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We have talked about Steve Kahn here before, he died last last week.
His contribution to flamenco was wonderful, he played great Moron style toque and he took valuable photos of Spain in the Mid 1960's to 70's during an epoch of flamenco that will never return.
It's fitting that his contribution be recognized here. We had a discussion about his photos. And I bumped a clip of Steve Kahn plying guitar. I did not know him well, but I had hung out with him several times after he moved to Berkeley in the mid aughts. He went way back with my Berkeley/Oakland friends who were in Spain in the 60's.
He also generously shared his 1924 Santos Hernandez guitar with me allowing me to measure, photograph and play it as much as I could. It's first an example of an archetypal flamenco guitar, and despite being made almost one hundred years ago is as powerful and profound as any recently made guitar I have seen. He knew that and shared the quality with guitar makers.
He was a the real thing a committed aficionado, and I enjoyed his playing. He had a knack for unraveling thorny Moron sigueriyas.
Photo- Steve Kahn- Diego, 1967
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Posts: 1708
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: Steve Kahn- Guitarist Photograph... (in reply to estebanana)
This is sad news. When I went to live in Morón for a year in 1970-71, the apartment that Diego del Gastor found for me, across the hall from his own, had previously been occupied by Steve Kahn. Steve had left behind some nice prints of photos of Diego and a newspaper with photos of Carmen Amaya, all of which I still treasure. Steve called me on the telephone a few years ago after learning about me on the Internet and we had a nice chat about how our paths had almost crossed.
Posts: 223
Joined: Mar. 17 2015
From: Virginia USA
RE: Steve Kahn- Guitarist Photograph... (in reply to estebanana)
Below is a short correspondence I had with Steve in Oct 2016:
I am reading the stories on your website with very much interest and enthusiasm. Your experience in Spain some 50 years ago was fascinating. At that time I was a freshman in college concentrating on making A's in chemistry and calculus. Fast forward to a half a century later, I have retired and started learning flamenco, and wonder if I still can experience the flamenco life like you had in the 60's. I wonder if the boarding house that Donn Pohren built in the edge of town of Moron still exists today. I have taken two vacations to Spain but no flamenco. Next year I plan to spend a couple of weeks in Sevilla or Moron to learn flamenco. Who knows I may stay there longer than 2 weeks. Many thanks for the stories. I really enjoyed them.
Hai Pham
This is Steve’s reply:
Thanks for your note. Pohren's property that was his Espartero guest ranch outside of Moron is still there, although a private residence now.
Andalucia is a wonderful place to visit with many rewards. At this time, unfortunately, FLAMENCO is not one of them. Great food, wine and lifestyle, yes; FLAMENCO puro and its lifestyle are things of the past. When I go to Spain it's for adventures other than flamenco and friends more than the music I was so fortunate to have experienced long ago.
Go to Spain and enjoy.
If you want lessons, look up Juan del Gastor in Sevilla. Juan is one of Diego del Gastor's guitarist nephews and a great guy. He teaches foreigners regularly. juandelgastor@wanadoo.es
RE: Steve Kahn- Guitarist Photograph... (in reply to estebanana)
Juan is a great guy and a fun teacher who drips with aire. Go there and see him if you haven't already. I took a lot of lessons with Juan myself.
For Steve and a lot of other people of his generation Flamenco ended when Fernanda passed away. But for you there's a different world to see and hear. Jerez is still interesting, and you might get lucky. Things change and change, for the generation that Steve is from they saw something rare, but there's still meat on the bone if you go.
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