|
PACO DE LUCÍA. 2004
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR. VANCOUVER
A new chapter
Carmen Jiménez. Vancouver, February 2004
Personnel. Paco de Lucía, guitar. Enrique Heredia
'El Negri', Herminia Borjas and Victoria Santiago, cante. Israel Suárez,
percussion. Alain Pérez, bass. Bobby Martínez, flute. Orpheum Theatre.
Vancouver (Canada), February 10th 2004.
Paco
de Lucía begins, in America, a new chapter in his reinvention. The
exploration of other forms of flamenco. This is the recipe chosen by the guitarist
to kick off the long-awaited North American tour. Flanked by a new elite band
of artists, the legendary figure from the province of Cadiz embarks on a new phase
of his career, brandishing the double-edge sword of guitar and cante. Theaters
and halls on this side of the Atlantic bow down at his feet.
After a two-year break, Paco de Lucía returns to the stage bristling
with energy and armed with his habitual eagerness to explore new territories for
flamenco. His new album, 'Cositas buenas', would seem to be only the tip of the
iceberg of changes in store, judging from the concert on February 10th 2004 in
the Canadian city of Vancouver. For the crowd of almost three thousand who packed
the city's Orpheum Theatre to overflowing, two hours were not enough to quench
their thirst.
Paco de Lucía (frame from DVD 'Paco
de Lucía - Francisco Sánchez')
They'd been waiting for this moment since the last performance, three years
ago, when he came to the city accompanied by his septet, by Duquende and by Joaquín
Grilo. The caliber of the performance more than compensated for this long wait.
The concert by the guitarist from Algeciras was a whirlwind tour of his artistic
career, with a legacy now approaching thirty albums. And this now classic repertoire
was complemented with several pieces taken from his new album 'Cositas buenas',
the 'good things' the guitarist has spent the last two years putting together.
New material, new artists. With the magnificent septet now disbanded, Paco
de Lucía is accompanied on this tour by a new group of artists: Cubano
bassist Alain Pérez Rodríguez, percussionist Israel Suárez,
flautist Bobby Martínez and vocalists Enrique Heredia 'El Negri', Herminia
Borjas and Victoria Santiago. Together, they put together a performance where
guitar and cante coexist in harmony, leaving no room for dance. However, this
extraordinary double-edged sword left such a good taste in the mouths of the spectators,
that phrases such as "It was one of the best concerts I ever bore witness
to" could be overheard.
Paco de Lucía (frame del DVD 'Paco
de Lucía - Francisco Sánchez')
It's perfectly evident, then, that the change has had no negative repercussions
on the quality of what the artist has to offer, nor of course on his guitar technique.
Quite the opposite: his technique seems to benefit from the passing of time. It's
an incredible thing to witness the ease with which he plays, the clean, pure sound
of his guitar, the amount of feeling he's capable of putting into his music, without
want of accompaniment. The whole auditorium came to its feet to applaud with the
same fervor, the same eagerness they arrived with, anxious to give their thanks
for the unforgettable evening they just spent. Those who were present at his previous
dates in Vancouver declared that the Andalusian guitarist is still full of surprises
today, with his breathtaking capacity for reinventing his style, his persistence
in seeking out new approaches, and his ability to transmit a capacity for reflection
and self-analysis which seems to in some way rub off on audiences.
magazine@flamenco-world.com
|
