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Guitar hero

Paco de Lucía keeps the flamenco fire burning
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By Darrell Jónsson
For The Prague Post
October 31st, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
When he started out, de Lucía was playing primarily to help feed his family.
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Paco de Lucía

When: Friday, Nov. 2, at 8
Where: Congress Center
Tickets: 1,310–2,420 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue

The primary instrument that “shatters the wine cups of daybreak,” according to music historian Frederic Grunfeld, is the Spanish guitar. Next to the Spanish guitar, Grunfeld would give nod to its blues counterpart.
He’s got a point: It would be hard to argue that any instruments have, over the past century, better served the fame of their regional music than the guitars of Mississippi and Andalusia. And it’s no coincidence that, in both cases, the instruments got their start as humble accompaniment for the singing voices of marginal people.
Part of this historic drama is the career of flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía. Following on the impulses of the Spanish Romany guitarist Ramón Montoya, de Lucía helped propel the instrument from homespun sessions into the solo spotlight of the international concert hall.
“I am very happy that we can perform our music in concert halls and theaters, and not only in small clubs for a small audience,” de Lucía says via e-mail. “Flamenco does not have a dominant influence on today’s music. But it has its place in Latin world music, and that is very good.”
He draws a comparison: “In that respect we can compare it to jazz, which came from American blues played by black musicians, and moved into concert halls.”
Jazz evolved in the process, and de Lucía sees some of the same growth and development in flamenco.
“I am very happy that flamenco today earns the same respect as other authentic music,” he says. “I have the feeling that people like it so much because it touches something that has been lost — authentic and passionate music with traditional roots, but performed in a modern way. When I listen to young musicians, I can hear that they long to develop flamenco. They take other modern styles and mix it with the tradition.”
De Lucía, who learned flamenco listening to his father and friends play the music live in their Algeciras home, has done some of that himself, crossing genres to record classical works by composers such as Manuel de Falla and Joaquín Rodrigo, and playing with contemporary American jazz stars. As a result, his flamenco style has taken on new dimensions.
“When I played with fine musicians like Chick Corea and John McLaughlin, I had no idea how to improvise,” he says. “But I found my way and discovered that improvising also meant something like freedom in the music. I learned about harmonics, which I had no idea of before. So I was very much influenced — although I will always be a flamenco musician.”
The group that he’s currently touring with also reflects a mix of ages and styles.
“I am playing with some fine young artists,” he says. “The band consists of a second guitar player, Nino Josele; keyboard and flute by Domingo Patricio; Alain Perez from Cuba plays bass; Piranha is the percussionist; and we have two singers, Chonchi Heredia and Montse.”
As for what they will be playing, de Lucía says to expect a mix. “The program is a little bit like ‘best of.’ There are songs from the last albums, but also pieces like ‘Entre dos Aguas.’ I usually play two sets. In the first part, I like to play solo and in different formations, sometimes with only one other musician or accompanied by palmas (hand-clapping). The second part is with the whole group.”
When de Lucía and his group walk onto the Congress Center stage Friday night, they will present a well-traveled form of flamenco. As early as the 1970s, de Lucía, in his electrifying collaborations with vocalist Camarón de la Isla, forwarded the flamenco thread of Latin American influences known as ida y vuelta (go and return). Such prodigal magic continues to be an integral part of his sound.
World music enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys seeing a guitar master at work will not want to miss this opportunity to hear one of Iberia’s greatest living artists.

Darrell Jónsson can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (31/10/2007):

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