Masters of Flamenco Guitar

Masters of Flamenco Guitar

This is a remarkable CD. The musicians are truly gifted, the music beautiful. Makes me want to dance along.

For the price, great for those interested in classic flamenco guitar. Sabicas, Nino Ricardo, and the others were true flamenco maestros.

Something I noticed, though, (which is not Amazon's fault, I think) but must be the record company's, is that the Sabicas tracks are probably mislabeled. Based on my understanding of the flamenco forms, the 'compases', the tracks are probably shown out of order. Listening to the pieces, the first track is an alegria, the second a buleria, the third a farruca, the fourth a zapateado (and I have a DVD where Sabicas is playing this and it is labeled as being a zapateado), and the fifth a taranta, so actual ordering of the tracks should probably read:

Alegrias 'Salero Gaditano' - Sabicas
Bulerias 'Con Un Clavel' - Sabicas
Farruca 'El Albacin' - Sabicas
Zapateado - Sabicas
Taranta 'Camino De Linares' - Sabicas

I think the ordering for the non-Sabicas tracks is okay.

This was not what I had expected, and I was disappointed at the performances. Ive heard better players play the same songs, and usually I do not agree that anyone can top the original player of a song, but I felt like there was not enough energy in the way these songs were played, and it sounded kind of sloppy, and rough, rather than concentrated and smooth.

I am a big fan of flamenco, but I am not a musician. I still like and appreciate the music in this album, but I think it is for musicians who can understand the skill.

This is a high quality recording of four of the best Flamenco Guitarist predecessors to Paco Peña and Paco de Lucia.