What did you think when you first heard...?

[Black Sheep]

I first heard Almoraima 5 months ago. And it was dumb struck. If I had heard that in 1976, it would have altered my life course. I had a passion for Flamenco back then but my only exposure was Paco Pena who toured he occasionally. No Youtube then. No internet then. Had I heard this raucous and celebratory Bulerias back then I would have walked over broken glass to be a part of Flamenco... It took me 30 years...

What did you hear? And when did you hear it? What LP or CD track spun you around? What recording stopped your 4/4 heartbeat and start it again in a 12 beat compas?...

(If you've just joined the group or just discovered Flamenco... come on make a comment. Tell your story...)

[Payul]

For me it was "La Lola" from Paco Peña.
I could not believe he played it alone.
In fact, La Lola made me want to play the guitar, so from there the big adventure took off!

[tocador]

"La Tumbona" from Paco de Lucia... I would have to say it is still to me the buleria that measures all bulerias technically speaking... Once I heard... then heard it again and again and again... I was hooked!

[deteresa]

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

Had I heard this raucous and celebratory Bulerias back then I would have walked over broken glass to be a part of Flamenco...

Ole...


This is kind of embarrassing...The record that first got me into Flamenco was a CD of Manitas de Plata. I just could not believe that one person could play that many notes that fast. I still consider him a great guitar player, just not Flamenco. He had absolutely no compas, but I think he actually played a decent Granadinas, and Fandangos Camperos.
The next CD I got after that was La Niña de Los Peines. Really old stuff. I still love that scratchy record sound. When I first heard Camaron, I thought "this guy's got nothing on La Niña!"

[tocador]

Originally Posted by deteresa

When I first heard Camaron, I thought "this guy's got nothing on La Niña!"

Not to pick on Camaron but I heard Jose Merce before I heard Camaron and thought to myself the same thing...

I think the first Jose Merce track I heard that jumped out at me and had me hooked on Cante was "En Tu Silencio" off of the Del Amanecer album that features Vicente Amigo on guitar. I really wish those two would team again.

[Black Sheep]

Payul... question... Where does Paco Pena sit in the scheme of things? He's never mentioned much by guitarists here. I could be a fashion thing? (Sabicas also seems to get cold shouldered a bit too...) Pena did come through here last year with a troupe and it was just beginning the Flamenco journey then so did not understand much of what he was playing... I knew I thought, it was brilliant.

[Aurelio]

As somebody who enjoys cante (and who is probably a little older than the average aficionado), the first recorded flamenco I heard that electrified me was the bulerias that opens the 1958 Elektra LP Festival Gitana. Sabicas, his brother Diego Castellon, and Mario Escudero provide a thunderous, driving accompaniment to cantaor Enrique Montoya in a performance that still gives me chills. The rest of the disk continues in this vein, with Montoya and cantaor Domingo Alvarado trading coplas in marvelous tientos, fandangos, verdiales, and fandangos de Huelva. Montoya also sings siguiriyas and soleares, and Alvarado does a taranta and a martinete. This recording remains at or near the absolute top of my all-time list, and is or was available as a CD: Flamenco Fiesta (sic), from Legacy International, CD #428.

aurelio

[Black Sheep]

Please keep going... I am building a good 'must buy' list of CDs from this...

[Payul]

Hi Black sheep,

Paco Peña went to England on a young age so he was a long time not known in Spain. Also he is playing old school, and still do.
Paco de Lucia for instance played old school too in the old days, but he evolved very very much, so that is more interesting for a lot of guitarists, allthough my preference goes to his older work, but that is just a taste.
Sabicas went to the USA. but the past he was famous in Spain too, together with Mario Escudero ( forgotten by the most people).

Also, your taste in music makes you play what you like, and make you talk about it and idialise it sometimes.......

[Aurelio]

Here's a couple more CDs that highlight some of the truly great singers of the past (guitarists, too!) They are well-recorded, and the selections and performances are excellent.

First is the 2-CD classic Antologia del Cante Flamenco y Cante Gitano, put together by Antonio Mairena in its complete form in 1965. It is available as an RCA BMG Tablao recording, #74321 878922. Almost all the major palos are here that Mairena, a purist, deemed were flamenco--you will find no rumbas, guajiras, colombianas, garrotin, milongas, sevillanas, etc.--sung by such giants as Aurelio de Cadiz, Juan Talegas, Pepe Torres, La Piriñaca, Manuel Centeno, and Mairena himself, and others. They are accompanied by Melchor de Marchena, Manuel Moreno "Morao", Juan Moreno "Moraito Chico", and Antonio Arenas. Lots of fine stuff here, but one gets to hear the mature voice of Aurelio Sellés Nondedeu--Aurelio de Cádiz--one of the greatest payo cantaores of all time, respected by all his peers. Aurelio made very few recordings, and these are among them.

The second is Early Cante Flamenco, Arhoolie CD-326. 22 selections from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, of another batch of great cantaores--Antonio Mairena again, Tomás Pavón, his sister Pastora Pavón (La Niña de los Peines), her husband Pepe Pinto, Manolo Caracol, Manuel Vallejo, and another favorite of mine, Manolita de Jerez, a rarely-recorded but fabulous singer. Accompaniment is by Melchor de Marchena, Paco Aguilera, Niño Ricardo, and Niño Perez. Again, some great singing, especially the soleares by the two Pavóns and by Manolita de Jerez; also some of Mairena's best work.

aurelio