Pamela Moberg Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 The very fine Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia has passed away. A great artist, he did much to revive flamenco - I will treasure for ever meeting him in person while I was living in Spain. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Thank you for posting, Pamela. I hadn't heard of him. NYT obit here. He opened flamenco’s traditional boundaries to rhythms, harmonies and instruments from the wider world. Even when he was playing a tango, using jazz chords or backed by an electric bass, his music remained unmistakably and authoritatively flamenco. Link to comment
Helene Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Paco de Lucia was one of the great Flamenco guitarists, but also one who integrated many types of music and instruments into Flamenco and pushed the boundaries, and who is mourned by many across genres. During a visit to Peru, he saw the rhythm box used there and modified it: the cajon is now ubiquitous in Flamenco performance. (The traditional cuadro is voice, dance, guitar, and palmas [rhythmic hand clapping].) The last time he was in Vancouver, he closed the Vancouver Jazz Festival. He learned the shape of Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" by ear; he didn't read music. Here is the mournful adagio: He also played himself in "Carlos Saura's 'Carmen'": Link to comment
diane Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 ah, yes, the "Carmen" film is where I got to know about him the first time. A wonderful musician. He will be sorely missed. -d- Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 One of my very, very early memories of theater attendance was a concert of him. I was probably 7 or 8 years old and my mother took me to see him back in my hometown. I don't remember a lot...only that I got very bored and started pacing the theater halls while she stayed in the box. I have never been too fond of flamenco-(for some reason find it too foreign..difficult to identify myself with, even having my roots in Spain on my grandmother's side). Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos were also in that tour. Still, I can tell the Spanish culture has lost a grand pillar. RIP Sr. de Lucia. Link to comment
sandik Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Ah, Cristina Hoyos! I had forgotten he was in Carmen -- many thanks for the links. Link to comment
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