Customer Reviews

Flamenco De La Frontera

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This CD is a tribute to Diego Del Gastor,one of flamencos' finest guitarists& human beings. Paco Del Gastor is a nephew of Diegos'& was also Diegos' favorite student who learned most of Diegos' repetoire & then took it all to the next level.This music is rich in melodic beauty & full of traditional flamencos' majesty! One of my favorite gypsy flamenco guitar recordings!

This record by Paco del Gastor does not require the acquired taste that so much flamenco music demands: anyone can listen to it without either having to cringe (if not a flamenco aficionado) or wince (if a lover of cante jondo or the "deep song" that is flamenco). The opening piece ("Morón, a part of myself") is breathtaking: guitar, electric bass, and cajón (a percussive box), were played and recorded inside a church, and it contains some of the most bewitching rhythms imaginable. It is a long piece, lasting over 13 minutes, and divided into three movements. It was composed by Paco out of the raw gypsy material in which he has been inmersed all his life and which is now part of him. Yes, he honors his uncle Diego's style of falsettos and rifts, but the piece is so personal and lyrical, that many of the people in the audience (churchgoers, workers, drifters) were crying by the time it was over: it has that kind of immediacy and beauty.

Because Paco has been for many years considered the finest flamenco accompanist in all of Spain, when he is left to his own devices as a soloist, he is modest and demure in his virtuosity (which is incredible). He plays not to prove how fast and accurately his fingers can fly over the strings, but to show how deeply wonderful the music that he plays is. He places himself not in front, but behind the music, so that nothing comes between the music and the listener.

For those aprehensive about such things, there are no voice songs in the CD: only guitar and the accompaniment mentioned in the first piece. The other pieces in the record are standard structural forms of cante jondo: taranto, alegría, siguiriya (ah, so beautiful, this one), bulería, soleá, and granaina. The playing time is a little over 57 minutes and the audio quality is excellent.

I've found it extremely hard to find a good recording of traditional flamenco, but to find this album makes the search worthwhile. Paco is an expert guitar player. His melodies range from soft and simple, to fiery and intense. I have to debate whether or not to play this guy on the radio next year, because if I do, nothing else I play will sound as good. I'm looking foreward to any more albums that Paco comes out with, and I hope they come soon. Anyone who loves flamenco guitar must have this album!

Paco de Gastor is best known as one of the best guitar accompanists of his time, and his driving and pulsating Moron style of playing springs directly from the influence of his uncle, the revered Diego del Gastor. On this CD, Paco creates his own very personal solo interpretations of several toques that are beautiful, displaying a wealth of knowledge of falsetas that Paco uses while accompanying the cante. There are also variations of classical guitar passages borrowed from the music of Fernando Sor that are sprinkled throughout the recording. Paco plays each track here with impeccable artistry and shows why he represents the best of this unique style of guitar playing.