The guitarist’s new album comes out May 5th, and includes the artistic collaboration of Enrique and Estrella Morente, Niña Pastori and Alejandro Sanz, among others, and the title is «Paseo de Gracia»
| On May 5th Paseo de Gracia, Vicente Amigo’s new album will see the light of day. It’s an open, rhythmic, flamenco recording of high quality with special care taken with the melodies of Amigo’s guitar, a unique means of expression enriched with splendid arrangements that situate the record on another plane. An exquisite work with tremendous popular appeal, and which maintains the essence of purity that has always been Vicente Amigo’s hallmark. “There’s lots of music and sometimes I’m at a remove from flamenco” says Vicente. “Half the record is like songs seen from a flamenco point of view, because that’s my background. I develop them in another way, like a challenge to the singer and the guitar, with what I think are interesting harmonies”.
Produced by Amigo himself, Paseo de Gracia includes some priceless collaborations. The whole Morente family is there, Enrique, Estrella, Soleá and Enrique junior. Along with them, Niña Pastori, Alejandro Sanz, Rafael de Utrera, Pedro Heredia, Miguel Ortega, José Parra, Lin and Nani Cortés also add their voices, wisdom and depth. And lovingly supporting Vicente Amigo’s guitar, are musicians the likes of Tino di Geraldo (percussion), Antonio Ramos “Maca” (bass), Alexis Lefevre (violín) and Paquito González (percussion), to round out an authentic dream team. “This is a collaborative work” continues Vicente Amigo. “I had the verses and I wanted to use them because they have a lot to do with me. Everyone who sings on the record, poured their hearts into it, and I’m very happy. I think we’ve managed to make something that reaches deep into people and becomes a part of their lives. Some songs are devised to present my music to another kind of audience, but even though some rhythms are reminiscent of pop, it’s always me playing, a flamenco guitarist. And flamenco is a form of expression, a feeling, it’s not just playing soleá or bulerías”. Paseo de Gracia opens with Amor de Nadie, which is a cross between rumba and tangos, with the voice of Niña Pastori, with the magnificent balance Tino di Geraldo has us accustomed to with his percussion, and the bass of Antonio Ramos “Maca”. An excellent introduction to Autorretrato, with the voice of Enrique Morente and Vicente Amigo’s guitar providing the spinal column for a long, deep, serious piece. It’s nearly nine minutes of delicate precision in which the guitarist exhibits the imagination and creativity in instrumental developments that have been his calling card from the very beginning. “I had the outline of Autorretrato for a long time, but hadn’t developed it, and it’s a reflection of my life”, says the guitarist. Next, Bolero del Amigo is a serious piece, with Amigo revealing himself with the sound of an electric guitar, very well-arranged and orchestrated with violins and mandolins. “The melody of the bolero, well, that’s what I call it anyhow, is very interesting. It has a very natural development, but then there’s more than meets the eye. You have to find the harmonies, it’s like the mathematics of music, the way the notes are arranged”, says the guitarist. “I tried the electric guitar to see how it would go, musicians do things like this. I liked the experience, playing the chameleon in a place that isn’t really yours, with that muted sound in the style of Metheny or Benson”. Azules y Corinto is dedicated to the son of bullfighter Manzanares. The voices of Rafael de Utrera and Nani Cortés interpret bulerías with Vicente Amigo once again demonstrating his exception command of compás, as in Y Será Verdad, which includes the participation of Enrique Morente, Alejandro Sanz (“He sounds more flamenco than ever Enrique told me”, explained the smiling guitarist) and Pedro Heredia. An exquisite piece, sinuous and sensual, a rumba in half-time to which Tino di Geraldo’s drums add a luminous southern pop feel, with the percussion of another star, Paquito González, who also appears throughout the album. Luz de la Sombra gets back to bulerías via Amigo’s particular perspective, with the voices of Miguel Ortega and José Parra giving depth. A basic piece, naked and complex, with Vicente Amigo in all his glory, which brings us up to Paseo de Gracia, the title song, which offers a magnificent example of balance between high-quality flamenco and a rhythm that is closer to pop for tango-rumba instrumental that is pure filigree. A demonstration of how a simple melody can be developed and reach out to fantasy, making something new and original. On the home stretch, Pan Caliente is the most dynamic piece on the record. An agile, upbeat rumba. Vicente Amigo once again demonstrates his new-found talent with the electric guitar, while the violin is reminiscent of Grapelli giving meaning which is as contemporary as classic. And to close out the record, Estrella Morente takes over with La Estrella, a long tangos composition which is a gift of delicacy and elegance. “Estrella’s piece was going to be something else, but it didn’t go with her voice. I tried a few ideas on her, and when Enrique Morente heard these tangos, he right away said ‘this suits Estrella to a T’”, says Vicente. The perfect icing on a splendid cake, open, subtle and with tremendous popular appeal. Paseo de Gracia is the new work of one of our foremost guitarists. Sevillian by birth, Cordoban in his heart, Vicente Amigo’s career is full of recognition: First prize at the Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Flamenca in Badajoz in 1988; First prize for Guitar at the Concurso Nacional del Cante de las Minas de La Unión; Ramón Montoya de Guitarra Prize for Concert Guitar en at the XII Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba; Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Record of 2001; voted Best Flamenco Guitarist by Guitar Player magazine in 1993; two Premios de la Música, in 1998 and 1999; Premio Ondas in 2002. Vicente Amigo has played for Camarón, Sting, Alejandro Sanz, Rosario, Carmen Linares, Manolo Sanlúcar, Khaled and Miguel Bosé, and has shared the stage with John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola and Milton Nascimento among many others. In 1992 he participated in the concert Leyendas de Guitarra in Seville, along with Paco de Lucía, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan. Since publishing his first record in 1991, Vicente Amigo has been considered on of the most imaginative maestros of flamenco guitar, and his career has risen continually, right through to this much-awaited Paseo de Gracia that marks the musician’s creative zenith. “I felt myself growing as a musician, seeking out a language”, says Vicente of Paseo de Gracia. “I never wanted to put limits on my imagination, and my wish and my hope that the music presented therein becomes a part of anyone who listens to it, just as it is a part of me”. With his new album, Vicente Amigo begins a world tour that will pass through Madrid on May 18th (Teatro de Canal), and June 18th in Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana. The first scheduled dates are May 8th in Charleroi, Belgum (Palais des Beaux Arts), the 16th in Bilbao (Social Antzokia Basauri), July 9th in Sete, France (Jazz a Sete), the 11th in Badajoz, the 21st in Patrimonio, Corsica (Les Nuits de la Guitare), August 3rd in Coria, the 8th in La Unión (Festival de La Unión), the 15th at Hammamet, Túnez (Festival Hammamet), October 2nd and 3rd in Cordoba, the 11th in Cracow (Poland), November 5th, 6th and 7th at Ile de la Réunion… These are some highlights of the presentation tour of Paseo de Gracia which Vicente Amigo will bring to the world with the most representative compositions of his long career. |
