Customer Reviews

Manitas De Plata at Carnegie Hall

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've bought " At Carnegie Hall" and I didn't regretit. I never thought I could still find a record from the period inwhich Manitas builded his fame. Since I heard him for the first time I bought all his records I could find and still I was too late for some. Now, at Amazon, I could buy another one from that time. I like the record very well. There are no better records from Manitas than those from the beginning of his carreer. His skills are even nowadays tremendous, he's about eighty years old and still performs as fiercy as ever. Listen to a sample of Manitas de Plata from 199. When you love " At Carnegie Hall" , you love " Manitas and friends" and "Juerga!" even better. These records are his first and were, after a long period of persuasion, recorded in a chapel near the Ceasar's Palace in the french town Arles. At first he didn't wanted to perform but after a lot of effords from his friends he gave in. The result was a marvelous carreer. I was there when he performed in the Orkest gebouw (Concert Hall) in Amsterdam, Holland in december 1972). Together with "Los Baliardos" and José Reyes he brought me a great night (it started at 24.00 midnight). When he plays it seems three man are playing. Marvelous. It's not only his techniques but the melodies and the joy topgether with his family he shows makes it all one big evening of fun. He then only spoke three words, from which of them two were the same. His son Joseph, better known as Manero, has inherited his father's skills a great lot. So he was allowed to perform solo. When his son was playing, and I must say very good (why he never made a record I will never understand), his father pointed at him with much pride and spoke " Bambino, bambino mio" (child, my child). I'd like to tell you much much more about Manitas but I think this will be enough foor this moment. My excuses when I made mistakes in my english because I'm a dutchman. However, I liked to give you this information. When you want more, my E-mail-adress is: ber.gordijn@wxs.nl Bye,bye!

I just have to tell anyone looking at buying this CD to BUY IT! it is the best performance by Manitas, by far, & has as much emotion as you'll ever hear transmitted thru an acoustic guitar...especially in his Tarantas, Grenadinas, Alegrias & Rumba...PHEW!!! to me, this performance is what Flamenco is all about even though Gitanos/gypsies in Andalucia ridicule the technigue of Manitas; no one can question the emotional intensity & sincerity [what flamencos call DUENDE} of Manitas on this live performance. As much as i love flamencos' great guitarists [Paco de Lucia, Sabicas, Serranito, Ramon Montoya, Nino Ricardo, Diego Del Gastor, Tomatito, etc...] master-full technique & compas- not one of them burn with the strength of emotion found on this CD. Check it out !!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. Manitas de Plata "might" not have the techical finesse of Paco de Lucia or Sabicas and all the new players, BUT nobody EVER really rocked it like he did. The pity is that this Carnegie Hall concert CD, great as it is, is not the best representation of his playing. That all happened on the apparently lost recordings made on the Connoisseur Society label back in the 1960s. In 1971, while in Denver, I first heard the legendary Manitas de Plata eponymous LP record on Connoisseur. This is the album that is marked with "Grand Prix de Disque,1968." (Remember this one, flamenco fans?) Manitas is joined by his son Manero Baliardo and his cousin Jose Reyes, who contribute great vocal performances. However, the most moving pieces are the Tarantas and the Malaguenas by Manitas alone. At the time, I could not believe that just one person is playing the guitar. His use of tremelo was astounding. I quickly obtained all his other Connoisseur CDs, including "Juerga" (mentioned below) and "Recital" and eventually wore them out. Alas! They cannot be found on CD! I have combed the internet looking for CD versions. Once you have heard these recordings, you will see why I entitled this CD the Hendrix of Flamenco guitar because that is what he sounds like. Primitive. Raw. Pure emotion and incredible technique. Or as the great electric guitarist John Cippollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service once wrote, "The punk of flamenco." The Carnegie Hall CD will give you a taste. This is how it was back then down in the Camargue at Les Saintes Maries. Both Picasso and Dali were so impressed by him that they drew pictures on his guitar.

If you want to think about virtuosity, without regard to "can you dance to it", De Plata's technical skill, sheer virtuosity, pyrotechnics and improvisations surpass any other guitarist, anywhere, ever.

If you just want lively and listenable---just listen, you'll SEE it and hear it.

A great performance by one of the greatest guitarists ever born. What he can do with a guitar can blow your mind, especially when you realize that he is an illiterate gypsey from the south of france. the man is amazing. The best of the best

The reviewer citing the Hendrix analogy is right on. Not a dancer, I can't vouch for the maestro's beats being danceable. However, if soul, or duende, or presence is your cup of meat, then this is your poison. In further agreement to the aforementioned reviewer, the Connoisseur Society's vinyl pressing, vol.2 is THE best thing I've heard of de Plata, on record. Jose Reyes and Manero Ballardo share vocals on several astounding tracks. And they are the equal of de Plata! The undiluted complexity and euphoria issuing from these recordings has no parallel in the de Plata canon! Would that Connoisseur would re-release this material on CD. Fans should also pursue a set of 5 discs, Arcivo del Cante Flamenco, which came out on the Vergara label in the early 80s.

This CD captures Manitas de Plata at the peak of his popularity during the 1960s when he was acclaimed as the world's greatest flamenco guitarist. The truth is, he never was a flamenco guitarist at all but a great showman and performer whose playing sounded typically "Spanish" and his fiery, percussive playing received rave reviews the world over. This performance at Carnegie Hall shows Manitas at his best in front of an adoring audience, playing with great technical skill but nevertheless outside the framework of flamenco rhythms, thus rendering moot his reputation as a flamenco guitarist. A highlight on the CD is the singing of Jose Reyes, in whose tortured cries of despair one can sense the sorrows and struggles of everyday life. Manitas' rhumbas, always exciting and nice to hear, are the most genuine of his offerings. Although Manitas plays for himself, there are legions of admirers who will always be partial to the man with the hands of silver.