I’ve just been listening to Alba Molina, the CD by Lole y Manuel.  It’s not one of my favorites.  But the guitar of Moraito is wonderful throughout.  His voice is so fresh, so unpretentious, deceptively simple, so absolutely RIGHT ON!

Si Yo Pudiera and A Ustedes Senores Mio are both sung by Manuel Molina with the guitar of Moraito.  These are amazing tracks.

Born on September 13th, 1956; he passed on August 10th, 2011.  Yesterday.

Descanse en paz.

It is June in Minnesota.  This means everyday is a crap shoot:  one day, hot spot in the nation (103 and humid), next day torrential rains, today 46 degrees and dropping.  BUT:  it is summer and summer is the best.  The best.  And we’re managing to do our sangria/grilling extravaganzas between all that.  And with lots of flamenco, too.

My son, Aaron, graduated high school and we had a big blow-out for him last weekend that I’m almost recovered from today.

Manuel Flores, festero and palmero with Son de Frontera is just so wonderful.  I had the very good fortune to see a lot of the old-time flamencos like Anzonini del Puerto and Andorrano, Funi, Fernanda, Bernarda, Paco Valdepenyas—the list goes on and on.  For this I can only thank my friend David Serva who turned me on to that world, even when I had no idea what I was seeing (and hearing!).  Today, I can hardly believe  the luck.  Times change, great artists pass away and others gradually take their place.  Flamenco is an amazing art form in that way.

Still, I have to say:  after reading all the buzz about Israel Galvan—I’ve been watching him for a few years and, generally,  liking what he does—then seeing his latest Casa Patas video (from June 11th, I believe) —I am very sorry, but: NO!  This coked-out, ridiculous posing is very sad.  Give it the “ole” test:  if you can sit and watch it without being on the edge of your seat, without spontaneous outbursts of “ole!” every few seconds—then it just ain’t happenin’.  And, for me, it sure ain’t happenin’.  Bobote sings but can not watch.   Nor can I.

“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenalin but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.”

!Vivas tu!

Did that catch your attention?

Sathya Sai Baba died on Sunday, April 24th and was buried earlier today (the 27th).  As a nearly life-long devotee of Sai Baba of Shirdi, I have mixed emotions.  I leave it to the reader to Google the whole thing and draw your own conclusions.  I will say only this:  I’ve been to Shirdi twice, I’ve sat on that rock you always see in the pictures, I brought “udhi” home and kept it for more than 20 years.  I am not religious.  I carry a deep feeling for Sai Baba with me every day, whether I try to or not.  Sathya Sai Baba was someone else.

I’ve had several requests to speak my mind about beating your foot to keep the rhythm as you play guitar.  I am surely no expert.  I will share a few ideas on the subject:

Be really careful to play to the rhythm as you beat it and not to beat your foot to the rhythm you are playing!!

A guitarist has to remain sensitive to the others (the dancer, the singer, other musicos…) and to their conception of the rhythm.   Remain flexible, understand rubato, know that your foot is not God.

That being said, it can be very helpful to keep the compas with your foot (feet…) and it can also help keep you in compas.

Personally, I like the “one” to fall on the left foot.  Always.  So, if I’m playing bulerias, the “twelve” is on the right foot, as are the accents of “six” and “eight” and “ten.”  The only strong accent that falls on the left foot is the “three.”  This makes staying in compas really quite easy, even if you’re improvising, because you always feel that heavy 6-8-10-12.  And playing in sixes even easier:  left,—,—,right,—,— etc etc.  (Does this make any sense at all?)

The feet don’t even have to move:  you just feel the impulses there and go with it.  Siguiriyas:  start with left:  8-10-12  and 6 again with the 3 on the right corresponding to the “un”-“dos”-“tres” with the undos “tres” on the right, cuatrocinco “seis” on the left again.  In Tangos it’s easy to feel the “four–one” groove:  right–left.

Good to practice by just listening to flamenco and syncing your feet to it.  In time, you can stop bugging your girl friend to count or do palmas as you work out a falseta because your feet can do it just as well.  Girl friend will thank you!

Musicians need to memorize lots of repertoire.  I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t cut it to play from sheet music, past a point.  And flamenco guitarists usually don’t have sheet music to start with.  Flamenco, for the most part, continues to be an oral tradition, passed on from guitarist to guitarist.  I sometimes jot down a falseta in my own musical shorthand (particularly in Spain) so as to be able to pick up new material really quickly—but, then, I memorize it as soon as I get home.  To really express the music, the sentido, the soniquete:  you just have to have it memorized.  This also allows you to be sensitive to the singer, the dancer(s), the other musicians.  Enough said.  Here are a few tricks to memorization I’d like to share:

1.  Listen to a lot of music.  Listening allows us to memorize much more easily.  It helps us figure out just what is going on and where the music is going.  Those beautiful little “revelations” occur most often when we are just listening.

2.  Use logic to fix the musical ideas in your head and in your fingers.  It can be your own weird logic, in fact, the weirder the better.  When I explain my own “inner logic”  to someone I always get some strange looks.  “Mateo, that makes NO sense at all!”

3.  Use mnemonic devices to assist the memory.  The stupider, sillier, even more vulgar the better.  Less easy to forget.  Often best to keep these to yourself….

4.  Look for shapes that unfold on the neck of the guitar.  Much music comes out of the physicality of actually playing the instrument.  Descending runs, positional changes, recurring fingering shapes, also repetitive right-hand techniques.

5.  Visualize the music you’re memorizing when you’re away from the instrument.  Just before falling asleep or just when you awaken.  An effective way to drive yourself completely out of your mind, as an added benefit.

Please share your ideas on memorization.  We all need to improve at this.

Do I have your attention now?  This cheap, tacky heading was merely a ruse to lure you here, then entice you to stay until you’ve read the over-wrought content which follows:

Simply this—Listen to music.  All the time.  Listen to the old stuff:  Ramon Montoya, Sabicas, Nino(sic) Ricardo, Diego del Gastor.  Listen to Paco de Lucia old and new (and especially, in-between), to Paco Pena(sic, again), Manolo Sanlucar.  Listen to the modern guys:  Vicente Amigo, Nino(sic)Josele, Tomatito, Viejin—I’ve a list of at least 50 that I greatly admire.

Don’t listen to too much Gipsy Kings.  Or Jesse Cook, Ottmar Liebert, Armik and the like.  They’re all good at what they do but they aren’t doing flamenco.  Make distinctions as you listen—what do you like?  What moves you?  Listen to their execution of picado and alza pua and rasgueo, tremelo. Try to follow the development of their ideas.

Doing this all the time will help your playing more than you can imagine.  Your compas’, your technique, your soniquete.  And,  it is super fun.

PS:  listen to Son de Frontera (Paco de Amparo), the Jeros, Diego Amaya, the Del Gastors.  Don’t miss checking out Chico Martin, hijo de Juana la del Revuelo.  Go to Pandora, Grooveshark, Youtube.  And keep reading.  Thank you.

We all agree that practicing is absolutely essential in becoming a decent flamenco guitarist.  Flamenco presents a huge learning curve, especially so for foreigners.  Living and studying in Spain is tremendously helpful, probably necessary, at some point.  Living there, one sees that the Spanish way of life is conducive to long hours of guitar practice.

Unfortunately, that is certainly NOT the case living in the US.  Life just keeps intruding, cell phones ringing, texts beeping, family and friends shaking their heads at the craziness of structuring your life around practicing flamenco guitar, something they don’t care for all that much anyway.  Why not play the blues?  (Why not, indeed?)

Thus, the importance of concentrated, intense, effective practice.  Practice that achieves results.  I agree, but I also have to note that there are techniques that just require long hours of repetition and patience—but, for that, we just leave guitars lying around the house, so we can pick one up whenever we sit for a few moments and do a little alza pua, or whatever.

El Entri suggests 6 hours a day of practice if one is, or desires to be, a professional flamenco guitarist.  That breaks down to:  2 hours of technique, 2 hours of repertoire, and 2 hours of creative exploration, writing falsetas, improvisation and generally just lovin’ it.

Two hours of technique includes something like an hour of picado—exercises, riffs you lift out of falsetas or pieces, lots of Paco stuff—and another hour spent doing alza pua, arpegio, rasgueo, horquilla, tremelo.  Have I left anything out?  I suggest always practicing in compas’ (or nearly always) and a metronome can be very helpful, too.  Guard against becoming addicted to the metronome—it happens easily!

Two hours of repertoire:  I like what the guy at ravennaflamenco.com wrote about constructing the (nerdy…) chart of pieces one is working on and performing—devoting 10-15 minutes to each one and move on.  I’m doing this and I applaud his idea! Go to his site right now and see what I’m talking about….

Then there’s the 2 hours of creative time—don’t neglect this:  it is THE BEST!

If we have to run out and play a 3 hour gig, as I do maybe 4-5 nights a week, then maybe we need to make small adjustments so as not to show up to the club completely worn out.  I’ve also seen that doing technique practice AFTER a gig (when you’re really warmed up and crackin’) can be very effective.  Having that glass of wine sitting alongside and cooling down with some picado practice is quite delightful.

If we don’t get through all this each day, simply pick up where you left off the day before and don’t beat yourself up about it.  The point is to get yourself really excited about the guitar so you’re cranked up to maximize your time.  And then, I can actually get excited about days off because they are big guitar days! Nothing like sitting out on the gazebo, grilling, drinking sangria, and playing guitar—summer, please come soon.

I have studied with several wonderful flamenco guitarists along the way; but I have to say that Aquilino Jimenez, el Entri, has a most effective method of teaching and I recommend him 100%.  His could be called the “School of Canyarroto”(the Gypsy barrio of Madrid) and has produced many great guitarists:  Ramon Jimenez, Viejin, Jesus de Rosario plus the late Manzanita (a favorite of mine!) as well as the legendary el Nani.  And there are a good number of up and coming monsters, too.

At el Entri’s suggestion, and with his blessing, I seek to run my Sunday flamenco technique class precisely as he does his.  It is intense.  It is difficult, uncompromising and somewhat relentless.  It also gets huge results.  Unfortunately, I find it is a little too much so for many American aficionados—they seem to prefer private study to the group setting.  It saddens me because I love teaching this class and I love playing along with everyone and I especially love sharing all his insights and inspirations.  I INVITE GUITARISTS OF ALL LEVELS TO CHECK OUT THIS OPPORTUNITY!!! Feel free to contact me through the website ([email protected]) for more info.

I have come to see that many guitarists lack two skills essential to guitar progress:  knowing how to PRACTICE and knowing how to MEMORIZE.  I really want to share some ideas about these aspects.  I am delighted at input from readers, by the way.

Today I’m writing from Butler, PA.  I’m back on tour with Ensemble Espanyol playing venues on Long Island and in Pennsylvania.  Nice way to come back to reality (the US/reality/unreality bubble that is).  I addictively watched the events unfold in Egypt (while working in Chicago) and it was nothing short of amazing!  Inspiring!  Alucinante!  Well, to wrap up January’s Spain journal, at last:

Day Fourteen Tuesday 18th January

Just a great relaxed Madrid day of walking, chilling with friends, eating of course.  This evening I accompanied Rachel as she took the cante class offered by Talegon de Cordoba.  He’s a great singer and an incredible repository of flamenco knowledge;  at age 76, his anecdotes are brimming with flavors of an era fast disappearing and probably never to return.  The untimely death of Enrique Morente hangs like a pallor over Madrid flamenco.  The class was fabulous and Rachel sang impressively.  Met up with guitarrist Claudio Villanueva (who is renting my piso in Lavapies) afterwards.  We had some drinks then we moved on and met up with David a little later, finishing off the evening at:  ArteBar (no surprise; this is the happening spot!).

Day Fifteen Wednesday

Alas!  Our final day and Madrid seemed imbued with melancholy—actually, it just reflected our sadness at having to leave so soon.  Rachel had a two hour private class with Talegon (I played guitar) that went wonderfully.  Afterwards, we went to David’s place, said our goodbyes to Clara, then went out for a final evening that stretched out into the wee hours (this is still the great city for the Vientecuatrohoramarcha, sin duda).

Day Sixteen Thursday 20th January

Pack, have breakfast, finally head to Barajas airport.  Journey ended:  arrived in Minneapolis at 8:30PM to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit.  A BRISK welcome home.  Tomorrow it’s on to bigger things; for now, all we can think of is: how soon can we return?

Day Ten January 11th Saturday

We hooked up with Gloria Galdon (“Gloria de Jerez” from Ensemble Espanyol days,  late 90s).  She is once again living in Jerez.  After Mala picked up a dress we met Gloria, her sister, Rosaura, and brother in law.  We spent the entire afternoon “tapeando,” drinking, singing and carrying on.  Mala and I managed to change a Romanian Gypsy’s world just a bit when we strongly lobbied for him to play (and sing!) his own music rather than the cheezy stuff he thought Jerezanos wanted to hear, as he roamed table to table.  When Mala sang “Djelem” it turned him around and they proceeded to sing a duet (Mala really blows my mind sometimes…).  It became a really joyous and inspired atmosphere.  Evening we all went to a milonga (yes, an Argentine tango dance) in Cadiz.  We had a great time and even danced a lot.  Same characters present as in milongas everywhere; tango is a world of personajes….

Day Twelve Sunday

Morocco!  We got up early and drove the magnificent (and hair-raising) route to Tarifa.  We caught the fast ferry and by noon we were in Tangiers.  We spent the next 7 hours combing the souks (zocos), hanging out in the Medina, drinking mint tea (and the best coffee yet…), and, of course, noshing.  We bought babuchas and amber and saffron.  The parallel universe which is Morocco never ceases to delight me!!  Mala was entranced.  This, my third time here, was my most benign vis a vis the Moroccan people and I have come to see them as kind and genteel overall;  even the hustlers did not bother me much as I now see them as not so different from me with tip basket or open guitar case at the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis.  Just a fabulous day (and a sunny 75 degrees!).  We drove home from Tarifa and met up with Gloria late—she took us to a club where we heard a Jerezano band (with female singer) doing rumbas, pop and Sevillanas.  Fun and interesting distinctions to make.  To bed really late.

Day 13 Monday 17 January

Too bad!  Time had come to vacate Jerez.  The drive back to Cordoba was very fine (and quick).  Spent an hour or two with Dani again before boarding the Socibus back to Madrid.  And back to the hotel for a moment;  we rushed out, caught the Metro to Club Clamores (another favorite spot of mine) just in time to hear el Torta (Juan Moneo) do a couple of really excellent sets.  Raining as we left but we made it back to the barrio and met up with David again, going to the irrepressible ArteBar.  Flamenco penya in session which we love!  Need I say we were out till late?