The Band (And The Man) That Changed Everything

So Paco De Lucia was controversial. Apparently still is in some circles. And his sextet was probably the biggest reason for that. As much as his compositions were evolving, it was the addition of bass and a horn that seems to have really pushed people over the edge (the rest of the sextet is cante, another guitar and percussion/dance, so not too controversial there, I hope). There was no Rite of Spring style riot that I know of, but man were some people upset.

When I was coming up the sextet already existed, and it was just one more part of this music I was falling in love with, so no big deal as far as I was concerned. But if you haven’t seen/heard the sextet you should, so you can judge for yourselves. This is a clip from Carlos Saura’s movie ‘Flamenco’ from 1995. Oh, and sometimes there are seven people in the sextet. Or more. Or less. Sextet is a state of mind.