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El rubio con barba - the blonde with the beard, such the members of the ensemble Festival Flamenco Gitano called the enthusiastic young man who brought them on 15 November 1965 after a concert at the Berlin Titania Palast to record in a recording studio directly on the wall. Siggi Loch wanted by all means to release an album of the band that was touring through Europe.

"It was about authentic Flamenco, plans for a flamenco-jazz fusion did not exist back then," said Loch, who three decades later would become initiator of internationally esteemed jazz-flamenco recordings. His productions of the Festival Flamenco Gitano original of 1965/66 will be appearing at the end of the month as a double CD.

Jazz and flamenco: Vitale rhythms and improvisation determine the two musical genres. Both are hybrids of several influences. Their protagonists - Blacks in America and Gitanos (literally translated "Gypsy") in Spain - originating from disadvantaged minorities. From there it was only obvious to lable the flamenco as "Iberian Blues".

With "Sketches of Spain" in 1960 two Americans recorded the first successful jazz-flamenco album: Miles Davis and Gil Evans. For Spain's jazz musicians flamenco was no topic; at that time they like all of their European colleagues were aiming for US idols. Jazz stood for cosmopolitanism; national folklore was considered bitchy.

When the German Jazz Promoter Joachim Ernst Berendt was seeking Spanish flamenco jazz musicians in 1967 at the Berlin Jazz Festival for "Jazz meets the World", he found only the saxophonist Pedro Iturralde. On special request ("a guitarist ought to participate") Iturralde brought Paco de Lucía with himself. The then just 20-year-old was one of the first open-minded from the flamenco stock. Commuters had to have courage: Because the "purity" of the respective genres next to the legendary "jazz police" was observed by a "flamenco police".

Proud Art in bad bars

True is that flamenco was already being presented in a form of kitsch long ago. Accordingly, the poet Garcia Lorca lamented in 1922, that the proud art of deep inner singing (cante jondo) was heard in bad pubs and brothels. In the early sixties the German Spain- and jazz expert Olaf Hudtwalcker wrote about the transformation of the "ritual substance of flamenco dance into a striptease-substitute". Flamenco as a shallow nightclub entertainment for tourists.

But also the serious study of the Flamenco was controversial. So American musicians such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane were blamed for approaching this music from a dominant jazz perspective and that they were merely decorating jazz with exotic elements. Participants in flamenco jazz projects would "not really make love with each other" uttered the Spanish drummer Marc Miralta. The pianist Chano Dominguez dreamed of an "equal marriage of flamenco and jazz."


Dominguez (55) from the Andalusian Cadiz is at home in the jazz as well as in the flamenco. His definite succeeding with a fusion is documented with his new album with the WDR Big Band "Soleando". Along with Dominguez two Spanish percussionists and the flamenco singer Blas Córdoba joined the orchestra, that had already recorded "Jazzpana" in 1992 with the same guest conductor Vince Mendoza and with Spanish and American soloists . The project was established in 2000 and continued in 2015 with Dominguez. It is a milestone in the history of the Nuevo Flamenco.

Characteristic of this contemporary music are instruments that are not found in traditional flamenco - like piano or saxophone. And the ever since to the flamenco belonging guitars enrich the music with unheard harmonies. Sophisticated rhythms are also generated with handclaps and finger snapping. Further, steps of dancers coming in like percussion solos. It is for instance how things are with the new CD of Maria Serrano, who is being celebrated as the "Queen of Flamenco". Dance as acoustically perceivable art - which only is to be had in Flamenco.

Current flamenco CDs :

"The Festival Flamenco Gitano Original & Da Capo " ( ACT ) , 2 CD set , from 30. 10. commercially

Chano Dominguez & WDR Big Band : " Soleando " ( Delta Music / WDR )

Maria Serrano : " Flamenco Por Derecho " ( Connector Records / Inakustik )

Gerardo Nunez , ULF WAKENIUS , Chano Dominguez : " Jazzpana Live " ( ACT )

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Flamenco jazz does not exist. It is just jazz.

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With "Sketches of Spain" in 1960 two Americans recorded the first successful jazz-flamenco album: Miles Davis and Gil Evans.

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ah, no...this was first:

http://youtu.be/fEujhwMIW9w

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Juan Serrano also did his buleria version of Autumn Leaves, a straight ahead jazz standard, that I would consider also "jazz and flamenco fusion"...

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http://youtu.be/fEujhwMIW9w

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I did not know this one from Carlos.... really spunky for that time.
We forgot the
Flamenco players who play with italian Barocque musicians (fpwpwibm)

For me one of the best ever:

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Wow how did i miss this, what a beautiful piece of music.

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We forgot the
Flamenco players who play with italian Barocque musicians (fpwpwibm)