The Beginning Stages of Flamenco Addiction

[Great Googly Moogly]

Watch out Locust!! Flamenco is more addictive than heroin!!!
You will become completely obsessed!!! :shock:
Sabicas and Paco are my heroes for sure.. :D
It's happening just like you said, Todd.

Below are images of front and back covers of five flamenco CD's that Juan lent me last week. It was easy to insert these images since they were already scanned on my hard drive. I was wondering what some of the flamenco enthusiasts here would say about the artists and compositions featured on these CD's because this stuff is really starting to blow me away. Maybe this is stuff that most of you already have in your collections? And if not, I believe these CD's are currently available and are released under Planet Records. And I can't believe what an amazing badass Juan was back in his day. He still is, of course, but I think that even he would have a hard time competing with the amazing monster of a player that he was back then. Juan is featured on each one of these CD's (the last one being of him alone) and they were actually released by Planet Records in 1992 WITHOUT A CONTRACT with Juan! At the time of the CDs' release, Planet Records assumed that all of the featured artists had been deceased, which was true EXCEPT FOR JUAN! If you look on the CD covers, you'll see Juan's name is listed as "Juanito" Serrano, showing that he was a young man at the time this music was recorded. So they failed to consider this fact and assumed that Juan had been deceased also. When Juan found out about the CD's, he contacted Planet Records and they were overwhelmed and appalled by their mistake and couldn't apologize enough. So they signed a contract with him and cut him a check immediately.

Anyway, here are the CD's I'm talking about:


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/Locust777/FlamencoCDCovers1.jpghttp://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/Locust777/FlamencoCDCovers2.jpghttp://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/Locust777/FlamencoCDCovers3.jpg

[Faya]

Have fun...............and don't overdose :lol:

they don't have treatment centers for Flamenco overdose :lol:

[Broken Nail]

Yeah, definitely try Sabicas, Nino Ricardo, RAMON MONTOYA, if you can find his recordings(don't really find much interest in his nephew Carlos) and if you can find Diego del Gastor. Flamenco solo guitar is cool but it gets much better and livelier with cante, palmas, and baile.

[Guitar Slim]

So who is this Juan Serrano guy anyway? If he's so great, why isn't his picture on bubble-gum cards? (and why can't I find video of him on Youtube?)

Seriously, though, what do you think of these CDs Locust? Would they be a good introduction for a neophyte like me? Are they still in print and available? Is there one or two in particular that you would recommend?

I know very little about flamenco, but thanks mostly to this forum I have defintely developed an interest. Basically, I've watched a couple of Sabicas and Paco de Lucia videos on Youtube, and heard/seen some of the performances by our own forum members. Oh yeah, my father had an old Carlos Montoya LP that I listened to when I was a kid. That's about the limit of my knowledge, so I'm looking for a good place to start my exploration.

[deAlmeida]

for a neophyte, probably the best introduction to flamenco would be carlos saura's movie 'flamenco'

you get the guitar playing as well as singing and dancing, and very importantly, you get to SEE it all. I recommend buying or renting the dvd if you can find it for rent.

for cd's, probably any solid flamenco cd is a good introduction, as they will have a variety of the main forms - soleares, bulerias, alegrias, etc. just take a look at some of the names mentioned in the other thread titled "best flamenco guitarist poll". you can't go wrong with any of the major players.

[Great Googly Moogly]

So who is this Juan Serrano guy anyway? If he's so great, why isn't his picture on bubble-gum cards? (and why can't I find video of him on Youtube?)I think they're looking into putting him on a U.S. postage stamp sometime soon. :)

Seriously, though, what do you think of these CDs Locust? Would they be a good introduction for a neophyte like me? Are they still in print and available? Is there one or two in particular that you would recommend?The effect that these CD's had on me, Chris, is that I feel like I've been "bitten by the bug," BIG TIME. I'm starting to see flamenco guitar as being at the "top of the pyramid" when it comes to guitar music now. I'm loving everything about it. I also love the way it seems to steer clear of the typical cadences that you find in classical music. I started listening to the first CD in the series (Masters of the Flamenco Guitar, Vol.1) when it first hit me. Afterward, I popped in the one featuring only Juan and I haven't taken it out of my CD player since. I have to say that I had no idea Juan was this much of a badass, really. My very first introduction to flamenco was a Paco De Lucia DVD that a friend of mine played for me a month or so ago and I was blown away by it but somehow not to the same extent as what's happened here. Now I see that all these guys are monsters and I really see myself getting hooked on it.

As far as I know, the CD's are currently available on Planet Records but the only one I was able to find availability for when I "Googled" it was Masters of the Flamenco Guitar, Vol.2. Here's the link to the site where I found it available:

http://www.deflamenco.com/tiendaflamenco/veri.jsp?cod=1592

[Guitar Slim]

Thanks buddy!

BTW, did you see this video that Todd posted last month:

http://forum.guitarsalon.com/viewtopic.php?t=3780

Pretty astonishing.

[Great Googly Moogly]

Are they still in print and available? Is there one or two in particular that you would recommend?I was listening to Vol 2 yesterday, Chris, since it was the only one available when I searched. It's very good, but to answer your question as to which one is best, I'd have to say the Juan Serrano / The Art of the Flamenco Guitar by a long shot. I believe all of these are still in print so I'd think you could find it somehow. I let a classical player friend of mine hear it last night and he was just as blown away as I was. I wish there was a way I could let everyone on this forum to hear it. I could describe exactly what makes me like this CD better but I'm trying not to go on and on.