Flamenco guitar! City of ideas! The genuine article!
Martyn Richard Jones | Cordoba, Spain | 02/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Vicente Amigo, a man of few words, isn't one who's prone to talk the talk, he just walks the walk and boy what a great CD he has come up with - again!Write from the first three notes of Tres Notas Para Decir Te Quiero (Three notes to say I love you) through to the final track with the same name as the album title Ciudad de las ideas (City of ideas) we are treated to a veritable musical eperience covering a cohesive range of beautiful compositions, fantastic technique and brilliant arrangements.The "City of Ideas" is Cordoba, Vicente's adopted home-town, and the influences of this great monument to humanity and vibrant and welcoming city echos throughout these compositions.I met Vicente many years ago (around 1989) when he was a relatively unknown guitarist on the scene, over ten years on, Vicente has lost none of his honesty, professonalism or sensitivity, and has matured to become a great artist and a truly oustanding ambassador for Cordoba and humanity.regards,martyn_jones@iniciativas.com"
Joe que calo! The heart of Cordoba
joel | Queretaro Mexico | 10/29/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got this cd by a guy from Mallorca, he was selling all his books and records to get some cash to buy his ticket to get back home.
After hearing it ,i felt guilty at first, but now I fell sorry from him, because he lost a treasure,this record is excelent from the first note to the last, you can play it again and again and you get caught for lots of deep and mixed emotions.
it's not the traditional flamenco (like Camaron or Tomatito) that it's hard to digest for non flamenco followers,and neither the pseudo-flamenco of Ottmar Liebert.
I don't know if it is call new flamenco or somenthing else...-honestly i dont care- what i know and i,m shure is that this is music from the soul cooked inside the heart.
I love the guitar in every song,Vicente only puts the exactly amount on each song:-not less,not more-.
The words are delicious, deep and naive, happy and melancolic: "Si es que las palabras se las lleva el aire, que las mias se las lleve hasta tu calle"(if it's true that the wind takes the words away, i hope it takes my words down to your street).
A soon as the first notes start you can close your eyes and feel the heart of Cordoba: the streets,the people,the sounds....I can't wait to hear more from Vicente."
Powerful, simply powerful...
Torquemada | Atlanta, Georgia USA / Madrid, Spain. | 03/16/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My first contact with Vicente Amigo's music was several years ago, at a friend's house who happened to live in Sevilla at that time. I didn't really appreciate the music playing. To give you an idea of what happened, as soon as the record was over, I took it out to play a Najee cd.... Yes, you can throw rotten tomatoes and eggs at me if you want, I deserve them.Back to the present. I have new feelings for music. I am probably more open and sensitive, more interested in mediterranean flavoured music (thus my interest for Buddha bar and chillout in Paris or Nirvana Lounge compilations), I am away from my country, Spain. And, of course, you generally miss things when you don't have them. This cd brings lots of emotions to me when I listen to it. It is a powerful performance by a man that I consider to be the Master in his genre. Each time I put this record on, it shakes me, gives me goose bumps at times. Especially the closing track, "Ciudad de las ideas". I was with a group of 40 kids (that's the way I have to call them) from the US on a trip to Spain in 2002, and I took them to Sevilla and Granada. I hadn't been there in years and now, I just can't help connecting Amigo's music with all that happened over there. You might think I am in delirium, but I just don't know how to express this. There is a depth in this music that you will only fully understand and feel if you go there and get submerged into the culture and way of life. Try for instance "La carboneria" in Sevilla, or the "Sacromonte" in Granada (situated on the hill that faces the hill on which the Alhambra is). Try Cordoba.Once you have done that, and that you have looked a the landscape from the walls of the Alhambra, you have to come back to this record (track number 3 is in fact called "ojos de la Alhambra"). I guarantee you will love it. Now, even if you are not a connaisseur, you can enjoy the cd. That's what makes it so strong and powerful. It is pleasant, and not unbearingly long. It has musical cuts, but also voices. The closing track is a great one because of it's genuinity, voices and music. The opening track is light and joyous, and it was played as an ad for Spain's largest store. Everybody in Spain knows it now. In between, you have nothing but great music. Featured on track 2 you have Flamenco's new star, Dieguito "el cigala" and Khaled on track 3.I went to Vicente's concert here in Atlanta in November 2002. An astonishing performance. I talked to him after the show. He is not a look-at-me-but-don't-get-close, I-am-a-superstar-type-of-guy. He is mega talented and I cannot wait for the next album to be released !Hasta siempre, y nos vemos donde tu quieras, Amigo Vicente !"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1