Noches De Flamenco 10 Noche de Fusion

The Good:
Good live performances… Modern Flamenco style music…

The Bad:
General sound mix was a little off…

Overall Rating: 8

Noches de Flamenco 10 Noche de Fusion has a laid back coffee house feeling to it. You are given a front table view of the performances and it makes you wish that someone was bringing some tapas or churro con chocolate. The setup is simple two guitarist (Pedro Salazar and Diego Cortes “Junior”), percussionist (Ruben “Compasito”, Juan Lucas) with singers (Maria Jose Luna, Monica “Mona” Espada and Alejandro de Luna) taking turns performing different songs.
Several songs were good on Noches de Flamenco 10 Noche de Fusion but of the eight performances included two were standouts, the Fourth Song (Cositas del Alma) and Fifth Song (Zafiro y Luna).

With “Cositas del Alma” it was easy to remember the days of performing at coffee houses as this song was a complete instrumental featuring Pedro Salazar and Diego Cortes. The song itself had a soft and flowing jazzy progression that shows you how modern Flamenco music really incorporates other styles without loosing its roots. The improvised leads had hints of Ketama’s and Pata Negra’s jazz/blues influenced solo’s that were executed quite well. Guitarists who are into performing instrumental tunes should take note and watch this performance as you do get great views of the scales and chords used. Much of the leads can be learned by site and would be worth incorporating into your playing if not into your practice routines.

Zafiro y Luna was a phenomenal performance of a love song by Maria Jose Luna. Maria is no stranger to performing and it was very obvious in this song. She has a voice and timing of a performer that embodies Flamenco and envelops you into the unfolding tale.

Now I have to mention the sound quality of the DVD as it was just a bit off and not what I was expecting when I popped this into my DVD player. The overall mix is not as balanced as I would like to hear it. The Guitars are plugged in directly and do not use a microphone so you don’t get the nice crisp sound of the golpe on the guitar but instead you hear a thud. Now I have to admit that I am watching Noches de Flamenco 10 Noche de Fusion on the road on my laptop as I write this review so maybe its my old trusty headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs) that are failing me but I have to say that I wish they would have mixed this a little better as the performances are great.

Voces: Mario Jose Luna, Monica “Mona” Espada, Alejandro de Luna, Pedro Salazar, Diego Cortes “Junior”
Guitarist: Pedro Salazar, Pedro Cortes “Junior”
Bajo: Marcelo Pablo Reneseiro
Saxo: Alfredo Cuscueta
Percusiones: Ruben “Compasito” and Juan Lucas

Related posts:

1. Flamenco Sol y Luna
2. Flamenco in Las Vegas
3. Jose Merce Del Amanecer CD
4. The 20th Anniversary Celebration of Festival Flamenco Internacional de Alburquerque June 9-16-2006
5. Flamenco Friday Recap May 25 2007