Paco de Lucía receives the Pastora Pavón, Niña de los Peines prize:

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

Silvia Calado Olivo. Seville, 14th may 2002

Neither Fosforito, nor Chocolate, nor Juanito Valderrama, nor Matilde Coral, nor Chano Lobato, nor Luis Caballero, nor José Menese, nor Vicente Amigo, nor Remedios Amaya, nor Eva la Yerbabuena, nor Segundo Falcón, nor Arcángel, nor Antonio el Pipa...not even all of them together. The person who managed to attract more than half the flamenco universe, and a universe and a half of the Andalusian press as well as some representatives from other autonomous regions in Seville's Palacio de Altamira that warm May afternoon, was Paco de Lucía. The purpose of the gathering was almost the least of it - in fact the Junta de Andalucía awarded him the Premio Pastora Pavón, Niña de los Peines' for obvious reasons - what mattered was he was there, you could hear, see and breath the genius, the maestro...the man called Francisco Sánchez.

Paco de Lucía surrounded by TV cameras
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

That bearded man with the bronzed skin, serene gaze and cigarette, who coolly received one compliment after another. That bearded man with the bronzed skin, serene gaze and cigarette who attended to the press because he had no other choice, but did it capably. That bearded man with the bronzed skin, serene gaze and cigarette who turned down no request for a picture, autograph, embrace or handshake.

Universalization, rage, disobedience, power, respect, ancestors, sensitivity, renewal, cross-breeding... Although many words adorned the ceremony and varied speeches that held it together, take careful note of those proffered by the guest of honor himself. Paco de Lucía took advantage of appearing before the public, an experience he compared to making a declaration down at the police-station, to give a bit of attention to the new wave of flamenco. After admitting that he found the "the name of the prize very apt, since La Niña de los Peines is one of the greatest singers in the history of flamenco", he encouraged budding young singers to take her as a reference because although he allowed that he understood the importance of the singer from La Isla, he underlined that "in order to have a personality, you can't just listen to Camarón, because we're turning into clones". His advice? "Look to the past, not only to La Niña de los Peines - there are many things that haven't been sung yet, embrace the old records...whoever does that will be a singer with personality, and not just another Camarón imitator" And to be a guitarist? "Lock yourself up hours and hours, and once in a while, get really pickled."

The attitude of the guitarist from Algeciras towards the permanent opening of the flamenco fan of possibilities shows a positive outlook: "For a long time flamenco was bound by tradition, by purism, and although I agree with preserving tradition, there was a point at which work such as Camarón's opened doors. Records came out with music that wasn't traditional. Suddenly the kids had carte blanche so that each one could do his own music". Paco's conclusion about that opening is "have respect for tradition but don't be enslaved by it, because if flamenco doesn't evolve it will die and turn into a museum piece". The maestro is aware that "evolution is not without risk, but I have no fear since time sifts through it all and sorts out what is and isn't worthwhile". His equation is the following: "If one percent is worthwhile, that will broaden and improve flamenco". And for this reason he insists on not being afraid that "authenticity is going to be lost". I like that there are people bringing out new things and composing, because what's really worthwhile is going to enhance and enlarge the tradition".

Paco de Lucía autographs a cajón for Manuel Soler (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

And he offers up these thoughts as he faces one of the biggest challenges of his professional career: putting together a new record which already has two or three pieces in the recording stage. "I myself set the standard so high that I can't afford to make a record in the time I used to do it. I need more time to keep surprising. I want to continue to grow as a musician." Centering on this work will keep Paco off the performing stage until 2003 when he plans to return to live shows with a very special colleague: "I'm in contact with Chick Corea - a musician I like a lot, and who really likes flamenco and has something of flamenco inside of him - and we're deciding what kind of group to take, what repertoire...that's what we're up to".

The genius' dreams are hardly ambitious at this point: "I just want to slump into a hammock". And he says that because "I've worked so much and been through so much, that my nervous system is messed up". It makes little sense to have inflated aspirations because he believes "vanity is something that puffs up very quickly". And he confesses to being "very tired after working for forty years", never forgetting those first ten years spent in the Cádiz town of Algeciras, learning from maestros like his father and his brother Ramón, because that's the stage when "a human being is formed". But don't anyone think he's throwing in the towel: "I'm not going to retire, there's something in me that won't permit it, that bugger won't let me". Not even in that corner of the Mexican Caribbean where the genius takes refuge. From there he claims to be "completely up-to-date with what's happening in flamenco via the Internet" - as regular members of the Flamenco-world.com forum were able to observe - "via Spanish television or friends who send me records". Distance is no object since "I carry my house around with me, I'm getting used to traveling". What better person to testify, if one is to judge by the number of times the word 'universalization' was spoken during the event, that "flamenco is world music. For me it was always one of the most important musical forms in the world, although it was elitist, because of its expressive power". And in fact he corroborates that "in any country you can always find some group of people who break out in tears with flamenco".

And in fact, Paco de Lucía received the 'Premio Pastora Pavón, Niña de los Peines', an official response to the controversial key whose first recipient was Fosforito. To the personal satisfaction of having received a prize which according to Manuel Chaves, president of the Junta de Andalucía, recognizes "the renewal and impetus of one of the symbols of the Andalusian identity", Paco de Lucía adds the general satisfaction of "giving recognition to a kind of music I love, and for which I have been fighting many years". Which doesn't take away from "the pleasure of receiving a prize and a bit of money" - thirty thousand euros to be exact - "because prizes are always so ugly you don't know where to put them".

After seeing the happy face of Manuel Soler with his cajón signed by Paco de Lucía, hearing Raimundo Amador saying "now I'm satisfied" after embracing Paco de Lucía, being witness to the moment in which Vicente Amigo was photographed with Paco de Lucía...the conclusion to be drawn is that it's not only the name of La Niña de los Peines that we all agree on as José Manuel Gamboa so correctly said when he introduced the presentation. There is another name which works miracles, the one Felix Grande described as "the first guitar in singing flamenco, in expressing Andalusian rage and pain", the one who "before reinventing the language of the flamenco guitar, had honored and digested all the history of flamenco music", the one who proudly wears a badge saying "artistic freedom is also disobedience".

revista@flamenco-world.com