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RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to rombsix)
At 5:22 here (the video Ricardo posted). It’s among my favorite bulería falsetas, although I’ve been playing it for years and still find it very hard to fret all the notes without any mistakes (my left hand gets tired). A seasoned pro here in Jerez told me it’s hard for him, too.
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Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Norman Paul Kliman)
Oh Norman!! You're a saint! This is the falseta I've had going round my head for months. I knew it was a morao... but didn't know which one and have been searching videos and recordings intermittently... I even skipped through this one recently but must've not got to 5:22 😂😂
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Stu)
Hey, Stu. I’ve felt that frustration on occasion. Gets worse with each failed search and makes you more determined to find it: “Well, it’s not on these recordings, so at least I’ve narrowed the search!”
Falseta starts barred at third fret with fourth-string slur (frets 7, 5 and 3), move it down two frets, and the rest is in first position (unsurprising stuff at second and third frets). If you like, save yourself some wear and tear and look for another video to see his left hand, or maybe there’s a tutorial. I like adding octave notes in that descending bit at the end.
I always thought this falseta, maybe more than most, exemplifies the concept of "where am I coming from and where do I want to go." Each movement/position has to lead into the next and your hands have to be relaxed and held just right, otherwise you'll beat yourself up real quick.
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Mark2)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Mark2
His son plays it pretty well :-)
And once claimed his father was the only person he knew that could play that closing rasgueado so relaxed :-). Didn't Paco de Lucia call Moraito the best Bulerias player of his generation once?
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RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to rombsix)
In that video of Moraíto, starting at 0:38, he plays a couple of ideas with the thumb-and-index mechanism in triplets that Ricardo and I discussed in another thread. More examples on the Familia Zambo recording. Posting the link again:
Another example of the same mechanism at 10:11 in this video. The guitarist is Juan Parrilla (Juan Fernández Molina, 1943–2020, father of today’s Manolito and brother of Parrilla de Jerez). He may be the one who developed the mechanism in Jerez, as he was 13 years older than Moraíto. I think he actually screws it up and corrects in mid-flight. Sounds glorious.
“La primavera,” with la Susi and her brother Joaquín Amador, at 1:29 and a variation at 2:07. So short it’s practically a fill. It’s really hard to thumb consecutive notes so quickly. Sounds groo-vay.
I’m also fond of the arpeggiated falsetas we usually associate with jaleos. There are several variations, usually played por arriba, some of which are also playable por medio. Sounds a little outdated today, but I love it when those arpeggios are clean and precise. Some examples:
Paco plays a variation here at 1:45:
Miguel Vargas plays several variations throughout this video (starts about a minute in). The best version of this kind of playing is on a track of his titled “Tía Tijeras,” parts of which are heard in the video below. The track was released on the album “El roce de las almas” (1999), with artists from Extremadura and Portugal. The Vargas family have roots on both sides of the border and are the keepers of this flame.
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Stu)
Yeah, and he looks so charming and inoffensive; a little like my first teacher in Madrid. His family worked in the footwear business, maybe they still do. Look for that “Tía Tijeras” track (named after a legendary guitarist from Villafranca de los Barros, a town near Badajoz) or I can upload a copy to my website if you like. The video I posted has most of the same ideas, but that track is played with greater strength and focus, and it changes to por medio toward the end.
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Stu)
His uncle Manuel Morao recorded it with Terremoto. The first sung line is “Por lo que yo voy mirando.” Nephew Moraíto added a few flourishes to make it his own, although they don't change it all that much. I'm happy enough playing the uncle's original version, which is not to say the nephew's flourishes aren't cool enough to learn and play, especially as a tribute to him.
So, without the double negative: yeah, good falseta!
There are some ligados on the bass strings toward the end of the falseta. You have to spread your fretting-hand fingers to cover the first five frets.
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From: Washington DC
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to orsonw)
The falseta is based on the remate that is sung to conclude bulerías. “Me voy con mi madre Manuela”…or “mi madre muy buena”. The translation “padre” is not right below, because it is about leaving your gypsy wife who only cares about money, and returning home to your mom. Most often I hear “nada más quieres dinero gitana”. Anyway, the guitar is just playing that estribillo (not sure the basis of the melody but the tonos are C major in por medio, and it hangs out there until they resolve down to A, it can repeat on and on in a juerga as needed, or attach to some other estribillo to get the dancer the heck off the stage). Perhaps extremeño styles? (jaleo or “Soleá anonymous on Norman’s site, talking about the first line of verse only)
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
Perhaps extremeño styles?
Yeah, I think that’s the connection.
The Mijita/Carpio clan attribute that bulería to José el Chalao, who sang “me voy con mi madre Pilada.” I remain a little skeptical, but I asked a few times and was always told that her name was Pilar and they called her Pilada. It’s so similar to the Jerez anonymous style of soleá that there must be a connection. Asking that question point-blank raises hackles, which lends some credence to the idea. So, my guess for now is that someone took a melody from the jaleos in Extremadura and sang it por soleá (Jerez anonymous), and José el Chalao sang it por bulería.
I mentioned not long ago that this Chalao fellow was the stepbrother of Mingo Rubichi and Agujetas viejo. All were born around the turn of the century or shortly thereafter, so it doesn’t seem unlikely to suppose that there was a similar melody in Extremadura toward the end of the 19th century.
I also posted upthread about a series of related “jaleo” falsetas that I like por bulería. One of them, my favorite of the lot, sounds like the melody Ricardo is talking about.
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RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to rombsix)
I like this Bulerias so much these days. Joni Jimenez and Antonio Reyes's performance is crazy. It is a Bulerias tono de Granaina. This song is Pansequito's work called "No me importa lo que digan"
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Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Norman Paul Kliman)
Hey thanks for the responses. Glad i asked this. Its interesting historical stuff!!
Is it me or is the modern jerez buleria slower generally? Older stuff always sounds fast and machine gun like. And the newer style more groovy and swinging. Who started showing it down? Moraito?
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Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Stu)
quote:
Who started showing it down? Moraito?
Seem like that is the case. But honestly Molina (lole y manuel) were doing slow buleria for a long time. Years back I pointed out Moraito is playing paco material (different than predecessor Jerezanos) but he slows it down so it sounds “groovy’. So this concept of some “soniquete” from “region X” tends to be about individual player styles. Gastor Bacan and Habichuela being examples.
RE: Which is your favorite groovy bu... (in reply to Stu)
Bulerías are usually slower in the "La Plazuela" neighorhood (also known as San Miguel), with the 1-2-3 of a very fast soleá. They're faster in the Santiago neighborhood, and nowadays they like to feel a 1-and-2-and-3 corresponding to beats 12, 2 and 4 of the bulerías rhythm. I think a better way to define it is La Plazuela holds onto an older way to do bulerías, and Santiago has seen lots of change over the years. Also, things are different once you put Diego Carrasco into the equation.
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