XIII Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla . 'Cositas Buenas' – Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía: guitar. Duquende, Montse Cortés,
La Tana: cante. Niño
Josele: second guitar, percussion, palmas. Piraña: cajón.
Alain Pérez:
bass. Antonio Serrano: harmonica, keyboard.

Light for Lucía

He who remains silent grants the power. The silence of
six thousand people surrounded Paco de Lucía’s guitar.
A muted auditorium warmly welcomed a maestro who is now taking it
easy in his playing and is somewhat burnt out. The undeniable legacy
of the man from Algeciras justifies the large crowd. His sensitive
fingers, his notes which inflict pain, the daring picado, the boldness,
even his body language inspires respect. It’s not possible
to listen to Paco without glancing towards the past. It’s
hard to imagine. A much-awaited night. The Auditorium of the Cartuja
de Sevilla filled with people to hear “Cositas Buenas”,
good things. But they weren’t that good. It’s hard to
assimilate. It’s even frightening to write, it hurts, it’s
shattering. The myth is human and errs.

Rondeña is the order of the day and is for “Mi niño
el Curro”. Incredible. He doesn’t make it. The piece
is demanding. The audience is on his side and all is forgiven. Paco’s
mere presence is impressive and he leaves no one unmoved, no matter
what he does. Perhaps we expect too much, but that’s what
he has us accustomed to. Compositions from previous years. He goes
through the history of his career vaguely summarizing, but with
guts and feeling. He delivers the goods and risks everything in
the knowledge that he is leaving his mark. “Antonia”,
“El Tesorillo”, “Callejón del muro”
and “La Barrosa”. The compás is there but insecure.
Doubt mars memorable falsetas that gave birth to an entire school.
In the second part, “Palenque”, “Volar”,
“Cositas Buenas” y “Zyryab”.

The maestro from Algeciras did not play cleanly. He lacked definition
and confidence. These opinions are not offered lightly. The audience
applauded the dramatic closings just as they would for a dancer.
He had moments of great clarity where you could see just who he
was, especially in the picado runs, although many of those who learned
from him could play circles around him. The well-known pieces are
of high quality and the interpretation, that special style he has,
is impressive. At other moments his fingers got ahead of him and
it wasn’t the fruitful struggle that makes good music. He
seemed fatigued, timid even, after all these years. He hid behind
the other instruments that were accompanying him, allowing them
to upstage him and joined in here and there. The choruses, the cante…it
all contributed to dulling his shine and the concert turned into
a jam session. La Tana, Duquende and Montse Cortés were mostly
to blame.

Paco did some amazing things, there were some great expressive
moments, but most noteworthy were the bulerías and tangos,
clippy rhythm with little more. One missed those solitary moments
with the guitar, and other pieces, inspired moments, unbridled passion,
pain, intense joy… To finish, the typical round of instruments
and presentations. After the lengthy applause came the curtain call:
a new version of “Entre dos aguas” which couldn’t
match the original.

The concert wasn’t exactly disappointing, but we expected
so much more.

Paco de Lucía, Niño Josele, La Tana, Duquende,
Montse Cortés

Text : Kiko
Valle
Photos: Rafa Manjavacas

Specials: Paco
de Lucía: a nostalgic perspective

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