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I am curious to know as to why no one talks about Paco Pena in the flamenco world. After all, he is very good. Not necessarily my favorite but definitely one of the good ones.
In the past, he has done excellent CDs.
Does anyone have the tabs for his famous Guajiras called "MAntilla Y Peina"? If you do please let me know.
I agree with you. I think, among all the guitarist, he would surely rank as the best tremolo player. His picados are not great but his compositions and taste is very enjoyable to the ear.
I don't know what happened to him, you'll have to ask Ron. Like Juan Serrano, he seemed to have left Spain while still young and gotten by on the exoticism of his art instead of staying at home and competing in the streets. It seems to have been an excellent decision for both of them. In fact, avoiding competition is how all great businesses survive.
It kind of seemed that at a certain point he got caught in a time warp and never "progressed". Still played in the same style. But it's a style I like and I do think he's a wonderful musician. I enjoy all of his records, and he has a few incredible pieces such as Riomar and the tangos from Azahara. I saw him live a couple of years ago and was completely underwhelmed. In fact I was told by one of his students, who is now a pro, not to see him if he was playing with the group. Still, I think he's great but he is someone who plays a type of flamenco while the rest of the flamenco world has moved on...
i love paco pena and the tone he gets. there certainly seems to be something sweeter about his playing than others.
is he not as popular because he isn't as fast or as complicated and flashy as the tomatitos, pdl and the rest? or is it because he's one of the few holdovers in this modern era? are there any other players that are as traditional as he is still around?
and i never really thought about his tremolo before but he certainly uses it a lot! someone told me his use of p-i-p-i-p-i-p-i-p-i-p.... is very old fashioned.
ah miguel, you seemed to have answered my question. so his style really is frozen in time then. and really, he was disapointing in concert? that's too bad.
Love Paco Peñas early sole stuff. But also Azahara is VERY good. The only flaw to my ears is the sound of the recording but the playing is as great as ever.
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Basically the concert was rather weak. I can't say why...the highlight was a guitar trio where he played Riomar. But his solos didn't impress me or entice me, and the juerga-style jams were fairly average and just kind of sat there at that point.
I dont' know why his albums have such bad production. The volume levels are ridiculously low. You might check out Encuentro, a collaboration with south american CGer Eduardo Falu. Great album.
When someone mentions Paco Pena I immediately think Azahara. It's probably the album that got me started in flamenco. I always thought the sound on that Nimbus recording was amazing. Maybe I have to listen again.
You hear/read his name every now and then. I love his music too. I'm working on Rumbeando la Milonga currently. I think Koella has a nice P.Pena inspired rumba uploaded here.
miguel, i think i understand. i rented his "Misa Flamenco" DVD and while it was great, he completely subverted his guitar playing in the service of the company and the compositions. but of course i rented it to see his playing and was disappointed there were no solo pieces.
and a lot of his older stuff is out of print. i have been looking for "The Incredible Paco Pena" for some time because of this bulerias:
i played it for this guy i met that had studied with paco pena. and he dismissed it, saying "oh that was when he was young and concerned with trying show off with speed and aggression." needless to say i want it even more now.
and i think because paco's stuff is not as complicated or as fast, its more accessible to beginners like me to play.
I'm not a huge fan of Pena, I respect his powerful tone, but it seems to me that he's been playing the same falsetas for his whole life. I don't see any evolution in his music. If I want traditional I rather pick Sabicas. But then again, I don't know Pena that much.
Henrik, The picture on your album is different to the one I have and I got the first issue of "The Incredible Paco Peña". The tunes must be the same however. I met him in Edinburgh not long after he recorded that album. I was about 19 and he about 26. He must have liked my enthusiasm, for he took the time out to give me some free lessons during the afternoons of his stay of the Festival. He's a very no nonsense, no BS kind of guy and very down to earth when it comes to the guitar. He spoke very freely of his times in Spain and his (then) current ambitions, (which was a private discussion so I won't discuss it here), but I was very impressed by his honesty and life philosophy. He even played a couple of toque libre pieces all the way through for me and asked what I thought.
Great memories!
He's a bit of an enigma. On one hand he's very disciplined and down to earth.. And on the other hand he did crazy things like rent a W1 luxury flat in London, even though it must have cost a fortune, not long after getting some UK gigs. It must have been very touch and go if his income could support that. Very Spanish attitude, I think!
The reason I think that Paco's name doesn't come up much in Spanish Flamenco circles (although they know of him), is that he made London his home and base from a very early age and found a lot of early success there.
I saw some of his early concerts and IMO that was when he was at his best, (to my taste anyway). He was very controlled but uninhibited (if that makes sense?) Very Gitano, very Flamenco..but with a smooth edge.
His performances then started to get a lot more formal, with very clean and exact playing, but IMO...that "raw" edge was getting more and more into the background and his tone started to sound more "classical".
For me anyway...my favourite album will always be "The Incredible Paco Peña".
He seems to enjoy just taking a back seat now with his group, allowing the younger guitarists to knock themselves out.
But..yeah... I have a special place in my heart for the man.
Lionel, I think he met with John Williams (a classical guy) and made /played in couple of albums with him. notably the album called "Inti-Illimani . John Williams . Paco Pena".
Here is a link from google of his latest DVD. Listen to the "Mantilla De Feria" in it how well is played. Then he goes on playing lots of Sabicas pieces.
Lionel, I have my own theories, whether true or false.
Paco always seemed to have a very "dignified" side to him...a desire to be "proper" and shake off his very poor upbringing. He is a very intelligent and sharp guy...in fact I was quite surprised to enter his Hotel room and find him reading a copy of "Newsweek". I know it sounds silly...but it was not what I was expecting from a Flamenco! (Just too young and expecting stereotypes )
Anyway, he quickly got known by a lot of the famous musicians in London, including Ronnie Scott (who knew everyone) and introduced Paco to lots of folk, including John Williams, who was getting fed up with Classical and was experimenting with Jazz style.
John Williams and Paco have been very good friends for a very long time now. They even stay in the same street and often drop in on each other!
I think Paco was heavily influenced by the Classical style, after watching it up close and not in a "concert" situation.
He's a "precise" kind of guy..and I can kind of see why that had had a big influence on him and his style.
His psyche IMO was to get away from "rough" or "gitano" or "poor Andalucian" stuff, which he had plenty of experience of and to get into a more refined way of playing.
"quote" "His psyche IMO was to get away from "rough" or "gitano" or "poor Andalucian" stuff, which he had plenty of experience of and to get into a more refined way of playing." you nailed it in my opinion. Also what Miguel said about Paco P being stuck in time is also another reason I think. In adittion, To most outsiders he may really seem like a virtuoso, but with time, players are now stronger in all dimensions. He never really progressed. If you compare him to players like niño josele, etc..Paco P is just a good traditional player..that's it. I hope I don't upset anyone but in Andalucia that is just how many of us viewed him. He also tried to blend in too much with the british and many flamencos viewed this as Paco P being a bit ashamed to be from humble Andalucian roots. The reality is that with the progression of time, if you don't evolve to keep up with the new players, you will not survive. People may love what he has done in the past and it was all great, but no way he was going to to stay in the spotlight w/ players like Canizares, Amigo, Nuñez, Viejin..No way. Ivan
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