Paco De Lucia - Cositas Buenas

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• DE LUCIA PACO COSITAS BUENAS

Music reviews of Cositas Buenas

Music Review: Totally flamenco, complete mastery
Rating: 5 Stars

The ultimate authority for American English, the Merriam Webster Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, defines "flamenco" as "a vigorous rhythmic dance style of the Andalusian Gypsies," or "a dance in this style," or "music or song accompanying or suitable to accompany such a dance..."

Contrast that with the ultimate authority on the Spanish language in Spain, the Diccionario de la Lengua Española, published by the Royal Spanish Academy. Among many other meanings, it gives this definition of the art: "[as an adjective] Indicating that which is Andalusian and which tends to reflect Gypsy characteristics. [as a noun] - Andalusian song or singing, the style or feeling, [of] the category FLAMENCO." (My own translation.) So note carefully: In its country of origin, "flamenco" is first and foremost a type of singing, not dance or guitar; it is "Andalusian" and not just "Gypsy" (which is included in the idea of "Andalusian"); and it literally goes without saying that dance and guitar are included.

Considering Merriam Webster's misinformation, it's no surprise that the disappointed reviewer criticized this album as showcasing the singing rather than the guitar - even though it doesn't: when the singing is up-front on an album the guitar stands well to the back, not what Paco does here. But it remains that the singing IS flamenco. That's part of what makes Paco so flamenco: He is the most "complete" guitarist in flamenco's history. He knows accompaniment backwards and forwards, both for the singing and the dance; his rhythm is always driving and flawless; his technique is complete and unexcelled; and he has incredible creativity. But what keeps that creativity so "flamenco" is Paco's thorough knowledge of the singing. In fact, there's never been a flamenco guitar soloist worth a damn who was not first an accompanist.

This album is superb, probably the finest album Paco's put out since the seventies. It combines old with new in wonderfully subtle ways, and is filled with surprises even for the most knowledgeable aficionados - but that was obviously one of Paco's goals in doing this album. For example, even though Paco has complete mastery of all the many flamenco guitar techniques, the one for which he is most noted is his powerful yet blindingly fast picado ("scale runs"). Yet on this album he hardly uses any - and it STILL rocks! The thumb technique on the first cut, one of several bulerías, is both mind-boggling and just incredibly "flamenco". It is in this first cut that the singing tells us something: The last verse says that there's an impromptu party with seven people, some to sing, some to dance, and Uh Oh! we forgot to bring a guitarist. "No problem" Paco joins in the chorus, "just play hand claps!" (The hand clapping in flamenco is an art in itself and requires a thorough knowledge of the particular rhythms - and Paco's right, you can accompany everything without guitar just using hand claps.)

The second cut, the title cut and a tangos, begins so simply but builds to explosive proportions. (The flamenco tangos are derived from Afro-Cuban rhythms brought back to Spain in the 19th century, very different from the Argentine variety.) The Gypsy singer says "for as much as you loved me, for as much as you adored me, and as much as I used to value that, now I value nothing; so the pains that you give me are not pains but good little things (`cositas buenas')".

The third is a soleá por bulería with incredible power and texture. Here Paco sings again to his own accompaniment, for as his song tells us, "Neither pain nor joy can exist without song, so that's why there's more singers than drops of water in the sea and grains of sand in the desert." The fourth and last cuts are the obligatory rumbas for the crowds - excellent but still my least favorites, and are certainly the least "flamenco" on the album. The fifth cut is my personal favorite, a meticulously metered bulería that is filled with surprises and joy - you can actually feel the smiles of Paco and his accompanists. The seventh cut is also a bulería, but with Tomatito as second guitarist (and Paco is the only guitarist for whom Tomatito will play second guitar) accompanying a previously unpublished recording of the deceased Camarón - rather spooky, and with more never before done flourishes on the guitar, this time using rasgueados. And the sixth cut is a tiento (a type of slow, slightly differently inflected tango) done in a manner that is completely different than any tiento done before. It's a revelation in itself, and the singer, El Cigala, returns to the theme of the album: "Come sit at my side because I have to tell you about an ocean of good little things."

So there's nothing on this album to be disappointed about. It's filled with surprises for the die-hard aficionado - but those surprises are completely lost unless the listener has a sufficient base of knowledge against which to compare. This is not Paco with DiMeola and McLaughlin, which period in Paco's career was actually a segue for the purpose of expanding his own knowledge. Paco wanted to learn jazz and other concepts since he had done everything in flamenco and needed to be revitalized. He brought those ideas back to the fold of flamenco, refined and then reshaped them. Rhythmically, jazz and rock had little to offer flamenco - actually, quite the reverse. What jazz in particular did have to offer was a great harmonic expansion, and Paco has taken full advantage of that knowledge, transforming and tremendously enlarging flamenco's harmonic scope in the process. And now he has completely absorbed that knowledge and brings to us these wonderful, "good little things," these Cositas Buenas.

Description of Cositas Buenas

International CDs

• Music > Styles
• Jazz
• Latin Music
• Pop