The Elysian Fields

Wrapping up the set of Paco de Lucia tunes, here's the title track, a tango, from his 2004 album Cositas Buenas:



Great album, by the way... if you missed my review way back when, it's here. If you don't have the album, go, get it!

In today's video, Paco de Lucia and ensemble play Entre Dos Aguas, the title track of his 1975 compilation album:



Although the percussionist gets to share some of the spotlight as a secondary, there's some great bass playing and other instrumental work going on here, and I think that's what caught me most off-guard when I saw Paco live. I had expected, just by reputation, some phenomenal guitar work from Paco, but I hadn't expected anything from the other players, and I was surprised at their share of the spotlight. Of course, much of that performance featured flamenco dancers and vocalist, and those categories aren't present in this video... =)

Just a short clip today, with Paco de Lucia playing a little opening bit...



This is pretty much how he opened up the performance at the Berklee Performance Center, and can be heard on his Live in America disc... although, here it's used to segue into an interview that isn't included in the clip.

Paco's speed is quite noticeable when it's just him and the guitar ~ sometimes, in the ensemble, you're not aware of how blindingly fast he is on account of the performance being musical. This isn't just speed for speed's sake, no matter that there's more notes in this minute long excerpt than in many full-length tune! =)