Read the interview with Paco de Lucía
about the release of his new record “Cositas Buenas”.
The interview was recorded on December 14th in Toledo,
Spain by Manolo Nieto of Universal Music. It includes
comments from Diego el Cigala, La Tana, Tomatito and
Alejandro Sanz speaking of the maestro, and explaining
their respective contributions to the recording.
INTERVIEW WITH PACO DE LUCÍA Toledo, December 14th, 2003
By Manolo Nieto
After
some years living in Mexico, what made you decide to
return to Spain and settle in Toledo?
I decided to come and live in Toledo because this is
a place that transports you to the past, a city where
you go out for a walk and return home with a good feeling,
of peace, of living in another time frame. Remembering
the Jews, Arabs, Visigoths, Carthaginians, Romans, all
the cultures that were here and can be seen in the city,
there’s a peace that I need in order to work,
to compose, to feel inspired, I’ve always liked
everything Arabic.
I believe there were people who gave a lot to the culture
of this country, to our music, I discovered some Sephardic
sheet music and there I was able to see the great influence
this music has in flamenco, I used to think it was mostly
the Arabs but I’m almost sure flamenco has very
close ties to the music of Toledo’s Sephardic
culture of that era.
After 5 years of musical
silence, what can you tell us about this new record
“Cositas Buenas” and your reencounter with
Camarón de la Isla and with cante?
Theoretically this is just another record, but like
always I tried to make “The Record”, in
capital letters, a record that would finally satisfy
me, I’m always looking for my own satisfaction,
not only to please those who buy the record. I was secluded
for two years, holed up alone, trying to plug all the
holes, I think that you evolve by plugging up holes,
covering all those things you consider weak and that
need to be improved or eliminated, I tried to be more
and more flamenco at the same time as moving forward
musically and rhythmically, I’ve added different
voices, choruses, cantes…in a certain sense I miss
those records I used to make with Camarón.
I managed to get the masters of all the old recordings
we did, the outtakes which in those days were useless
without digital systems. I recuperated verses that couldn’t
be used and which were thrown out, and that’s
where I was able to get Camarón’s voice,
through a delicate and laborious process, and it sounds
like he’s alive on this record.
Where
was this record composed?
In order to compose this record I went to a very peaceful
area of Yucatan in Mexico where I spent four years of
my life in a house in the middle of the jungle, with
an ideal climate, nobody around, and for two years I
was working 8 to 10 hours a day to compose the record,
the location was essential.
Contributing musicians:
On my recording there are musicians, singers, people
who came by to hear what I was doing. One day Dieguito
el Cigala stopped by and asked “Paco, what am
I going to sing on the record?”…”well,
I don’t know…let’s see what we’ve
got here”. I found some tientos, I sang a verse
to give him the idea and he really sang it nice, Diego
was great and it came out beautifully.
Diego
El Cigala: It’s tientos, one verse,
I really got into it, Paco is a great connoisseur
of cante and his knowledge encouraged me, I had
a great time, there were about 36 different takes,
each time I let myself be carried away by the inspiration
maestro Paco gives, just having him there in front
of you, I think that is the greatest reward of all.
La
Tana: I really felt comfortable and we
produced a work, I mean, there’s no one like
the maestro, who’s so special, everything
really came very well and beautifully, thank God.
La Tana: I really felt comfortable and we produced
a work, I mean, there’s no one like the maestro,
who’s so special, everything really came very
well and beautifully, thank God.
I’ve got people singing, like this girl from
Seville, La Tana, Montse Cortés, Diego el Cigala,
Guadiana, El Potito, Angela….there are some young
people, for example the percussionist El Piraña,
who’s really good on the cajón, the congas,
I don’t like the way he says “olé”,
but he plays very well…Alain Pérez, a Cuban
bass player who plays on one piece, a rumba.
One of the jewels on this
record is the bulería “Qué venga
el alba”, where you incorporate the voice of Camarón
de la Isla and Tomatitio also plays. What did that feel
like when you were doing it?
To have Camarón on that record is like going
back to the past I miss so much, and Tomate couldn’t
be left out, he’s part of all that, and we really
had a good time, and we cried listening to Camarón,
it was like traveling in time. When we heard the finished
piece we both looked at each other as if to say “it
seems like Camarón is right here with us, he
just went to the corner for a coffee”. Tomatito,
as always, a great guitarist, very flamenco, very good
connoisseur of the guitar, this is fundamental for any
musician.
TOMATITO: The cell phone rings and I see ‘Paco
de Lucía…”What’s this all
about?”. He wanted to know if I felt like
doing a bulerías with him, and I really
liked the idea, here at home we were all excited
about it, “Paco called to play on his record!”.
When I heard Camarón with Paco’s
guitar, and to think he invited me to participate,
the three of us together, it was just like going
back in time, us three together again.
For me it’s quite clear that every time
Paco brings out a new record, he brings something
new, and since I’m a lover of guitar music
I always focus on what might be new, Paco always
has something to contribute, a new record from
Paco de Lucía is like having a collector’s
item at home, always.
Tell us about Alejandro Sanz’
participation in the rumba “Casa Bernardo”.
Alejandro is on the record but he wasn’t able
to sing, the day he came to the studio he was unable
to, completely hoarse from a cold, he couldn’t
even speak, but there was a Cuban ‘tres’
– it’s an instrument like a small guitar
– he began to play over a rumba and came up with
some very nice phrases, I’d have like him to improvise
a few things along the way, it would have been an original
and novel idea, and he is qualified to improvise because
he’s a knowledgeable musician.
Alejandro
Sanz: First of all, I’m grateful.
For me Paco is very special, I think he’s
the most important thing that has happened music-wise
in this country, and as far as I’m concerned,
musical culture is everything. So I said, finally
I’m going to be able to do my bit on a record
of Paco’s, and then I thought “but
how?”, and then I remembered the Cuban tres,
which I’d discovered on an earlier recording.
I asked him about including this instrument, instead
of singing, since my voice was out of commission.
Javier Limón liked the idea, an instrument
that’s never been used before in flamenco,
and actually I haven’t heard the final result,
but I think it came out very nicely.
Working with him is always a pleasure, he’s
the maestro, each of Paco’s records is a
new way of looking at the guitar, he’s the
only one capable of innovating in a definitive
way on each of his recordings. There are some
very good guitarists, but Paco started all this.
Let’s see what he does next.
Has flamenco gone from marginal
music to a music of the whole world?
Flamenco now goes to the theaters, tours abroad, there
are concerts in important theaters throughout the world,
it has a much better reputation, socially and also musically,
the more it’s aired on television, radio, records…
There is a general awareness all over the world, in
every country, wherever there are cultured and intelligent
people who like music and understand the values behind
flamenco music.
Tell us about how you’re
received in Japan.
Japan is a country I’ve been going to since I
was 16 or 17, with packed theaters, the most important
venues. In that country, for a very long time flamenco
has been considered a universal music. In Japan flamenco
has been around for a long time, in the United States
as well, and now, thank God, in all Europe and the rest
of the world. I’ll be going to cities where there
has never been flamenco before.
How do you get along with
your record company, Universal?
The company I record for has never pressured me, never
rushed me in any way, they know I can’t bring
out a recording every year, I need to feel things out,
learn, live, and that translates into new expression.
Universal has been very respectful in that sense and
never pressured me.
Grabado en Toledo el 14 de diciembre
del 2003 por Manolo Nieto
Fotos: Frames extraídos del
E.P.K (Universal Music)
