Adolfo Suárez
The challenge of leading and effecting major political change has been faced by only a select group of individuals. To place Adolfo Suárez on the same pedestal as, say, Mandela or Gorbachev, would be stretching things, but consider the challenge he faced in leading the transition to post-Franco democracy. He himself was not a natural visionary. As the minister secretary-general of the Movimiento Nacional, the only political party that had been permitted, he was steeped in the Francoist tradition. His selection as prime minister by King Juan Carlos was unexpected. Indeed, for those hopeful of reform, it seemed like a retrograde step. But Suárez had the advantages of being relatively young (43) and so open to change and of having been close to the Franco apparatus. He knew, therefore, how to dismantle it. And he did so remarkably quickly.
The transition was anything but straightforward, though. Economic problems, union unrest, ETA violence, discontent among the military, they all played their part (as did his own tiredness of internal squabbles within his coalition UCD) in his eventual resignation in 1981 and in the failed coup attempt which coincided with the vote on his successor. Perhaps Suárez had not been firm enough. Lieutentant Colonel Antonio Tejero, the Guardia Civil officer who led the assault on Congress, had received only a few months' sentence for his part in the Operación Galaixa coup plot three years earlier. Dramatic though change was, there needed to also be a softly-softly approach; hence why the Amnesty Law of 1976 effectively ruled out retribution for crimes during the Franco era.
Hard it was, but the transition succeeded, and this was Suárez's great achievement. Among moves he made that angered the Francoists was to bring Felipe González back from exile. González's PSOE performed credibly in the first elections and it won in 1982 (another coup attempt having been uncovered and stopped just before the election). It was González who was to transform Spain, but he couldn't have done so without the transition under Adolfo Suárez.
Alfredo Di Stefano
Was he one of the greatest footballers ever? Quite probably so. He was from a time when footballers with strange, foreign names were heard of but never seen. There is no doubting his contribution to Spanish football and to Real Madrid's reputation, though where in the pantheon of sporting legends who have lent their names to advertising would one place this gem? "Alfredo Di Stefano dice ... Lucky Strike es mi cigarillo. Irresistible." Much more recently, he appeared in an Estrella Damm advert with Fernando Torres, then the wunderkind of Spanish football, the new Di Stefano. Whatever happened to him, do you suppose?
Gabriel García Márquez
When García Márquez died in April, the response in Spain was one of great grief tempered with great pride. Here was a writer to be placed in the same Spanish literary stratosphere as Miguel de Cervantes. But there was one great difference between the two. García Márquez wrote in Spanish but he wasn't Spanish. He was Colombian. This didn't seem to matter, though. Language had made him one of Spain's own as had his "magical realism", the way in which he weaved a Daliesque surrealism into his stories, the greatest of which and, in my opinion, one of the great novels of the twentieth century was the epic "One Hundred Years Of Solitude".
Luis Aragonés
For someone whose surname translates as Aragonese, Luis Aragonés should - on account of the historical connection between Mallorca and Aragon - have an affiliation with Mallorca and be held with some affection. He did have and was. Aragonés took Real Mallorca to third place in La Liga in the 2000-2001 season. Oh for those days to return. A second spell as Mallorca's coach three years later was cut short when he was chosen as coach of the national side. In 2008 the great underachievers of world football finally achieved. Aragonés had led Spain to European Championship victory. He did have his moments, though. Like the time he was filmed calling Thierry Henry a "black shit". He was fined 3,000 euros. Had he been an England coach, he would have been sacked.
Paco de Lucia
Someone else with a Mallorcan connection, if mainly by residence and a brief period as a face of tourism promotion, de Lucia was one of Spain's greatest ever musicians. His guitar playing alone was sufficient to have afforded him such an accolade, but it was his innovation which elevated him to the heights of national and international acclaim. He broke down barriers between flamenco, pop, rock and jazz, most notably through his fusion work with the jazz guitarists John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola. De Lucia was thus a prime mover in making flamenco more widely accessible and appreciated and in inspiring the flamenco fusions that have followed his lead.
Showing posts with label Paco de Lucia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paco de Lucia. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Flamenco Chills: Paco de Lucia
A notable music event took place at Palma's Auditorium last night. Paco de Lucia played.
De Lucia is the world's leading virtuoso of the modern or "new" flamenco guitar. Internationally he is one of Spain's best-known musicians. He has broadened the scope of flamenco, crossed over into different styles, fused it with rock and jazz. He has popularised flamenco in a way that no one else has. Which is why he's not to everyone's taste.
Like many forms of music there are the purists and the experimenters. Flamenco, at its purest, both sung and played, is something it is unlikely that visitors to Mallorca would ever encounter. Partly this is because it is not the music of Mallorca, and partly because at its purest it is impenetrable to all but the true aficionado. Without wishing to sound like a Philistine, vocal flamenco can be an appalling wail and caterwaul. There's no doubting the vocal agility required to perform it, but respecting it and liking it are two entirely different things.
Flamenco's origins are debated, but it is principally a music of Andalucia, whence de Lucia comes. In an interview with "Ultima Hora" he described flamenco as being one of five or six "essential genres of music". It is certainly instantly recognisable, the rhythmic hand clapping being one its most obvious aspects. Before de Lucia came along though, it was a minority-interest music in international terms. Fundamentalist flamenco is still very much alive, but its sung variety remains excruciating to a point at which it is too painful to listen to.
When de Lucia teamed up with the likes of John McLaughlin from the jazz world, he did to flamenco what Miles Davis had done to jazz itself by embracing other musical styles or what Dylan did to folk by picking up an electric guitar. He appalled the purists, but he set in motion the popularisation and greater accessibility of the music.
This modern, new flamenco has spawned numerous artists, the names of whom will probably be unfamiliar. While they have retained the essentials of the flamenco "cante", they have taken other influences in making the music melodic in a way that the fundamental form is not. Just one example is José Mercé. Explaining the crossover into other musical areas, he has said that "more than fusion, this period of flamenco is one of the greatest confusion". Typical of his work is "La Vida Sale". The singing can still be hard-going, but the fusion is with an altogether lighter Cuban rumba.
The innovativeness of de Lucia, Mercé and others has made flamenco more widely accepted, but the music has really broken out thanks to a newer movement of flamenco jazz and thanks also to dance and chill-out. The music has moved light years away from its purest form, but the roots remain in the work of Chambao (the ones who did the Andalucian advert song - "Ahí Estás Tú") and the DJs David Ferrero and Pedro del Moral, otherwise known as the Fundación Eivissa. "Doñana" is one of theirs. It starts with a flamenco guitar and adds an electronic suggestion of waves crashing onto rocks and the powerful and poignant vocals of Beatriz Nuñez, backed by a Latin rhythm and interspersed with flamenco "cante". The result is astonishing.
None of this would have been possible without de Lucia. It was his genius that set it in all motion, creating a current-day music of almost impossible vitality, as was the case with the music for the Andalucia advert. And that was what I call promotion.
De Lucia has been a "face" of local tourism promotion. In a way, despite his having a home on the island, he was a strange choice, given that flamenco is not the music of Mallorca. But in its fused form it has become so, as much as it has become an international music. The tourism agency could do far worse than to consider commissioning de Lucia and/or contemporary DJs and producers to compose something as startling and dynamic as the Chambao song.
When they came up with the Rafael Nadal ad, the accompanying music was drippy and wet. It had nothing to do with Mallorca, the Balearics or indeed Spain. Flamenco is anything but wet. It is remarkably powerful, and in its current incarnations its appeal has gone global. De Lucia is correct: it is one of the world's essential musical genres. And it's right here.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
De Lucia is the world's leading virtuoso of the modern or "new" flamenco guitar. Internationally he is one of Spain's best-known musicians. He has broadened the scope of flamenco, crossed over into different styles, fused it with rock and jazz. He has popularised flamenco in a way that no one else has. Which is why he's not to everyone's taste.
Like many forms of music there are the purists and the experimenters. Flamenco, at its purest, both sung and played, is something it is unlikely that visitors to Mallorca would ever encounter. Partly this is because it is not the music of Mallorca, and partly because at its purest it is impenetrable to all but the true aficionado. Without wishing to sound like a Philistine, vocal flamenco can be an appalling wail and caterwaul. There's no doubting the vocal agility required to perform it, but respecting it and liking it are two entirely different things.
Flamenco's origins are debated, but it is principally a music of Andalucia, whence de Lucia comes. In an interview with "Ultima Hora" he described flamenco as being one of five or six "essential genres of music". It is certainly instantly recognisable, the rhythmic hand clapping being one its most obvious aspects. Before de Lucia came along though, it was a minority-interest music in international terms. Fundamentalist flamenco is still very much alive, but its sung variety remains excruciating to a point at which it is too painful to listen to.
When de Lucia teamed up with the likes of John McLaughlin from the jazz world, he did to flamenco what Miles Davis had done to jazz itself by embracing other musical styles or what Dylan did to folk by picking up an electric guitar. He appalled the purists, but he set in motion the popularisation and greater accessibility of the music.
This modern, new flamenco has spawned numerous artists, the names of whom will probably be unfamiliar. While they have retained the essentials of the flamenco "cante", they have taken other influences in making the music melodic in a way that the fundamental form is not. Just one example is José Mercé. Explaining the crossover into other musical areas, he has said that "more than fusion, this period of flamenco is one of the greatest confusion". Typical of his work is "La Vida Sale". The singing can still be hard-going, but the fusion is with an altogether lighter Cuban rumba.
The innovativeness of de Lucia, Mercé and others has made flamenco more widely accepted, but the music has really broken out thanks to a newer movement of flamenco jazz and thanks also to dance and chill-out. The music has moved light years away from its purest form, but the roots remain in the work of Chambao (the ones who did the Andalucian advert song - "Ahí Estás Tú") and the DJs David Ferrero and Pedro del Moral, otherwise known as the Fundación Eivissa. "Doñana" is one of theirs. It starts with a flamenco guitar and adds an electronic suggestion of waves crashing onto rocks and the powerful and poignant vocals of Beatriz Nuñez, backed by a Latin rhythm and interspersed with flamenco "cante". The result is astonishing.
None of this would have been possible without de Lucia. It was his genius that set it in all motion, creating a current-day music of almost impossible vitality, as was the case with the music for the Andalucia advert. And that was what I call promotion.
De Lucia has been a "face" of local tourism promotion. In a way, despite his having a home on the island, he was a strange choice, given that flamenco is not the music of Mallorca. But in its fused form it has become so, as much as it has become an international music. The tourism agency could do far worse than to consider commissioning de Lucia and/or contemporary DJs and producers to compose something as startling and dynamic as the Chambao song.
When they came up with the Rafael Nadal ad, the accompanying music was drippy and wet. It had nothing to do with Mallorca, the Balearics or indeed Spain. Flamenco is anything but wet. It is remarkably powerful, and in its current incarnations its appeal has gone global. De Lucia is correct: it is one of the world's essential musical genres. And it's right here.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Knowledge
“You know who I had in the back of my cab …”
Ah yes, the London cabbie. Knowledge of the roads and knowledge of any subject you care to mention or indeed don’t care to mention – the knowledge will be imparted regardless. I once knew a London cabbie well. Could talk the backside off the proverbial donkey. He even appeared on “The Price Is Right”. But this is totally tangential.
No self-respecting London cabbie would turn down a free lunch, or a free trip to Thailand. And so when the Thai tourist board comes knocking on the cab window brandishing tickets to Bangkok, he is hardly likely to refuse. This is – more or less – what has been happening. As part of its marketing, the Thais (and the city of Melbourne in Australia), have co-opted London cabbies. A trip to soak up the atmosphere (and anything else that might be soaked up) and of course to also fill the cabbie with knowledge. Always knowledge.
This is not a simple case of an ad on the side of the cab. No, the interior is given the once-over, with brochures available. And, as importantly, there is the cabbie. Stuck at some lights, Capital Radio in the background, and the conversation – even if you didn’t want it to – turns to holidays. Where better and who better to assist in the next holiday choice than in the captive environment of a cab and in the captive arms (so to speak) of the cab driver?
Personally, I am not so sure a London cabbie could sell me anything, let alone a holiday, but the Thais and the Australians clearly think they’re onto something. Maybe they are. Who next? Hairdressers? They take degree courses in discussing holidays.
Daft it might sound, but different it is, and it suggests an attempt to look for new and innovative forms of marketing for tourism. I am not proposing that one should jump in a cab at King’s Cross and be given a sales pitch for Mallorca or one of the resorts, but some different approaches may well be worth exploring and especially where the “alternative” Mallorcan tourism is concerned. While I remain sceptical as to confusing the market with a Mallorcan message that conflicts with how the vast majority perceive Mallorca – sun, sea etc. – if that message is to be conveyed, let’s look at alternative means of doing so.
In Germany, there are often television programmes that feature Mallorca. The island is almost one of the Bundesländer. A typical programme, dire though it might be, would have some female singer in evening wear standing on some Mallorcan rocks, accompanied by a trumpeter on some other rocks. It’s rubbish, but at least you see some of the island. The programmes are, in essence, product placement on an island level.
We are becoming virtual tourists. We want to see and experience the tourism destination. This can be gained at present via the internet, but not on a well-produced scale. To see and experience the island and its different facets, those that the alternative tourism wishes to promote; this is the challenge. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the Balearic Government should have gone to the producers of the film about Jaime 1, shoved a large number of folding euros into their pockets, boosted their budget and insisted it was all filmed on location in Mallorca. What better for the alternative tourism than a bit of history and loads of landscape?
At Christmas, I bought a DVD of Paco de Lucia in concert and gave it to someone in the UK. It was fabulous. Paco, you may recall, is the face of Mallorca at the moment. He is hardly karaoke and the Sea Club boys and girls belting out “Let Me Entertain You”. He is classical, jazz, flamenco – cultural if you like, alternative definitely, in terms of tourist image. What if they were to break the Pollensa town hall’s bank once and for all and get Paco to play the Pollensa music festival? What if they were to make a superb film of Paco and of the area, interspersing it with certain cultural and historical bits and pieces, with the landscape and the traditions? What if they were to market the DVD like crazy and to get it onto TV, just like the Germans have their programmes – except this would be bloody good. It would be so bloody good and of such quality, the alternative tourists would flock in their droves. And they wouldn’t need a London cabbie to tell them either.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Gloria Gaynor. Today’s title – a TV programme, a famous one. Who wrote it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Ah yes, the London cabbie. Knowledge of the roads and knowledge of any subject you care to mention or indeed don’t care to mention – the knowledge will be imparted regardless. I once knew a London cabbie well. Could talk the backside off the proverbial donkey. He even appeared on “The Price Is Right”. But this is totally tangential.
No self-respecting London cabbie would turn down a free lunch, or a free trip to Thailand. And so when the Thai tourist board comes knocking on the cab window brandishing tickets to Bangkok, he is hardly likely to refuse. This is – more or less – what has been happening. As part of its marketing, the Thais (and the city of Melbourne in Australia), have co-opted London cabbies. A trip to soak up the atmosphere (and anything else that might be soaked up) and of course to also fill the cabbie with knowledge. Always knowledge.
This is not a simple case of an ad on the side of the cab. No, the interior is given the once-over, with brochures available. And, as importantly, there is the cabbie. Stuck at some lights, Capital Radio in the background, and the conversation – even if you didn’t want it to – turns to holidays. Where better and who better to assist in the next holiday choice than in the captive environment of a cab and in the captive arms (so to speak) of the cab driver?
Personally, I am not so sure a London cabbie could sell me anything, let alone a holiday, but the Thais and the Australians clearly think they’re onto something. Maybe they are. Who next? Hairdressers? They take degree courses in discussing holidays.
Daft it might sound, but different it is, and it suggests an attempt to look for new and innovative forms of marketing for tourism. I am not proposing that one should jump in a cab at King’s Cross and be given a sales pitch for Mallorca or one of the resorts, but some different approaches may well be worth exploring and especially where the “alternative” Mallorcan tourism is concerned. While I remain sceptical as to confusing the market with a Mallorcan message that conflicts with how the vast majority perceive Mallorca – sun, sea etc. – if that message is to be conveyed, let’s look at alternative means of doing so.
In Germany, there are often television programmes that feature Mallorca. The island is almost one of the Bundesländer. A typical programme, dire though it might be, would have some female singer in evening wear standing on some Mallorcan rocks, accompanied by a trumpeter on some other rocks. It’s rubbish, but at least you see some of the island. The programmes are, in essence, product placement on an island level.
We are becoming virtual tourists. We want to see and experience the tourism destination. This can be gained at present via the internet, but not on a well-produced scale. To see and experience the island and its different facets, those that the alternative tourism wishes to promote; this is the challenge. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the Balearic Government should have gone to the producers of the film about Jaime 1, shoved a large number of folding euros into their pockets, boosted their budget and insisted it was all filmed on location in Mallorca. What better for the alternative tourism than a bit of history and loads of landscape?
At Christmas, I bought a DVD of Paco de Lucia in concert and gave it to someone in the UK. It was fabulous. Paco, you may recall, is the face of Mallorca at the moment. He is hardly karaoke and the Sea Club boys and girls belting out “Let Me Entertain You”. He is classical, jazz, flamenco – cultural if you like, alternative definitely, in terms of tourist image. What if they were to break the Pollensa town hall’s bank once and for all and get Paco to play the Pollensa music festival? What if they were to make a superb film of Paco and of the area, interspersing it with certain cultural and historical bits and pieces, with the landscape and the traditions? What if they were to market the DVD like crazy and to get it onto TV, just like the Germans have their programmes – except this would be bloody good. It would be so bloody good and of such quality, the alternative tourists would flock in their droves. And they wouldn’t need a London cabbie to tell them either.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Gloria Gaynor. Today’s title – a TV programme, a famous one. Who wrote it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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