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I'm curious, what first inspired you to get involved in flamenco guitar?
Well... it all started almost a year ago! It was my first time in Spain and my dad (a guitarist of sorts) asked me to look out some CDs by some guy called Paco de Lucia, who I had never heard of!! In a tiny music shop in the Barre Gothic in Barcelona, I purchased 'Almoraima' on the recommendation of the shop owner. When I got back home, I decided to have a little listen... and the rest is history (my dad never did get his CD!!!). I used to play a very small amount of classical when I was younger, but gave it up (a decison I regret to this today). But hearing that Paco CD I was hooked and knew I had to learn more about this music. So, I took up the guitar again, got some lessons and a few books and tried to immerse myself in the flamenco world as much as possible...
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By the way, I recently discovered a flamenco guitarist named Julia Banzi. She's from Portland, Oregon, studied with Paco and Manolo, et. al., and is now living and playing in Morocco in a group called Al-Andalus. Have you heard of her?
No. in fact I haven't heard of any female flamenco guitarists, apart from the couple who have been mentioned on this forum. It's very much a male dominated instrument and I guess there are some traditionalists who think that the women's place in flamenco is cante or baile only... but sod tradition! If Paco de Lucia had remained a slave to tradition then... well, none of us would know who he was!
I've heard some younger guys say, "Hey, it's a great way to meet those foxy babes!" Admit it guys! When you were 16, what was your REAL motivation for learning guitar?! (Just kidding!)
Yeah, that sounds right. At least for me. But as it turns out, my wife played guitar too when she was 16.
Anyway, when I was first getting into flamenco seriously, I saw this chick play on a video and was totally blown away. Really speedy picados and modern style rhythms.
This "chick", huh? I took a workshop with her a couple of years ago. She plays, sings, and dances! The class was "flamenco communication". Unfortunately, I have no experience improvising with dancers so I was pretty much mute.
She kept looking at me and saying "I know you guitarists all want to play Vicente Amigo falsetas all the time." I don't even know any Vicente Amigo falsetas. I guess I look like the type of guy that wants to play Vicente Amigo.
Sorry about that Miguel. I said she was good, I did not say she was sweet and friendly! So you DON'T want to play like Vicente all the time? Just by looking at you I thought you did. Ha, just kidding.
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