Camarón in flamenco's words

Flamenco-world.com

Paco de Lucía, guitarist

"I really miss the records I made with Camarón. That was something very special in my life, every so often, I'd lock myself up with him and we'd be together for months making a record and that nourished me, and inspired me, I liked that"

"Camarón and I opened a door, we began to create new music within flamenco. Now they've set a precedent that everyone who makes a record has to do something new. And then suddenly they hit you with an old-time traditional seguiriya, or a martinete, as if to say 'hey, I also know this stuff too', like to shut the purists up, know what I mean?"

"Camarón and I broke a little bit with this sense of purism, which in my opinion was a false one. At that time, I saw that that was not pure, that was caging music and leaving it enclosed in a file as a music to be kept in a museum. Flamenco music, because of the way it is, has to be a living and evolving form of music"

"Young singers can't just listen to Camarón if they want to have a personality, because they're turning into clones"

Camarón, with Paco de Lucía and Tomatito

Tomatito, guitarist

"If Camarón hadn't left us, I would have stayed by his side forever"

"I was Camarón's guitarist for the last 18 years of his life and I think, quite honestly, that there's really nothing more difficult than playing for him. Camarón was so unpredictable that... he always surprised you with something new... different. Although he would sing the same verses, he never did them the same way. That's why I say that after playing for José for so long, there's no way that dialoguing with another instrument is more difficult"

"If Camarón hadn't left us, I never would have had to play alone. Sometimes life is hard like that and it stabs you in the back at critical moments... People don't realize it, but for a time I was really bad off, because after that, no one called me to accompany them and of course!... you get discouraged and you back off a bit... that's when the battle is lost. But fortunately I'm very proud and even though I didn't know how to get on in this world of solo guitar... little by little, playing... I got into the spirit of it seeing how music was helping me to recover"

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