Customer Reviews

Flamenco Fire & Grace

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are new to the sound of Flamenco, this is a gentle introduction, fused with the modern sounds of jazz and predictable 4 beat rhythms. It would be more appropriate to call it a jazz fusion with a dusting of flamenco. Calling this album FLAMENCO does a great disservice to what is really flamenco-driving, complicated compás, complicated remates, wrenching lyrics and just guitar, cajón, (maybe flute) palmas, cante and footwork. If you're looking for real Flamenco-IT'S NOT HERE!

Considering the great quantity of truly non-flamenco music out there masquerading as "Flamenco" (e.g., "Gypsy Passion," "Gypsy Soul," anything by Otmar Liebert - and calling it "new" flamenco doesn't entitle it to be called flamenco), it's more than a little harsh to label this album "not really flamenco." Granted, this isn't Agujetas, Antonio Mairena, Manolo Caracol, etc., etc. - the extremely earthy, unvarnished flamenco of old for which one needs to develop a definite taste. But there's some very good stuff here nonetheless.

A minor criticism: I wonder why there's two cuts by Bastide when there could have been two cuts instead by Paco de Lucia, whose style Bastide tries to imitate.

And one VERY LARGE criticism: What's Jesse Cook doing on this album? He has nothing to do with Flamenco. That's like going to an aquarium exhibit entitled "Great Fish of the World" and finding a guppy swimming nervously in a tank of sharks and barracudas - but which is provided an identification tag the same size as all the other fish. That only serves to inflate the role of the guppy beyond all proportion.

I liked only 7 songs out of 12 on this one. Tomatito and Jesse Cook could be found on better collections though. Again, tapping, clapping, congos, and the like. For $4.99 it's a good value, but dont pay more.

This remains an all time favorite. Every artist here is top flight.You can listen to this over and over and still enjoy it more and more. In fact the only other album in this genre that gives this a run for the money is the 3 CD set called Duende, which also steered me to my favorites in this genre. Every performance is top flight and essential to anyone with any interest in Flamenco. Lots of other artists are trying to horn in on the interest in this genre like Ottmar Liebert- which is like cold dishwater.Listen and decide for youself

This fantastic CD is a must for any person who has the slightest interest in flamenco. The audio quality is great and the song mix is quite varied, giving the listener a wide spectrum of different rhythms and sounds. The inclusion of a Jesse Cook song at the end raises a few eyebrows because its nouveau-flamenco rumba is so dull compared to the compositional quality of the other tracks. Once the CD gets to that track, press "<" and start over from the beginning! Highly recommended!

Narada signs up modern "flamenco" artists but I gave it a try anyway. It's not all that bad considering it's labeled "Flamenco: Fire and Grace". All tracks are modern flamenco and most are those types that are called "background music" or "elevator music". I am a traditional flamenco guitarist so excuse me for being biased but modern flamenco just doesn't move me. There's just no passion in it. And why was that particular Jesse Cook track on the cd? It's like something I would listen to to help me with my bowel movements.

How is it that narada can pick over tons of albums and not come up with better compilations?This album is boring and the music is not even real flamenco.If you want authentic Spanish guitar music check out any number of awesome classical recordings by Julian Bream or John Williams and their performance of the works of Rodrigo,Sor,Albeniz,Granados,DeFalla,Sanz,Milan,Mudarra,and numerous traditional works.