So I think I got my flamenco name tonight - obviously enough, it's Alejandro Cerca. One of my fellow guitar enthusiasts hosted a night that began with accompaniment for Roberto Zamora, a well-known Bay Area singer whose story you can read at
SF Flamenco. The six of us played for two hours, and then some more of our friends from the local dance classes came over for tapas caseras. David Gutierrez, my guitar teacher of the past six months, gifted me with a tape (recorded from an LP) of La Familia Montoya from 1970 and Pepe Habichuela from 1983, which we listened to in awe. The roads that led each of us to flamenco are very different, but our love for the music and our desire to continue learning connect us as we strive to improve our technique and style.
Many of us told stories about Spain, and it's amazing to me to hear how I describe my life in Sevilla to other people. It sounds like a dream, but it was only four years ago that I left. What a romantic year it was! The wonderful thing about the flamenco community is how musical and cultural knowledge is passed on through personal relationships, and how careers and adventures overlap. Most of the people sitting around the table tonight were thirty years my elder, and although Sevilla has changed a great deal since Franco's death, the bridges and cobblestones are still the same, and many of the flamenco clubs and peñas have endured. And so we have common points of reference as we share stories and pieces of music with each other. A fascinating example of this is that I played David a couple of Bulerias falsetas that I learned from Juan in Sevilla, and David recognized the "aire" because he had taught another student who also studied with Juan at Taller Flamenco. Juan's compositions are that distinctive, and David's ears are that discerning. Que mundo mas pequeño, no?
No comments:
Post a Comment