Paco de Lucia: Death of a guitar god

I probably would have never listened to flamenco attentively had it not been for the immense talent of two geniuses of Spanish music: Camarón de la Isla and, indeed, Paco de Lucia.

I discovered the genre pretty late, in the mid-80s, when I started working as a language school teacher in Salamanca at the old building in Calle Peñafiel. One of my colleagues, Santiago, was in his office listening on a cassette (those were the days!) to Camaron de la Isla's legendary record, La Leyenda del Tiempo. He asked me if I liked him and I must have replied, quite unenthusiastically I guess, that I had not listened to much of his stuff and in any case flamenco was not my cup of tea. Rather annoyed - or at least shocked - he replied in his funny madrileño accent (and I'm quoting his words in English to the best of my ability) something like: "Are you joking, mate? He's the dog's bollocks!" (Es la hos***! - if you'll pardon my French, ha!)

So he insisted on me taking the tape home and only then did I start to appreciate the real magic of that spiritual music, even if La Leyenda ... was not really a classic example of pure flamenco but rather ground-breaking and revolutionary actually, as it combined the old tradition with many elements of modern music, even a bass and electric guitar! Prior to that "discovery, I must admit I'd always thought that flamenco was second-rate, the weird music of the humble gypsies. How could I be so wrong! And we can claim without a doubt that it was the influence of both Camaron de la Isla and Paco de Lucia that elevated the often underrated genre to the category of art. I've always compared flamenco to the blues - alongside rock, my favourite musical genre - in the sense that they're both deeply spiritual, music with a true "soul". Actually, I used to refer to Black Americans as the gypsies of the USA!

Of course I'd listened to Paco's music before Camarón. I mean, can anyone say they've never heard the familiar tune of arguably the most famous rumba of all time, Entre dos Aguas? But it was that instant fondness of Camarón that years ago made me also interested in the work of other flamenco icons, mainly by the maestro de Algeciras.

There's no doubt whatsoever that Paco de Lucia is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, guitarists of all time. Venerated by his flamenco colleagues, admired by his contemporary fellow performers, his influence is out of this world. He had the technique of a god, with those devilishly quick fingers, and the duende of a one-off artist. My son David, a keen guitarist himself, says it's almost impossible to play like he does, and with the years Paco has become one of his all-time guitar heroes. So much so that he feels devastated by his sudden death.

But rather than my boring words, let Paco's glorious music speak for itself. Firstly, how about a Chick Corea classic tune you may know, Spain, which I particularly love as performed live by three "monsters" of guitar playing, who so many times collaborated with one another: Paco himself, John McLaughlin and Al di Meola. Sheer joy!

But I should not forget, of course, that Paco's roots are Flamenco and Andalucia, so without further ado, I'd like to embed this amazing buleria by the unique, majestic duet of Paco and the long-gone, sorely-missed Camarón back in 1976. Makes my hair stand on end! Puro duende!

Last but not least, there's this fantastic clip featuring Paco with the legendary Ravi Shankar (have you heard of his famous relationship with George Harrison?), a sitar virtuoso, while they discuss (in English) the much-debated connection between flamenco and Indian music. Really interesting!

You must be thinking that Paco's English skills were not that good. Indeed he was not very talkative or fond of TV interviews. That's why you'll find interesting to watch him speak the language (English, I mean) in this rare, very personal interview on Polish television. It feels weird to hear him talk (again in his halting English) about his little house on the coast of Mexico, where he loved to spend long stretches to unwind - and where he eventually found his untimely death.

HASTA SIEMPRE, MAESTRO!

Rosa Baez - My favorite film: Life of Pi (A magical tale about trust and faith)

Pi survives 227 days with a Bengali tiger on a lifeboat drifting across the Pacific Ocean. He overcomes this life and death struggle thanks to his trusting, optimistic thoughts: 

First and foremost, he realizes that the tiger is essential for his survival because it keeps him awake and he finds the true meaning of his life by searching for seafood and providing the tiger with it in order to avoid being devoured.  

He also remembers all the life lessons from his family; for instance, his father showed him the tiger’s primal carnivorous instinct while his uncle taught him to swim and not to be afraid of water.

He finds a book on the lifeboat with a wise tip: "Above all, don’t lose hope”, and he sticks to it. He firmly believes that God cares for him although he can’t understand how.

Finally, they both reach the Mexican coast and after Pi recovers his health, he keeps his enthusiasm for life without being spoilt by this hard experience.

This thought-provoking film reminds us that “life is a story and you can choose yours”.

Thanks, Rosa! Indeed "Life of Pi" is a great story as well as a visually stunning movie.  

Since you don't mention a particular scene, let me choose one for you, actually the moment when both Pi and the beautiful (3D animated) tiger - which goes by the funny name of Richard parker - reach the shore of Mexico after their amazing ordeal at sea. So moving!

Luis - My favourite scenes: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA / THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

I was thinking of my favourite movie scenes.

In "Once Upon a Time in America"(1984), there are two or three which deserve attention: the dancing scenes - involving the little girl and, above all, her adult character’s relationship with a man. They are played, respectively, by Elizabeth McGovern (who appears in Downton Abbey) and screen icon Robert de Niro.

So probably the common element in my favourite movies is the artistic couple made up by a classic musician and a long gone director, who are very special to me: Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone. So I have decided to also send you one of the greatest scenes ever, from one of the best films, accompanied by one of the best music soundtracks.

The leading actor is Eli Wallach, still alive at the age of 98, and the name of the song is "Ecstasy of Gold" - which has a very nice cover by Metallica. Also starring Clint Eastwood and a dog, the film is called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (the original title in English), set in the American Civil War in New Mexico, though the real scenario was the countryside of Burgos.

Just enjoy it through both your eyes and ears!

Well Luis, those were the days of the so called "spaguetti westerns"! And there's that wonderful love scene in "Once Upon ..." 

It's only coincidence that yesterday I was mentioning in class, after Jose Enrique's post on Godzilla, that The Colossus of Rhodes was one of my "childhood films", as it were, or at least the first that I could remember seeing in a cinema. Guess who directed it? Spot on, the great Sergio Leone! 

I would be lying if I talked about my fave scene in this 1961 film (hey, I was a bit older when I saw it, OK?), as I can barely remember it, so let me just embed the vintage trailer.  It does bring back fond memories ...

Jelena - My favourite scene: INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Note: for those of you who have not seen the film yet, I should warn you this entry contains a serious spoiler, as it reveals the movie's final scene. 

One of my favourite movies is Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, named after Enzo G. Castellari's 1978 macaroni combat film, The Inglorious Bastards.

Set in World War II, the plot is divided into two parallel stories, one about young French Jewish cinema proprietor Shosanna, who seeks revenge for the murder of her family, the other about a group of Jewish American soldiers led by first lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). Their objective is the same: to kill the Nazi high command. 

My favorite scene is the very last one. Hitler is assassinated along with his generals, but unscrupulous SS colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) is alive and on his way to freedom, as he managed to broker a deal with US intelligence agency. Aldo Raine and his companion, Utivich, are in charge of escorting Landa with his radio operator, but Raine can’t stand the fact that the astute general will escape unpunished. He could easily kill him, but he has to respect the agreement. However, we witness an unexpected turnaround. Raine shoots the radio operator and has Utivich collect his scalp. Finally, Raine asks Landa the well-known question if he is going to take off his uniform after all. The German officer doesn’t say a word, as he knows what is going to happen. Raine, guessing what the answer is, takes out his knife as he tells Landa that he’s going to give him some uniform he will never be able to take off. As he did to all the German soldiers whom he spared lives before, he carves the symbol of the swastika on the colonel’s forehead, claiming that "it just might be my masterpiece".

Throughout the film, Colonel Landa shows an extreme intelligence and ability of adapting to any situation, but in the end he makes a fatal mistake by underestimating his opponents. 

Besides the fantastic characterization made by the excellent cast led by Pitt and Waltz, I have to highlight the wonderful soundtrack, which includes eight tracks composed by the great Ennio Morricone. To give you a taste of Morricone's fabulous music in the film, this is just one small sample:

Thanks Jelena! I think I told you guys in class how much I loved "Basterds", which made me change my dubious, as it were, mind about Tarantino's film-making and his always controversial flicks.

You know, if I had to choose one particular moment from the movie, I'd rather go for the "glorious" Nazi cinema scene. You know, to me it's so so visually (and sonically - at least it was in the movie theatre!) STUNNING! However gory and graphically violent it may look to the weaker-minded, I just can't help loving it! 

Chani - My favourite scene: EL CID (1961)

This epic film tells the story of the fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar in medieval Spain. 

The admirable knight, Rodrigo, (Charlton Heston) shows compassion during the dark times and forgives the lives of many Moorish prisoners. These two symbolic acts give him the reverent titles of “El Cid” (the Lord) by the Moorish and “Campeador” (the Champion) by the Christians. 

The year 711 marks the beginning of the long conflict between people of Christian belief and those of the Islamic religion. One of the most memorable scenes is the last battle fought by the Cid, when, his army hopelessly outnumbered, he launches the most unbelievable attack on Moorish troops commanded by the ruthless and bloody general Ben Yusuf.

In October 1094 Islamic invaders besiege the city of Valencia, recently conquered by El Cid. Against all odds, he is fatally wounded by an arrow in the battle prior to the final victory. The probability of surviving is rather low if the mortal arrow is not taken out. But this noble and brave knight agrees with his lovely wife, Jimena (Sofia Loren), that he must head up his army even if he dies. Consequently, his body is secured upon his legendary horse, Babieca, and sent out in front of his men. When Yusuf’s army sees him, they flee in terror.

Thank you, Chani! So many classic epics I saw as a kid / teenager that I don't remember too well (I'm getting an old man by now, ha ha!) El Cid is a good example, so it's been great to find the scene on YouTube (funnily enough, it's subtitled in Portuguese) and remember those impressive, grandiose I daresay, "Cinemascope" productions.