1.6 Who are some recommended flamenco guitarists to listen to? Four Fine Artists You May Not Have Heard Of
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This article is from the Flamenco for Classical Guitarists FAQ, by Joshua Weage (jpweage@mtu.edu) with numerous contributions by others.
1.6 Who are some recommended flamenco guitarists to listen to? Four Fine Artists You May Not Have Heard Of
This is obviously not exhaustive. I'm not all that current, anyway. My
purpose is to balance American guitarists' view of "who's big in flamenco"
by giving them names of a few guitarists who are highly respected in
Spain(for good reason) but little known here because they stick mainly to
accompanying and don't do a lot of international solo concerts.
Tomatito: Became Camaron's guitarist when Paco de Lucia got busy with other
music outside of Spain. Like Paco, an extraordinary technician, and
sophisticated musician, deeply influenced by jazz. Listen to his
accompaniment to the Lorca piece on Leyenda del Tiempo. He has a solo CD
available in US, but it's less flamenco than his accompaniment.
Paco Cepero: Certainly belongs on the list of major Pacos. Guitarist of
choice for many top singers in 70's and early 80's. Wrote or arranged stuff
for singers, and "raised" them, and contributed in ways to "pop flamenco."
I know of no solo recordings. Do you?
Pedro Bacan: Favorite guitarist of families from Lebrija. He's probably
done some solo recording, but is at heart a powerful accompanist. Hates
contemporary baile (dance), so refuses to accompany dancers.
Raimundo Amador: Manuela Carrasco's husband and accompanist. Widely seen
in US in *Flamenco Puro*. Leading accompanist of baile.
A figure like Manitas de Plata, on the other hand, who through ingenious PR
managed in the 60's to cook up notoriety for himself in France and the US,
was never respected at all within the flamenco world. He is a French gypsy
who plays chaotic "impressions" of flamenco (and not very well), not flamenco
itself, which his touted hands regularly butcher. No crime; the flamenco
world pretty much ignores him. However if you're reading this at all it's
likelier that you've heard of him (as a flamenco guitarist) than of the four
people above (who are flamenco guitarists, and fine musicians as well) --
which is too bad. The Gypsy Kings come from a similar context (the French
gypsy community) but are far better musicians; they have taken a relatively
minor form within flamenco (rumbas -- itself borrowed from Latin America) and
written engaging arrangements for it which have become internationally
popular -- fair enough. They are not basically flamenco musicians, since
they do little besides rumbas; but they've made good use of a flamenco form
to create something interesting of their own.
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