Manuel Molina passed away on Tuesday. Que descanse en paz.
May he rest in peace.
Here is something to remember him with today. An incredibly beautiful video of Lole y Manuel performing Dime.
I want to tell you about some things that help me to feel better when I'm in a funky place. I also want to show you a very cool video and share a flamenco verse with you. But first, some words I wrote last week
(my first week back home post Flamenco Tour)
Coming home I feel overwhelmed.
This is not new.
It is how I usually feel after a trip to Spain. Excited to be back but overwhelmed and sort of confused at the same time.
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I want to tell you about green bananas. Because knowing about green bananas will help you when it's time to dance bulerías. (In Jerez or anywhere really).
And so, a short story from Jerez
Tú vas a comer un plátano verde?
This is what Ani asked Ana.
Ani is Ana María López, the bulerías teacher.
Ana is a student from Russia.
Un plátano verde is a green banana.
You don’t eat a green banana
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Tell me I'm not alone
Dime que no estoy sola
When I have to stop what I'm doing and close my eyes. Cerrar mis ojos y pararme.
Because I hear something too beautiful not to. Not to stop. To listen, to take it in, to feel. And to let myself cry.
Close my eyes and stop
to
just
listen.
And then do it again.
Tell me you know what I mean
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I am sitting on my bed looking up at the Alhambra. (No, I am not joking.) It is almost 1am, and I am in Granada. I was doing almost this exact same thing at almost this exact same time last night.
In a moment I'll get to this week's letra along with a great raw video of Junco singing and playing guitar for the camera…
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David Lagos sang the following letra at our private show here in Jerez the other night.
Naturally, I cried, and I wasn't alone…
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On Friday I went to the Peña la Bulería. As you may recall, it is literally steps away from our apartments here in Jerez. I was feeling sleepy and my legs were not looking forward to standing on the hard marble floor after having spent a good deal of time in flamenco shoes and walking on hard streets that day, but once there I was glad I went. As usual.
A young singer named Enrique Remache was performing.
I heard many fantastic letras, like like this one, and jaleos, and took great pleasure in witnessing the reactions of the público.
The reactions
Always one of my favorite aspects of seeing flamenco in Jerez. Men looking at each other and laughing with pleasure upon hearing a particular thing sung a particular way. I won't try to explain this. Just please visit Jerez sometime in your life, and see.
I also love seeing the mix of generations at the peña shows. Teenagers to people in their 70's voluntarily going to hear flamenco.
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Quite awhile ago I published this letra. It was fall not spring when I posted it, and at that time I was preparing to embark on the VERY FIRST FlamencoTour to Jerez. Now as I get ready for the sixth (yes sixth!) tour, I'm re-posting it…
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One of my favorite sites of the Andalucían countryside,
The olive trees
Below, a verse from a traditional Spanish song. Tío Gregorio El Borrico recorded it por alegrías...
Al olivo al olivo
al olivo subí
por cortar una ramita
del olivo caí
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Here’s another tientos letra that we did with Sol and a video of La Moneta dancing to it.
When Sol was here we studied cante por tientos. It was scary singing out loud in front of a bunch of people, even though we all knew each other... But it was great fun too.
Below is one of the letras we sang:
Tientos
Popular
Cuando me meto en mi cama
hablo con mi Dios y le digo
que me parece mentira
lo que tu has hecho conmigo
When I go to bed
I speak with God and I tell him
that it seems a lie
what you've done to me
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Last week we were remembering Paco de Lucía.
Today let's remember Camarón with this video and this song
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Today a song that Paco de Lucía composed for his mother from the album of the same name which he dedicated to her, Luzía.
Las cuerdas de mi guitarra
están llorando…
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Today marks the one year anniversary of Paco de Lucía's passing. I reposted some words I wrote last year after it happened along with a favorite video (with you-know-who playing palmas) on the experience flamenco site.
Below, let's revisit one of his most popular pieces,
The classic Entre dos Aguas:
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Today on the one-year anniversary of Paco de Lucía's passing, in honor of him, I share with you some words I wrote last year upon learning of his death.
Paco se Fue...that's what the message said
It was 1:06 am.
I was in bed.
1:06 am last night,
And I received a text from Toshi.
“Paco se fue,”
That is what it said.
Oh my God,
Paco de Lucía passed away.
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The sun and the moon have been hanging out together in Portland today. I guess they're getting along.
(Below you can see the crescent moon I've been admiring in today's blue sky.)
Sol y Luna
El sol le dijo a la luna
vivir contigo no puedo
porque cuando digo blanco
tú siempre me dices negro
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Here’s a letra Sol, our visiting artist right now, loves
Soleá is said to be the backbone of flamenco,
"It touches my soul," she says.
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Today in Part Two of the Trust & Flamenco Series I share with you how I use bulerías to strengthen my intuition. It's actually not all that difficult.
Because bulerías invites me to trust.
To trust me.
I don't always accept the invitation, but when I do bulerías becomes my teacher.
It teaches me to listen to and honor that instinct that talks to me. To follow it instead of questioning it. Questioning it gets me into trouble, I tend to question, but following it leads me to good and truth.
Trust is something I’ve been working on for quite some time.
And I’m not talking about trusting others,
