Paco de Lucía . TWENTY-FIRST Festival de Jazz de Madrid

Texto : Sonia Martínez
Pariente
Fotos: Rafa Manjavacas

Behold the genius

And thus arrived Paco de Lucía to Madrid when his
tour to present the record “Cositas Buenas” is nearing
its end, to open the twenty-first edition of the Madrid jazz festival.
The enormous Palacio de Congresos at the Campo de las Naciones was
filled to overflowing the first day to see the maestro who had not
performed in Spain’s capital in nearly seven years.

After being received with a warm ovation, he began with the rondeña
“Mi niño Curro”. He caressed the guitar and we
were able to enjoy his unique playing, his bursts of inspiration.
After the rondeña came minera, both pieces on his own, profoundly
moving, achieving moments of great intimacy. He manages a natural
balance between strength and feeling. Each piece is offered and
enriched with the constant dose of creativity showing what he is
capable of in the most natural way. Compositions from his most recent
recording such as the soleá por bulerías “Atonia”
alternate with other memorable pieces such as the alegrías
“La Barrosa” which are played with impeccable, masterly
technique and rhythm.

In the second half Paco de Lucía relies on his group and
upbeat rhythms dominate: Montse Cortés, la Tana and Duquende
delight us with their gypsy singing, deep and full of emotion, such
as the tangos, “Volar” and “Cositas Buenas”
which sound even better live. Dialogues with Antonio Serrano’s
harmonica are exceptional, Alain Perez gets the sound just right
as does percussionist Piraña, and Niño Josele on second
guitar. Paco chooses two pieces to finish off and with just one
the audience would have been more than delighted: Zyryab, exceptional.
The beautiful melody of “Entre dos Aguas” comes forth
from those wise fingers bringing immediate and heartfelt applause
from the auditorium. Seeing him play live with that amazing touch
of his, realizing that no one can do what he does and you are sitting
there witnessing it, is overwhelming. Between Paco de Lucía
and his guitar there is music, artistry….genius.

More information:

Paco de Lucía:
XIII Bienal de Sevilla