Customer Reviews

Legends of Gypsy Flamenco

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No one does flamenco better than the gypsies. The artists on this cd are renown flamenco musicians/performers. This is high caliber stuff we have here, ladies and gentlemen. What you will hear here is what the performers do for themselves after the tourists have gone away. Like what we do here in Sevilla on the weekends in our courtyards with just family and friends. Pure flamenco with soul and passion, no commercial performances for the tourists. This is a great cd with famous artists and "Legends of Gypsy Flamenco II" follows in its footsteps. I would highly recommend starting here for people who are beginning to listen to flamenco music before they hear "nouveau flamenco".

I always loved gipsy music and unfortunately it's not easy to come by a good recording with the 'real' gipsy music. Well this one is the real deal.
Good recording - good music.

I had heard about this recording from flamenco aficionados, but was skeptical that a compilation would be true to the form. In fact, it is as if a complete evening of flamenco performances had been recorded live, such is the energy and spontaneity of the singing and playing. Listen to this late at night with the lights dim and a glass of brandy. You won't be sorry.

If you want to hear flamenco at its very best you can't do better than to buy this CD. Manitas de Plata was the best of the flamenco guitarists of the 60's and La Paquera de Jerez was the signature female flamenco vocalist of her generation. The other artists on this CD are also the best of their times. Flamenco of our day still has technical virtuousity, but I can't help but think that something essential has been lost, something to do with the soul of this music form.

The performers on this collection are the cream of the crop of grass roots Flamenco. El Loreno's voice is simply mystical. La Paquera holds in her feeling the power and pasion of Flamenco in one person. if you love Flamenco this is a must.

It's good to hear a disc of traditional sounding acoustic flamenco music unpolluted by electric or electronic instruments and fusion hybrids.

If you understand what duende is, you will enjoy this one. My collection of traditional (and selected Nuevo) flamenco is extensive, but this one gets more play time than most. Next to a live Juerga, this is the best thing you'll hear. True flamenco was never intended for an audience. This is as close to it as you'll get.

This is a wonderful compilation of some of the best gypsy flamenco song I know. The Manitas de Plata songs blew me away. In English, it means "little silver hands." Silver is high in value, and so is the quality of the music. All odf the artist play the guitar super fast it's mind boggling. The music theory is good too. Flamenco is in the Phrygian mode which you'll find some examples of if you look it up online, but the best way to get a feel for this CD is to listen to the samples. On the review that got one star, the person complained about the screeching voices. I could see how the voices would be unpleasant, but the timbre was appropriate for the gypsy style.

While the first and second volumes of these flamenco anthologies have most of the same artists, this first volume is special by including two tracks of guitarist Parrilla de Jerez [Manuel Fernàndez Molina] accompanying cantaor Curro Malena [Francisco Carrasco Carrasco], two brilliant prize-winners. This album is among the very rare that feature them. Other positives include selections of cantaors La Paquera de Jerez and Manuel Jiménez Rejano. On the negative side, for me, are three pieces from the overrated but historically important Manitas de Plata and two from the peculiar high voiced Pepe Nuñez "El Loreño". Together, the anthology does provide a good taste of mid twentieth-century flamenco, where so few are available. If you desire a variety of flamenco forms and artists, certainly obtain these two albums, but then explore further and deeper this evolving art form.

A compilation of flamenco stars of decades gone by, each of whom features in two or three tracks. You can listen to the compilation as arranged, or do as I sometimes do and program your player to group each performer's tracks together. The sound quality is excellent and the program notes are helpful, though I would have appreciated knowing where and when each track was recorded. The lone guitarist featured, Manitas de Plata, is the standout for me.

I can't make any technical judgements on these performers. All I can say is that I enjoy every track and I love listening to this.