Posts: 2055
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Ron.M)

2000 -"you play flamingo? what is that?"

2003 - "you play flamenco? like Esteban? Wow he's really good."

2005 - thank you firefingers, no one has as much fire and passion as you. Now they will finally understand.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 15:37:48

JBASHORUN

Posts: 1839
Joined: Jan. 23 2005

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to JasonM)

I came across the Benise website a few months ago, when I was first getting into Flamenco and Nuevo Flamenco. Never actually bought any of his albums, though. But let's not forget that his website clearly labels his work as "NUEVO" Flamenco rather than Flamenco "PURO" and so it is bound to contain a mix of styles.

I think this MP3 is a good example of what he does:

http://www.benise.com/swf/musicplayer.php?movie=sn07_fandango.swf

I'm not sure if its actually a Fandango (as the title suggests), but maybe some of you guys can clarify that one. Anyway, there's this bit about half way through where he lets rip with a shred/heavy metal style lick. Definitely NOT Flamenco style, perhaps more like Yngwie Malmsteen (as another member said) or even Ritchie Blackmore.

But IMHO, its okay to mix styles as long as you don't "pretend" your music is something other than what it is. For every Flamenco Puro fan there are two Nuevo Flamenco fans, and for every two Nuevo Flamenco fans there are three heavy metal fans. Perhaps the floccinaucinihilipilification of any of these genres is slightly childish.

Live and let live!

James

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 20:29:04

Francisco

Posts: 879
Joined: Jun. 13 2005
From: SW USA

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Good points Jbashorun. I didn't realize he was labeling his work as neuvo. Perhaps I should thoroughly investigate prior to passing judgment. It still nauseates me on some level when I watch his videos, but like you say, live and let live, albeit not in my CD/DVD collection.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 21:10:54

koella

Posts: 2194
Joined: Sep. 10 2005
From: holland

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to JBASHORUN)

quote:

ORIGINAL: JBASHORUN

But IMHO, its okay to mix styles as long as you don't "pretend" your music is something other than what it is. For every Flamenco Puro fan there are two Nuevo Flamenco fans, and for every two Nuevo Flamenco fans there are three heavy metal fans. Perhaps the floccinaucinihilipilification of any of these genres is slightly childish.

Live and let live!

James

If you show a video of him doing just a few compasses of seguiriya, soleareas or sth. like that ( yes with the fingers!

) it might change ones opnion on him.
Now it just feels like he is not the one to mix flamenco with other styles. He only seems
to know some phrygian modes and a lot of speed. Has nothing to do with flamenco.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 21:28:22

XXX

Posts: 4400
Joined: Apr. 14 2005

RE: Son of Firefingers (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

He often plays a note twice or more when playing a lick. So it sounds fast but his lefthand is actually slow and thus the lick. But I havent listened to all songs.

To me this is the most poor Nuevo Flamenco ive ever heard. Ottmar Liebert is miles away from this guy, tonewise and also musically IMO.

In my modest view, he has kind of crossed a line in simplifying music, so it is too much degenerated/reduced now.

Ps: No its not fandango its 4/4 and fandango has either 3/4 or 12compas afaik...

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Фламенко

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Dec. 13 2005 22:30:25