Sabicas plays three styles

[NormanKliman]

Hey AGF, here’s another flamenco video. Guitarist Sabicas (pronounced “sah-BEE-kahs”) was born in northern Spain (Pamplona) as Agustín Castellón Campos in 1912. He made a name for himself when he was still very young, recording solo and accompanying singing in Madrid before moving to Argentina to escape the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). With the Franco regime in power, he remained abroad, relocating to Mexico City and eventually New York, where he died in 1990. He recorded many albums during his self-imposed exile but remained practically unknown to flamenco guitarists until the mid-to-late 1960s, when the recordings became available in Spain, and especially after a return visit in the late 1960s. He was greatly influenced by Ramón Montoya, although Sabicas’ fans tend to get testy if you talk about that too much, so I’ll just say that he played in Ramón’s style better than anyone and also had many ideas of his own. He was one of Paco de Lucía’s major early influences.

There are other videos of him online, but this is about the best I’ve seen. I think it was filmed around 1969 for an unaired episode of a Spanish television program. The video and audio seem to be very slightly out of synch, and I think there are a few brief images that don’t correspond to the audio (editing), but he’s actually playing everything you hear, as you’ll see in the video. He plays in three different styles, stringing together in more or less new ways short ideas, called falsetas, that are worked out beforehand. That’s always been the traditional way of flamenco guitarists, and it’s about as close as they get to improvisation.

I’ve also linked to his Flamenco Puro album, which has some of his best playing. I hope it gives you some enjoyment and inspiration!

[Gitfiddlemann]

That was amazing.
What I find most remarkable about flamenco players is how well they use their thumb, and how often. Even the tip of his thumb looked disproportionally bigger and calloused.
Thanks for sharing Norman.

Very powerful stuff. I was fortunate enough to have heard Montoya, live, and like his play more that Sabicas'. But Sabicas does add some creative twists to Flamenco and has powerful hands that produce a powerful music. thanks for bringing this here.

[Carey]

Thanks very much for these links- I'd been thinking a few days ago about
asking others here what their favorite things from Sabicas are, and look
forward to hearing these links as soon as my (dismal) ISP allows..

[Carey]

Andre said:

>What I find most remarkable about flamenco players is how well they use their thumb, and how often. <

Agreed.. and they seem to get a good sound on the treble strings with it, too.
I'd love to have that kind of fluency, but alas.

[NormanKliman]

So glad to see you like this.

I should have mentioned that the three styles are prime examples of that flamenco rhythm. The first, siguiriya, is short-short-long-long-short. The other two are soleá and bulería, which are long-long-short-short-short, slow and fast, respectively.

Originally Posted by AndreF

Even the tip of his thumb looked disproportionally bigger and calloused.

Yeah, he had a really well-developed thumb, even by today’s very high standards. Just listen to what he does here.

Originally Posted by Carey

I'd love to have that kind of fluency, but alas.

The key is to keep the fingers in contact with the guitar (strings or top), to keep it tight and under control.

[Carey]

I'll give the closer contact thing a whirl- I've noticed that when my thumb
feels well grounded/connected I definitely do play better.

I have a tape recording of Paco Pena with one piece with a form I'd love
to identify- it was taken from Swedish radio in the 80s. I played it for my
teacher who was decently-versed in flamenco, but he couldn't identify it,
saying it sounded Latin American to him. Beautiful thing, it really is.

[NormanKliman]

It minimizes the distance and requires less effort. To play fast single-note lines with your thumb, it helps to keep your index poised on the first string. I always liked the analogy of walking downstairs and keeping the handrail just within reach.

Carey, does the recording have a title? Post a link and we can have a listen.

[Carey]

I can't post a link, because I've never found that PP piece other than on
the radio show I mentioned. I will dig out the cassette, though, and
see if there's info I've forgotten- IIRC he was interviewed in English,
and maybe I missed something. Really lovely playing starting with a kind of
languid feel, then becomes rhythmical and well-developed (by memory).

[FrankHS]

Originally Posted by NormanKliman

...He was greatly influenced by Ramón Montoya, although Sabicas’ fans tend to get testy if you talk about that too much, so I’ll just say that he played in Ramón’s style better than anyone and also had many ideas of his own...

Norman, seems much of flamenco world is pretty dismissive of each others' camps; are not "big tent" thinkers. But I get it for "preserving tradition," and all that. Btw, I saw Carlos Montoya live in late 1970s. Does that count as real flamenco?

[NormanKliman]

Hi Frank. That’s a well pointed question. Well, I won’t be the one to be dismissive of Carlos Montoya. Does it count for what? He wasn’t not flamenco. Uncle Ramón is the important one. What do you think?

[FrankHS]

Originally Posted by NormanKliman

Hi Frank. That’s a well pointed question. Well, I won’t be the one to be dismissive of Carlos Montoya. Does it count for what? He wasn’t not flamenco. Uncle Ramón is the important one. What do you think?

I have no educated opinion about it, and assumed you would. And thanks for the Sabicas info.

[NormanKliman]

Carlos is often criticized for being “gimmicky,” although probably not with that word. Low action, lots of ligados, more showmanship that substance, etc. I don’t know what his detractors have said. To tell the truth, some of Sabicas’ videos are in a similar vein, like the bit at the end here:

[ceciltguitar]

Thank you for sharing this video! Sabicas was incredible! His playing was the heart to traditional Flamenco.

Charles Hansen published a book of transcriptions of 6 of the tracks on the “Flamenco Puro”, transcribed by Joseph Trotter, back in the 1970s.

[endpin]

I saw Carlos Montoya in the late ‘60s.

Whatever his “clan” was, there were a lot of them in attendance and they were a pretty raucous bunch.

They would yell out during the performance and he would acknowledge best he could while still playing.

Maybe he was over-commercialized, but then if he had not been, we wouldn’t have several people recounting seeing him perform 50 years on.