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Regarded as one of the best guitarists in the world, Juan Martín has just released this album of self-penned compositions, which allows him to show off his amazing talent on the acoustic guitar. On tracks such as the gorgeous Alegria de Pablo you are held spellbound as you marvel at the speed of his fingers over the strings and at his skillful fretwork. The same can be heard on the cascading guitar sounds on the flowing Con Rumba al Carnival.
It's even snowing
in Andalucia, fact, Juan Martin tells us before speculating if his show
had conveyed the traditional Southern Spanish warmth.
. . There have been
times when Juan Martin has strayed from his true path - crossing over
meretriciously - but this CD is a triumphant return to his roots. Recorded
live on his UK tour last autumn, it's a luxurious 100 minutes of the
real stuff, with his guitarism supported by a cleverly chosen group
of soloists. Nuria Martin's sweet-throaty tone nicely complements Chato
Velez's sound, which runs the flamenco gamut in grand style; the dancing
of Salvador Moreno ("El tigre") may not be visible . Over at the Barbican, guitarist Juan Martín reminded us of the power and the beauty of flamenco pure and simple. No meretricious stage tricks, not a trace of hammering, just one long enthralling sequence of instrumental solos, songs and dances by his brilliant little troupe. I had not heard male singer Chato Velez before, but I hope to soon again. . Melbourne played host to leading international guitarists twice last week. Early on, American Ralph Towner was in town as part of his first Australian solo tour. Then, last Thursday, Spanish guitarist Juan Martin filled the smaller Beckett Theatre in the first of two Melbourne concerts. Although the two guitarists hail from different musical worlds – jazz and flamenco – hearing them almost back-to-back did draw out parallels. Like Towner, Juan Martin was performing solo here but is also an experienced ensemble musician. He has toured and recorded as a member of several groups and collaborated with major artists in various fields (including jazz names such as Herbie Hancock and Mark Isham). Like Towner too, Martin is such a natural player that there is no need for flashy histrionics. His art may be technically awe-inspiring, but technique is never an end in itself. And both players have developed an approach to the guitar that clearly refers to a particular musical tradition, while also moving beyond it to reflect a distinct personal style. When Martin plays a Soléa por Buleria, it breathes with the fierce energy of pure flamenco. And yet it is, like all the pieces in his repertoire, an original composition (in this case Esencia) filled with melodic and rhythmic combinations that are Martins own contribution to the art form. The dramatic flourishes so integral to flamenco are part of Martin’s acoustic armoury, but he also used them judiciously, to intersect rather than interrupt the fluid movement of his phrases. He also tends to articulate them slightly so that they are part flourish, part rippling trill. At Thursdays concert Martin introduced each piece with a brief but evocative word portrait that described its rhythmic and regional origins. He then effortlessly transformed the portrait into music, evoking not just the images of prickly pears and mountainous ravines but the sounds of, lightning fast footwork, stuttering castanets and the proud exhortations of the flamenco cantaor (singer). Pieces such as De Damasco a Cordoba strongly reflected the Moorish roots of flamenco, while others (Vuelo: Airto y Juan) were imbued with vibrant rhythmic references to Latin America. As an encore, Martin performed la Feria (The Fair), its vigorous, percussive slapping and emphatic flourished making it a celebratory conclusion to a memorable performance. . Juan Martin once said that the flamenco guitar is best heard on its own. And the Spanish virtuoso proved this to the crowd at the Victoria Concert Hall. Perched on a stool with his guitar and giving short introductions before each piece he took the audience on a musical journey with self-composed pieces that started with a haunting taranta and ended with a nostalgic rumba. In between was a varitable emotional rollercoaster made up of the diverse styles of flamenco, from the joyful alegrias, jazzy bulerias and festive rumbato, to the quieter and darker rondena. There
was also magic which evoked images of Andalucia in Southern Spain, the
birthplace of flamenco and the musician himself. Whiffs of the Moors’
influence on flamenco wafted in with the oriental-like De Damasco A
Cordoba, which turned out surprisingly well without the accompaniment
of the oud, the Arabic lute, which was featured on his album version. The Zapateado, Tacanoes, turned in another surprise by yielding a lively and melodic effect on the solo guitar. Although flamenco playing is probably best enjoyed in a more intimate setting, Martins playing lacked neither intensity nor emotion. He dazzled both with the complex rhythms and rumbas, and the clarity of the simpler phrases. His right hand was especially skillful in controlling the rhythmic mood, moving with amazing ease from strumming, slapping, plucking of damping the strings on the fingerboard, to drumming the guitar table, slapping it with his palm or tapping it with his finger nails. By the end of 12 pieces the audience was so fired up that they would not let him go until hr obliged with two more encores. And why not? After all, he proved that the guitarra does not need to share the stage with the dance or the song, the other two forms of the flamenco, in order to shine. |
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Mar Centenera Yakarta,
30 mar (EFE).- Con reminiscencias moriscas y la madre de todas las guitarras,
la flamenca, el malagueño Juan Martín sedujo a los indonesios.
Juan Martín's double CD Live en Directo is a complete show by his Compania Flamenca: Dancers El Tigre (Salvador Moreno) and Luisa Chicano, singer Nuria Martin and second guitarist Chato Velez (Antonio Fernandez Torres). The album's creative charge lies partly in its purist commitment with extended improvisations that demonstrate both the music's function as accompaniment for song and dance and its inspirational nature as solo art music. Recordings like
this only work when all participants are working at the height of their
powers, and that's the case here. Martín is a fine soloist, but
he also has flair for leadership, evident in the way he added warmth
and direction to the closing sections of the Martins 4 tour last season.
There's no fusion in Martín's disc, but it wouldn't be so moving
without the technological intimacy of clear, clean digital recording.
This is one of Juan Martin’s finest recordings made with flamenco singer Antonio Aparecida. Aparecida has worked with Juan Martin for many years in larger flamenco ensembles but this is the first time they have focused on duo work, and it is very successful. Juan Martin’s guitar playing is so sensitive and intimate particularly in the introduction to the taranta Se juegan la Vida (They gamble their lives); this is followed by an equally moving performance by Antonio Aparecida. The dancers Raquel de Luna and David Morales provide palmas and plenty of jaleo for the festive wedding song, the Alboréas called Como dos Luceros (Like two bright stars). In the Farruca, Mi Gloria verte bailer (It is glorious to see you dance), Juan Martin and Antonio Aparecida are joined again by the dancer David Morales but this time he does a superb dance. The recording ends with an effervescent Bulerias, La Mañana verde, la tarde azul (The morning is green, the afternoon blue) including a third dancer; Salvador Moreno “El Tigre” whose dancing complements the singing and guitar playing most expressively and with great skill. Added to that is the buoyant beat of Chris Karan on Tabla. Often times in flamenco we miss out on the words but the beautifully detailed sleeve notes which accompany this recording give the words in Spanish with their English translation. I was also pleased with the choice of pieces for recording which is varied and seems to cover the full emotional gamut which is quite an achievement for any flamenco singer and Antonio Aparecida is to be congratulated. I highly recommend this recording. . If flamenco remains for many an acquired taste, guitarist Juan Martin has done much to dispel the mystery with albums that combine soft-focus rootsy improvisations. On El Alquimista, his group takes us on an enchanting journey through Andalusian soundscapes, culminating in the haunting drones of En el Palacio del Sultan. . Three starry names from differing worlds within today's British guitar scene performed at the Wigmore last Monday, which was testament to the broadmindedness and absolute enthusiasm Ivor Mairants had for the guitar. It was, after all, his memorial concert. Carlos Bonell showed off his wealth of tonal timbres and mouth-watering nuances in three romantic Preludes by Villa-Lobos; flamenco guitarist Juan Martin soon whipped things into a passionate Spanish frenzy and dazzled us with complex cross rhythms and rumbas to die for; electric jazz guitarist Martin Taylor gently rocked to some virtuosic rhythm and blues. But it was not all a celebration of the established high life. As a proprietor of an excellent guitar shop and founder of the Central School of Dance Music in London, Mairants was always on the look-out for aspiring young players, and supportive of new talent. This was properly reflected too. Amanda
Cook , a musician in her early 20s and winner of the first (1997)Ivor
Mairants Guitar Awards, presented and endearing if slightly too balmy
interpretation of Mairant's bluesy Evocation for Joe Pass, but her relaxed
approach and clear, sweet tone were engaging. Marginally more established
is the Eden-Stell Duo which gave its concert debut at the South Bank
Centre three years ago and has just released a CD. Eden and Stell's
performance of arrangements of the Allemande and Les Cyclopes from Rameau's
Piéces de Clavecin showed a duo which breathed as one. Their rhythmic
pacings, precise ornamentation and clear direction brought a vitality
to Rameau's French Baroque lines. In Rodriquez' Fandango and Tonadilla
another side revealed as two fiery, more menacing voices emerged. The
evening was appropriately rounded off with In Memoriam Ivor Mairants,a
heartfelt yet ultimately uplifting song written by Ivor's daughter Valerie
and performed rather loudly by the Guildhall Octet.
Juan Martin ARTE FLAMENCO PURO The celebrated Juan Martin (a.k.a "Doctor Flamenco) is back with a new set of passionate flamenco pieces guaranteed to grab you by the seat of your pants and set your hair on fire. This album is recorded live, each track using no more than two takes in order to keep the inspiration and intensity at a real level. Making recordings of flamenco can be difficult,as mechanical repetition of passionate playing tends to kill it, so capturing the thrill of live performance has long been a dream of Martin's. The result is very exciting; fingersnaps,handclapping and footwork all have extreme clarity, and the raw intensity of gypsy Antonio Aparecida's singing transports the listeners to a bar little bar in his native Cadiz. Martin's virtuoso guitar-playing is really something else, both in the quieter moments like the instrumental A Mi Madre and when he lets rip. My favourite track is 'Lo Mismo Que Un Loco ('Like a Madman')in which you can hear the beautiful Raquel De Luna driving them all crazy with her dancing. . Juan Martin & Musica Alhambra Queen Elizabeth Hall Flamenco is back in fashion, and rightly so. It is, after all, one of the greatest enduring music styles of Europe, as resilient as the blues,and equally varied in its different forms and the still-developing fusion that have evolved from it. The acoustic Spanish band Radio Tariff have shown some of the possibilities,while even the British Asian club hero, Nitan Sawhney, fuses flamenco with Indian styles in his current experimental work. All of those would have made welcome additions to the five concert Arte Flamenco celebration of the new Spanish musical renaissance, on the South Bank. The opening artist was Juan Martin, a one-time student of Paco de Lucia, whose mixture of new composition and historical work is very much in the tradition of Radio Tarifa. His instrumental line-up showed what one should expect. Playing to a packed QEH, he perched on a stool, cradling his guitar, surrounded by his singer Abdul Saleem Kheir, playing the ancient Arabic lute, the oud, a percussionist playing hand drums and the Indian tablas, and flute and clarinet players. The repertoire veered between the ancient and modern, from Sephardic songs from the 13th century through to self-composed pieces in which delicate guitar solos were matched against repeated clarinet phrases. This was virtuoso playing, for sure, but with a difference. Intensity and emotion were there, in patches, but Juan Martin's skill was in creating unexpected textures and colours within the flamenco setting. there were a few wild guitar flurries but much of the playing was thoughtful,stately and mesmeric. .
Flamenco guitarist Juan Martin is perhaps an unusual choice for the Dublin Jazz Week; his music involves improvisation, but certainly isn't Jazz. However nobody was arguing about definitions after his diverse and entertaining concert last night. With Musica Alhambra, Martin aims to trace the development of flamenco through it's various roots, both eastern and western. The other musicians were Abdul Salaam Kheir (oud and vocals) Chris Karan (tabla and darabuka), Sarah Murphy(flute) and Kevin Murphy (clarinet). Martin opened the concert with a stylish flamenco solo, before joining with Karan and Kheir for From Damascus to Cordoba. Here and elsewhere, the oud and guitar worked well together (the oud resembles a lute, but has low tension strings and sounds distinctly eastern).Martin and Kheir entered into long exchanges, swapping phrases and motifs. The style changed markedly for a series of 13th century Jewish melodies. La Rosa Enfloree worked particularly well, ingeniously blending guitar,flute and clarinet, the guitar enjoyed a free, improvisational role, while the other two stuck to the tune. Martins own Atlantis Suite worked well, as did the dramatic Aires do Cairo. The concert reached its climax with The Passion of the Lament, a fusion of all manner of styles, driven forward by dazzling guitar rhythms. . The choice of venue was never going to do the group any favours, Glasgow City Hall offering as much atmosphere as a school assembly, but an inauspicious start did lead to the fever and passion expected. Martin opened with a marvellous solo piece that affirmed his mastery of the guitar, followed by the whole ensemble - from India, Greece, Spain,Lebanon and Ireland - joining forces to give the eighth century Moorish Evocacíon. Abdul Salam Kheir on the mellifluously toned oud(Arab lute) added his rich and mesmerising voice to the Andalucian When She Began to Sway, evoking images of a cobra and its prey, while an improvised piece with Indian tabla and Greek darabuka (drums) alongside guitar gave an idea of gypsy rhythms. The clarinet featured strongly, but it wasn't until the final two numbers of the evening, Martin's own La Frontera and The Passion of the Lament that the technically accomplished Irishman, Kevin Murphy, and to an extent the rest of the group, became visibly moved and fully committed to the heat and sensuality of the superb music. |
