Search - Camaron de la Isla :: Camarón Nuestro

Camarón at the crossroads

Paul Magnussen | Campbell, CA USA | 12/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album, issued after Camarón's death, was recorded live at various flamenco festivals in 1978-79. Although this was just before his ground-breaking La Leyenda del Tiempo (on which he took the first steps on the path that would eventually lead to the so-called Nuevo Flamenco), the songs here are totally in the flamenco tradition -- as the booklet points out, as Camarón might have heard them in his own house.



The accompanist throughout is Tomatito. His playing is much more "corto" -- meaning uncomplicated, and using a more restricted vocabulary -- than that of Camarón's previous accompanist, Paco de Lucía; but this is by no means a criticism. Tomatito's playing is strictly in line with the basic rule of accompaniment that the guitarist's job is to support the singer, not compete with him. This he does, very ably indeed.



(One of the things that has always fascinated me about Tomatito's playing is that his guitar has very little resonance, to the extent that it almost sounds as if it's strung with rubber bands. Does he stuff his socks into the soundhole? I know this sounds stupid, but for accompaniment the result is amazingly effective.)



Unusually for a Spanish CD, there are extensive notes (in Spanish only, however), and the complete lyrics are given.



But the total time for both albums is only an hour and ten minutes, which is why four stars instead of five."