The Flamenco finds himself in a difficult situation.
For various reasons
On one hand we have the classics, where we all learned from.
The Old Masters: Manuel Torres ...
Antonio Chacón, Marchena, Pepe Pinto ...
No, sorry, not Pepe Pinto ...
I meant Pavon.
The classics that we know and where we know know what we're talking about.
And now we young people have to create a current Flamenco.
You have to see that Flamenco is a very tonal music.
Harmonically it moves within narrow limits.
We young guitarists ...
have broken these boundaries.
But then the classical people gets mad about us ...
and claim: This is not Flamenco.
I think we are in a stage of the search ...
and of the realization that everything is just changing.
Earlier in Flamenco only a few chords were used.
Today every guitarist knows his instrument perfectly.
And I think, there is another reason why it is currently difficult for guitarists:
There are a few Flamenco artists who have been very successful ...
very, very successful.
And now the young guitarists want to have success ...
and make a lot of money right from the beginning.
Summed up, I guess, this our current situation.
You have close relationships to the United States.
For example this projects in New York ...
Is that also kind of an escape from the Spanish provincialism?
No, this is simply my understanding of the situation.
Because Spain is a small country.
Therefore, you need to be known internationally as an artist.
We must conquer terrain.
I understood very early that I had to get out ...
working abroad and do projects over there.
Therefore people get to know you. To make a living playing guitar is very difficult.
It was a different time.
There were only two or three guitarists who made interesting music.
For Flamenco guitarists there exists no conservatory ...
no school, no nothing ...
We guitarists have created our own music history.
So now we talk about the information age ...
Whether this is bad or good?
I do not know.
There are simply different times.
In Jazz it happened that way too.
Or the Boleros. The old musicians ...
were opposed to the harmonization of Boleros ...
with more modern seventh chords ...
and swore that these were no more Boleros.
Now today all Boleros are arrangement the modern way.
Same thing in classical Jazz, the Bebop.
As new trends came up, it was said that this was no more jazz.
I think we are experiencing a normal change.
People live differently today.
The culture is different.
And that is reflected in the music.
No, I'm not worried about that ...
Flamenco is alive.
It is a living music.
In Andalusia, the people celebrate their festivals with flamenco.
Who likes flamenco ...
if classic or not ...
it wont lose his character thereby.
Well, life has changed. People live differently today.
They feel and think differently, and this is reflected in the music.
Sometimes I wonder if the Jazzmusicians make the better Flamenco?
No, no, no! Jazzmusicians don't know Flamenco.
They deal with it, learn it and they are interested in.
But not more, no, no way!
In Flamenco you only need to know the compás [rhythm].
You do not even need an instrument.
Previously only the compás was beaten.
That's all you need to know.
Of course many Jazzmusicians are interested in Flamenco.
But they approach only, nothing more. Unbelievable!