by Valdemar Phoenix (2003)
Everything changes. This is what evolutionary concepts are all about, and evolutionary thinkers ponder the mechanisms and rules by which everything changes. It is clear that animal and plant species change through time, as do societies and civilizations. Languages also undergo systematic evolution and sadly, extinction. Music is no exception to the laws of evolution, and flamenco, as a musical form is just as subject to these laws. With University degrees in anthropology and linguistics, and decades of dealing with numerous international cultures in college classrooms, I have been literally primed to see evolutionary concepts shaping themselves around musical themes.
This paper attempts to describe an evolutionary tree of certain falsetas that can define the progression of a flamenco style of guitar that we can define as ‘modern.’ It will show how today’s modern flamenco guitar style developed from the styles of the last century of geniuses who preceeded it. Specific examples will be drawn from the family tree of Ramón Montoya – Sabicas – Mario Escudero – Paco de Lucia. One qualification. No claim is made that this is the only possible evolutionary pathway for the development of modern flamenco. It is however, one of the pathways by which my own style has developed.
Ramón Montoya was undoubtedly the primary founder of the modern school. More or less contemporary with him was Manolo de Huelva, who was mostly an accompanist, but an artist of supreme talent. They were followed, and contemporary with to some degree, by Sabicas and Niño Ricardo. Closer to our time came Mario Escudero and finally Paco de Lucia. Each of these guitarists was a genius in his art. Each forged a new path for his music based on the work of at least two guitarists who preceeded him. It is my hypothesis that innovation in flamenco is based on the merging of the styles of at least two other guitarists, filtered, of course, by the personal abilities of the guitarist doing the merging. In other words, each genius stands on the shoulders of at least two other geniuses.
Sabicas maintained that he was most influernced by Ramón Montoya and Manolo de Huelva. It is clear from recordings of Montoya and Manolo that their styles differed greatly. Montoya had lyricism and melody in his hands. Certainly the reigning virtuoso of his day, he was highly inventive, and credited with most of the falsetas that almost all guitarists today are historically familiar with. He was rather loose with the compás when playing solo. Manolo, however, was heavy on the compás, and also inventive to a degree. Since there are few recordings of Manolo's solo material and not many of his accompaniment, we can't be sure how inventive he was. Judging from Sabicas, we can guess very inventive.
Sabicas blended these two masters and produced his own style. A powerful precise compás combined with the lyricism of Montoya. But Sabicas raised the technique bar to a level that can scarcely be matched today. Adding his own inventiveness, he became the leading guitarist in the world in the 50s and 60s. The cantaór Enrique Morente affectionately called him the dean of the American University of Flamenco Guitar, since Sabicas lived in New York for most of his later professional life.
Then along comes Mario Escudero, my first mentor. Mario had three pillars to stand on. He knew both Montoya and Niño Ricardo. Ricardo was the reigning maestro in Spain while Sabicas was living in New York during the middle years of the 20th Century. If you lived in Spain and were a flamenco guitarist, then you simply had to play Ricardo's material. Ricardo was firmly based in the same two predecessors as Sabicas, and his style was remarkably similar to Sabicas. My opinion is that Sabicas was more compás oriented, and clearly heard the dancer in his head even when playing solo. Not surprising, given the fact that he was Carmen Amaya's accompanist. Ricardo seems to have inherited more of Ramón's lyricism, and clearly heard the imaginary singer when he played. He can, in fact, be heard humming in the background of most of his recordings.
Mario's early recordings are pure Montoya and Ricardo. Note for note at times. He had also played for dancers, including Carmen Amaya. (His first wife was one of Carmen's sisters.). He was touring in New York when he met Sabicas, and Sabicas became his new mentor, friend, and colleague. They recorded many albums together. Mario completely absorbed Sabicas' style and could play any of his falsetas, but had not yet infused his own ideas, though they had certainly been brewing. In one early album, he experimented with the mixing of several different palos into one piece, something that is only now (2003) becoming common as an arranging technique. In 1969 he released his two-album LP, Mario Escudero Plays Classical Flamenco Music. These albums broke new ground. Here was a vituoso guitarist, with the technical skills of Sabicas, but who no longer sounded like Sabicas, or Ricardo, or Montoya. He could play their falsetas, of course, and often did, in concert. But he added something new. Harmonies were taken from some of the classical pianists (Albéniz, for one) and jazz. I know of no discrete evidence that Mario was interested in jazz, but some of his falsetas could have been inspired by no other source. Ímpetu, his master work buleria, is the prime example.
Which brings us to Paco de Lucia. Paco, like Mario, can play anything. He was taught á la Ricardo when he was growing up, but his inventiveness was always intruding and he kept changing things. He undoubtedly played Montoya's repertoire as well. Eventually he met and heard Sabicas, and it changed his career. He heard what a solo flamenco guitar could do. At the same time he heard Escudero's music as well. He absorbed their material as quickly as he could, but my intuition is that he heard the jazz influence in Mario. He even recorded Mario's Ímpetu, changing it only very slightly. With these influences under his belt, Paco was now ready to say something of his own. Indeed, both Mario and Sabicas told him it was time for him to do just that.
Paco began to be Paco when he began to work with the material of Sabicas and Escudero. Specifically, he took many of Mario's falsetas and began changing them, slowing them down so that the harmonies could be more clearly heard. Then he began taking them in new directions. He also took falsetas from one palo and revised them into other rhythms. And these new directions opened the door to the flamenco world we hear today.
Tracing the Evolution of Falsetas
The changes of falsetas through time can be seen by examining a few falsetas through the hands of the guitarists whom we are discussing: Montoya, Sabicas, Escudero, and Paco. We shall look at various solea, and buleria falsetas and observe the changes made over time.
Soleares Picados
The first example is a long scale known to most professional flamenco guitarists. It probably originated with Montoya, though there might be earlier versions of it somewhere. It is a very guitaristic scale, falling easily on the neck. It's difficulty is in it's speed of execution.
Montoya approaches the scales as a ligado, and played the upper scales with his left hand alone, finishing it with picado. He uses it to finish this version of soleares. Sabicas changes it by playing the complete scale with his powerful picado. Each note booms out in his typical style. He does not use it as an ending, but as a bridge to another section. Escudero retains the same style as Sabicas but subtly changes the phrasing so that some of the notes are different. I know of no example of Paco playing this falseta.
Example 1: soleares long picado.
The second example has become a standard soleares falseta of the modern school. Here we observe the changes between the way Sabicas and Paco played it. Both begin the scale on beat 4 of the 12 beat compás. Sabicas ends on the root note of the scale, but Paco ends on the dominant. (Sabicas also played it this way.) The thumb arpegio that follows is essentially the same theme, but Paco plays it with a slightly more modern harmony.
Example 2: Soleares short picado
The next example is an arpegio which is frequently used to introduce the long picado in Example 1. In this example we can clearly see the move towards more modern and jazzy phrasing.
Sabicas' version is powerful as always, but the harmonies are guitaristically very basic. A minor, G7, F major, E major, a basic phrygian scale progression. Mario keeps the chords almost the same, but introduces a jazzy 7th or 9th passing tone from the F major to the E major, and also from the G7 to the F major. Paco keeps the same phrygian chordal structure, but plays the arpegio as a series of intervals rather than as a full flowing arpegio. This allows him to introduce a very jazzy style synchopation, one of the hallmarks of Paco and the post-Paco generation.
Buleria Falsetas
The buleria entered flamenco as an evolution from the solea. Montoya's recording of buleria is, in fact, a solea por buleria. Today solea por buleria and buleria are perceived as two distinct palos. Montoya's buleria is played with picado and a lot of rasgueado. The picados are based on cante melodies. Mixed in are occasional thumb passages, performed ligado, or arzapua. Harmonies are straight phrygian mode. When Sabicas plays buleria we again hear the compás pounding through on every passage. In both Montoya and Sabicas (as well as Ricardo) we hear a continuous action with notes filling every beat of the compás. Here is an example of buleria played by Montoya and Sabicas. You'll notice that Montoya is rather free with the compás whereas Sabicas plays the rhythm very strongly.
Example 4: Montoya and Sabicas bulerias
Up until Mario Escudero, all buleria falsetas sounded pretty much like Montoya, Sabicas, and Ricardo. They were performed with picados and thumb work. Sabicas began adding 3 finger picados, and some arpegios, and Mario carried this further. His Ímpetu introduced arpegios based on jazz progressions, and syncopations that are extremely difficult to play. Perhaps that's why very few guitarists have recorded Ímpetu. The opening falseta of this piece introduces a new swing and sound to the buleria. The falseta contains newer versions of standard chords, but played as intervals and arpegios. Mario plays it very fast, typical of his style in general. Paco takes the theme and slows it down a bit, allowing the harmonies to be heard. He rephrases the melodic line in his own style and essentially carried the influence of Ímpetu forward.
Example 5: Escudero and Paco: buleria falsetas
Sabicas frequently used arpegios in his buleria, sometimes as introductions, and less frequently as melodic passages. They tended to be based on a simple phrygian scale progresion. For example, D minor or B flat, C, F, A. This can be clearly heard in the following buleria introduction.
Example 6: Sabicas buleria arpegio
Contrast the above apegio with Mario's arpegio from Ímpetu. This arpegio represents a quantum leap in thinking. Although the overall structure is phrygian, the falseta contains many passing tones and chords which are very much jazz-derived. This is an arpegio that neither Sabicas nor Montoya could have conceived and it marks a turning point in the evolution of the buleria.
Example 7: Escudero buleria arpegio
Summary
The preceeding examples and discussion clearly show an evolutionary development leading from the music of Montoya through to Paco de Lucia. There are undoubtedly other guitarists of note that could be cited who also made significant contributions. The reader should listen to Serranito's recordings, for example, to hear changes in style made to Sabicas falsetas. The guitarists of today are continuing to expand, but the changes are coming from the outside as well as the inside. Whereas in the past, flamenco falsetas of previous guitarists were the main sources of material, today musical ideas literally come from all of world music, including jazz, blues, classical, pop, Indian, etc. The future of flamenco guitar will surely be interesting!