Paco de Lucia CD's

Cositas Beunas.  This CD, which means "Good Small Things" is de Lucia's first release in five years, and it's been worth the wait.  A masterpiece of both traditional sound and transitional vision, de Lucia unleashes a beautiful flurry of cabaret sorcery worthy of the immortal Sabicas himself. This is a rounded and polished album that is, above all, loyal to flamenco

This album is one that pays tribute to the genre that he's so well known for, by sticking to the basics: his guitar, hand clapping and six different vocalists sporting heart tearing voices interpreting his bulerias, rumbas and tientos.

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Live In America - If you enjoy "modern" flamenco music and Spanish guitar with a "free spirit", this CD is a perfect choice for your collection. Live in America presents 8 live performances  performed with his sextet during the 1993 East Coast tour.

The CD's repertoire develops very much like De Lucia's concerts. Paco starts playing alone very slowly with his Hermanos Conde guitar, creating the mood for the night. Further into his playing, the hand claps and "zapateo", percussion, and then "cantejon" (the flamenco's singing style) incorporates progressively as the music develops.

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Guitar Trio: When Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, and John McLaughlin once again got together, it was a night to remember. Demonstrating extraordinary virtuosity, each guitarist shows his own style; Paco is pure gypsy passion and speed, Di Meola with creative strength and improvisation, and Maclughlin with impeccable technique.

 The three put together is probably the best guitar live show ever, with something here for everybody. The music carries you effortlessly from flamenco to jazz to blues to the Pink Panther theme song.

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Luzia:  Though he's recognized as flamenco's premier guitarist, Paco de Lucia has met with decades of controversy for his hybridization of the form with bossa, salsa, and jazz; flamenco-rock and for his legendary, cultivated arrogance.

Albums like Luzia, named for his late mother, restore the balance: true flamenco puro of the highest order, it's a brooding reinvention from within, particularly in its complex harmonies and polyrhythms, forged around time-honored forms like bulerías and alegrías.  A startlingly good set from a true master.

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Intepreta A Manuel De Falla: (Import)There's a sense of urgency throughout this album that makes it one of De Lucia's most exhilerating. The effect is achieved by the deft use of percusion and electric bass as well as the intriguing yet cohesive blend of classical and flamenco schools.

The music straddles both worlds, giving the songs more suggestiveness and freeedom while at the same time retaining a strong sense of form.  There's a definite modern sound to this album, although the arrangements themselves are sparse, that gives it a dynamism seldom found in other De Lucia works.

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El Duende Flamenco de Paco de Lucia:  This stand-out CD is about flamenco music, not about technique. Every track  is a superb musical masterpiece - most have orchestral arrangements in the best modern classical taste.

The pieces themselves are the best examples of the "golden" era of Paco's compositions. Every single cut on this album was revolutionary for its time, and with it Paco almost single handedly raised the Flamenco guitar to world-class - and the musicianship necessary to play it.  One other thing should be noted: Paco was only 24 when he made this recording. "Genius" is, indeed, the word.

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