Ram\u00f3n Soler (M\u00e1laga, 1966), tireless investigator, is about to publish his biography of Mor\u00f3n guitarist Francisco G\u00f3mez Amaya, Paco del Gastor.\u00a0 Flamenco followers know Ram\u00f3n thanks to the magnificent work, along with his uncle, Luis Soler, related to Antonio Mairena, in addition to books on La Repompa, La Ca\u00f1eta and La Pirula, \u00c1ngel de \u00c1lora, Juanito Mojama and Antonio el Chaqueta, and his collaboration in works focused on don Antonio Chac\u00f3n, Manuel Torre and Tom\u00e1s Pav\u00f3n of the Carlos Mart\u00edn Ballester collection. Ram\u00f3n was kind enough to talk with Expoflamenco about his most recent project.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Ram\u00f3n, what made you decide to write about a guitarist this time?<\/strong> Is it mostly a biographical work, or do you delve into musical specifics?<\/strong> The book is essentially biographical and based on true experiences, full of juicy anecdotes that draw an informal portrait of the settings in which flamenco developed, some of which no longer exist, from the first tablaos, to the gatherings of serious followers of the art, to the sordid back-rooms, then the nightclubs, festivals and theaters.\u00a0 Along the way, guitar technique and, the most important thing for me, his philosophy, the necessary balance between musical technique and communicative power.\u00a0 I believe the opinions and commentaries about guitarists, singers and dancers are going to trigger a great deal of interest since it\u2019s all coming from a person with authority.<\/p>\n Do you believe Paco del Gastor has been unfairly forgotten?<\/strong> With Paco del Gastor, it\u2019s been a little like what happened with Antonio el Chaqueta, by the way, one of Paco\u2019s favorite singers.\u00a0 In a conversation about flamenco singing, after mentioning fifty singers, someone names Chaqueta and its all praise, but no one takes him into consideration.\u00a0 With Paco del Gastor, it\u2019s exactly the same.\u00a0 Not everything in flamenco guitar is Paco de Luc\u00eda, Manolo Sanl\u00facar, Ricardo, Sabicas and Montoya.\u00a0 They\u2019re all extraordinary, there\u2019s no doubt about it, but in my opinion, Paco del Gastor also deserves attention.\u00a0 This book aims to stress this without forgetting that Paco del Gastor was the first to admire Paco de Luc\u00eda, Ricardo, Sabicas, Manuel Morao, Melchor and Marote.\u00a0And of course, his uncle Diego.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your involvement with the Festival of Torremolinos August 31st, and the tribute to Paco del Gastor?\u00a0Who\u2019s on the program?\u00a0 I see Paco\u2019s grandson is featured as guitar soloist, that\u2019s great news.<\/strong> The idea was enthusiastically accepted by the organization, and I also proposed that it was a good occasion for his grandson Paco to play in the festival.\u00a0There\u2019s a great deal of expectation to hear him, because he\u2019s an excellent guitarist backed up by the prestigious Bord\u00f3n Minero prize of La Uni\u00f3n.\u00a0 Also on the bill, Rancapino chico, who\u2019s a top star, his promising niece Esmeralda, Bonela hijo, a singer who always surprises us with his encyclopedic knowledge, and Purili who interprets his gypsy artistry with tremendous self-assurance despite his youth. Along with them, the winner of the singing contest of the Torremolinos pe\u00f1a will also perform, as well as dancer Luisa Chicano, always so flamenco, and El Carrete, an artist unlike any other, who worked with Paco del Gastor some fifty years ago along the coast.\u00a0 Each singer is bringing a guitarist, Antonio Higuero, Pepe Fern\u00e1ndez, Luis el Salao, Nono Reyes and Andr\u00e9s Cansino.\u00a0 The festival will be presented by a Torremolinos resident, Perrequeque de Mor\u00f3n.\u00a0 For the actual tribute, I\u2019ll be the one offering the honors to maestro Paco del Gastor.<\/p>\n When can we expect the book to come out?<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ram\u00f3n Soler (M\u00e1laga, 1966), tireless investigator, is about to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[106],"class_list":["post-14457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estela-flamenca","tag-entrevista-en"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWell, it\u2019s true my passion is flamenco singing, but I\u2019m also very interested in traditional music, which is a substantial part of flamenco.\u00a0 In actual fact, I like to write about and investigate topics that arouse my curiosity and about interpreters who transmit something to me, regardless of where they\u2019re from; my vision of art isn\u2019t localistic.\u00a0Flamenco is important to me, not because it\u2019s from Andalusia, but because it\u2019s an art-form that moves me as none other, and makes it possible to relate to the world in a special way.\u00a0Which is why, because of the emotion, the communicative power, I\u2019ve always been enthralled and bewitched by the guitar of Paco del Gastor.\u00a0 I remember festivals in which he accompanied Fernanda and Bernarda, Chano Lobato, Paco Valdepe\u00f1as, Funi, his cousin Andorrano and his buddy Cabrero, and it was pure gold, a unique sound with tremendous power and a flamenco feel, making use of very personal things on the guitar, both in accompaniment and solo.<\/p>\n
\nSince this was the first time I\u2019ve written extensively about a guitarist, the focus is different from previous work in which the main thrust was analysis of song-forms.\u00a0 The book is written based on the interviews I did with Paco del Gastor in Mor\u00f3n.\u00a0Although there was a script, other things always came up in conversations in a natural way.\u00a0 In any case, Paco wasn\u2019t the only source of information, I also drew from memories and asides from his wife Fina, his daughter Lupe and his friend Andr\u00e9s\u00a0 Olmedo Su\u00e1rez, a great flamenco follower and friend of mine. \u00a0Starting out with that body of information, I organized all the material in short segments to create a dynamic text, and I\u2019ve tried to give stylistic unity to a story in which the only voice, except for the introduction, is that of Paco del Gastor himself.\u00a0 Without a doubt, one of the main characters is the irreplaceable figure of his uncle Diego del Gastor, who not only influenced him decisively in his way of playing guitar, but above all else, from the human point of view.\u00a0 I think the vision offered in the book of Diego del Gastor is novel because of the intimacy resulting from Paco\u2019s being a direct disciple who lived his infancy and youth very close to him, with a touching relationship that is nearly like that of a father and son.<\/p>\n
\nActually, I do.\u00a0 And that was one of the things that led me to carry out this work.\u00a0 For years, whenever I spoke with Paco, he seemed to have a lot to say, and a lively way of expressing himself, a great sense of humor and plenty of wit.\u00a0 His knowledge of the history of guitar-playing is extraordinary, because he\u2019s lived through the things he talks about.\u00a0 His style of playing is exceptional, with an unmistakable personality all his own which always shows where he comes from.\u00a0 In my opinion, he is a true genius of the guitar, born from the genius of another, his uncle Diego, and this is especially important because of the unusual nature of the situation. What happened to Paco is that he let several opportunities pass him by: being 20 years with Bambino, certainly gave him little exposure, although this served to give him enviable knowledge of how to manage the tones of the guitar with a surprising capacity to hone his instincts.\u00a0 In the 1980s he jumped on the bandwagon of festivals in a more or less steady way.<\/p>\n
\nYes, well I know some of the organizers such as Miguel D\u00edaz and guitarist Luis el Salao, a great friend of mine for many years.\u00a0 When they told me the people who would be performing, I proposed that it would be interesting if each year a flamenco person with links to Torremolinos were to be honored, and such was the case of Paco del Gastor who worked in the tablaos for years during a particularly creative time for him, the end of the 1960s and beginning of the seventies.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s to be published in the autumn.\u00a0 It includes some very interesting graphic material, nearly all never before seen, most of it obtained from the personal archives of the maestro.\u00a0 The book includes a CD with solo pieces as well as accompaniment of various stars.<\/p>\n