Good. He's in my top 3 all-time guitarists and my be my favorite of all. My wish is to go to Spain and meet him soon before his artistry is on the downswing.
I met Paco Peña in Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba 1989..he was just arrive from Holland to see my group play on that Festival..great person and musician !!
Well...I think Paco De Lucia's is very well capable of playing top quality traditional flamenco, just listen to his first few records. He has changed his style, there's nothing wrong with that, but nowadays almost everybody more or less imitates his style and, as I said in my previous reply, very few players nowadays play pure traditional flamenco the way Paco Pena does in this clip.
I can't fathom why some of these videos have ANY thumbs-down. If you don't like flamenco, then you shouldn't have even clicked on this. On the other hand, if you do like flamenco, but you think that somehow this is anything but amazing... then I don't think there's any help for you. I guess some people are just miserable human beings and have to be contrarian. :-/
And without question... people without sufficient matching talent to be considered worthy of being able to criticize some of the world's most gifted artists. What's that saying about critics?
I dunno... maybe some of the thumbs-downs are because of the vintage nature of the video. In which case, the people doing it are very shallow. The subject of the video was/is amazing, regardless of when this was recorded and ANYONE viewing this video would be so fortunate as to have his skills and ability to entertain.
I agree. Just jealous, insecure people. As if their thumbs-down somehow elevates their position in life, or even their happiness and satisfaction in living it. I don't get it. The vast majority of the time, when I see a video here that I don't like... I just move on. I may not like/respect it, but someone does and that's fine. But to give a thumbs-down to a legend with mind-boggling talent just doesn't make sense to me.
Set your guitar on fire? Nonsense, my friend! Let the flames of your inspiratio be fanned by this man's spark of genius and the wind of your desire to play. Men like him are very much our holy grail. Forever must we quest to get as close as we can to what they do. Who knows, someday we may get there. anything can happen! We are guitarists after all!
Paco Pena is a great and very accomplished guitarist. My hat's off to him. I have listened to classical & flamenco all my life and it never bores me to watch him play, even the same song over and over again. I am not going to get into the debate of who's better. But if I have my choice between Pena and De Lucia, the choice is obvious to me. Pena's notes just sounds so amazingly clean and crisp!
when people say that one player is better than another, all they are REALLY saying is that they prefer to listen to that player. Personally i love paco pena's feel and melodic and rhythmic style, it hits me right in the guts. I could say that he is better than, say- paco de lucia, but it it relative to what you prefer, that would just be my opinion. I love both, infact-i love almost all flamenco guitarists, bar very few because they all have elements that i enjoy.
a real guitar master. i remember about 20 yrs ago that i was listening my two tapes with his music, and as a young guitarist, i only wanted(i was praying) to get to play some of his fantastic works. great
These players have a very courtly style - a natural gentility. Asked in a crude Anglo-Saxon way "Who's best, you or him?" The instinctive reply is "He, of course .." Or, again, asked "Who is THE best of all?" Friends gathered round will answer for him "He is the best!" For he sits in the place of honour and manners demand no less a response.
Yeah. I've listened to this over and over again for three years now. I think it gets very melodious from 3:43 on. Paco Pena is a great all around guitarist, very technically sound and his notes are very clean and crisp. I have so much respect for him.
I have been listening to him for the last 40 years and I feel the same as you--in fact most of what I play is a copy of Paco Peña who is so much an emotional wonderful flamenco guitarist. Saludos Tomas Jimenez
I like the way it's not a performance of affectation: he doesn't writhe about like he is being tortured on the rack - he doesn't need to affect his performance the guitar is eloquent enough when Paco is playing it.
i totally agree! i've been playing guitar(nothing like this) for years and when i watch this man i want to smash my guitar into pieces and set it on fire- how can anyone be such a genius?
@PasionGuitarra tambien soy espa~ol pero criado en puerto rico!!pero mi familia materna es espa~ola y conservamos las costumbres como lo es el flamenco ..y tienes toda la razon es cuestion de disfrutar el sonido no de querer sobresalir!!
..grandes artistas de España..; Ramón Montoya, Nino Ricardo, ... Pepe Habichuela.., Paco Pena, ... Manolo Sanlúcar, (.Mtro. Esteban)))(!!! ... Vicente Escudero, Pilar López, Mariemma, Antonio Ruiz Soler , Carmen Amaya, Antonio Gades, .. .... Más, tantísimos magníficos artistas.. ..Y , a los que podemos ver...por internet,...y cuyos nombres , siquiera se .menciona. (... Como en el caso , (1969 ),de ver presentación " irrepetible de ..; ' Anda jaleo jaleo ".. ...donde , de. Los cinco , se nombra solamente a un artista, ./ Ramón de Algeciras (.....))) Paco de Lucia,.. ...Sus Obras..perduran , hoy , ayer, anteayer,.... .. y...para siempre
themosmitsos, Segovia composed a little piece called " Estudio sin luz" You should hear it , it is extremely beautiful. I think it might refer to the attic he lived in while studying to be the great guitarist and transposer that he was. Anyone who speaks Spanish... Can the title refer to a "Study", as in attic or does it have to mean "Study", as in musical composition?
Asturias begining is a typical Granadina's falseta.Which I would say that Albeniz took that part from the Flamenco ( which has been around before Albeniz was born).
Ok I was reading some of the replys, I been playing for about 7 years, and I'm not even close to this good, I've never heard anything this good, some of you already now this stuff, but I cant help but be amazed, as I said I never heard anything this good and I've heard some damn incredable guitar players....point is, I guess I'm still a newb a little bit...hahahah.
(my other comment did not come trough i believe, so): in terms of traditional flamenco, paco pena clearly performs on a much higher level then de lucia, both style and technique. those players are incomparable, both make beautifull music.
Heh! Didn't notice it before but, he incoporates a theme from Albeniz's Leyendas Asturias into this piece. It's toward the end right before the heavily tremolado parts.
Nonsense....even if Paco Pena himself says that De lucia is better that means nothing, at most that Paco Pena is a very modest person. The thing is that both Paco's are so different in their styles that comparing them is useless.
To answer your question, most classical makers make flamenco guitars. Good ones will start at around 1-1500 pounds sterling. Concert models go 3000 upwards. Paco's will no doubt be a fine example, and disregarding the fact that he owns it, could well be worth over 20k. If you are just starting out, just get yourself a classical and go from there. Try and find one with a brighter than average tone, and if you get into it, get a students flamenco Guitar, they do them for about £300
ubershredder1989 "Aggressive" is not equal to "better" in all cases. Classical guitar players (and in almost every instrument) have to train hard in order to restrain themselves from sounding aggressive all the time. Playing with subtle tone and dynamics is a lot harder. Asturias (Leyenda) is supposed to sound nostalgic, not aggressive, according to some music historians. Also, the theme that the great Paco played is supposed to be played either "PP" or "P" -very soft- in most of the piece, except in some specific parts. Paco Peña is great though ;)
+Joel Salazar and though I respect classical guitar just as much or more flamenco sounds thousands of time better to me. the aggresiveness may be excessive but the lack of aggression in classical doesnt cut it for me flamenco and metal naturally mix so well to me
You're absolutely right. Although it's difficult to compare De Lucia with Pena: they explore different areas of flamenco: traditional vs 'modern'. I think it's a pity Paco Pena has stopped with solo concerts long ago: most flamenco guitarist choose to go in the direction of De Lucia, so that leaves very few flamenco guitar players that are interested in traditional flamenco.
ahh thanks for the reply, I appreciate the info. I dont know much about Albeniz's philosphies or concepts unfortunately, I just recognized that piece particularly. But again, thanks for the enlightenment.
I'm a flamenco fan, I think, the only one, who can really keep up with Paco de Lucia is Paco Pena in terms of discography and techniques. Paco de Lucia has got more talent (no doubt), but everybody feels and finds the Flamnco and esp. the tradiotional Flamenco in Paco Pena. (the style of holding the guitar of Paco Pena is also more beautiful than the other Paco)
This is not exactly my expert area, but its likely that he is playing a fairly old (vintage, if you like) guitar, as they get better with age. This is a flamenco specific guitar, as you can see from the peg head (as opposed to geared tuners) and the fact that the back and sides are the same colour as the top. This usually means the back and sides are made of cypress, which is the traditional wood for Flamenco. It has the bright cutting tone needed for flamenco, to be heard over the clapping etc.
If I would take a wild guess, the Albeniz-part might well be because John Williams is sitting next to him, who is well known for playing Albeniz. maybe as a kind of joke.
