Paco Sevilla

What an amazing throve of information! Paco Sevilla has achieved what many have failed to do: Provide an in-depth, colorful, and well-researched account of the history of flamenco from the late 1800s to the 1960s. Do not be fooled into thinking that this book focuses on Carmen Amaya. Sure, Paco follows Amaya's career throughout the book, but he follows the careers of over 100 flamenco figures, who all played a part in making modern flamenco what it is. To do this, he expands on the many personal accounts and previous flamenco studies published. He is not fooled by false anecdotal stories, as he always seeks to cross-reference. One extremely valuable source of information is Paco’s expertise in flamenco music and guitar in general. Often, he includes analyses of surviving recordings to corroborate the stories and claims of flamencos. Why, you might ask, is this necessary? Well, because gitanos are well known for their abilities to exaggerate, tell tall tales, and even bad-mouth each other. Often, several people will claim that they were the first to sing a certain palo or dance a certain song, for example. Paco also overcomes some of the prejudices that can be found in previous flamenco studies, where, for example, women who danced in men’s clothes or who had strong footwork were criticized for not being feminine enough, etc.

I am not sure how easy this book will be for those who know nothing about flamenco. Sevilla does a good job in explaining terminology, but certainly it helps to have studied, danced, and listened to a lot of flamenco to follow everything without too much effort. The book, aside from being a priceless flamenco resource, is also a very good cultural study on the Spanish gitanos. Thanks to Paco, I picked up some calo’ words and now I appreciate the things I saw in Sacromonte, Albaicin, and Granada more.

I recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in the recent history of flamenco as well as those who are looking for a guide to the most important figures, the seminal recordings for certain palos, and information on flamenco in pre-Carlos Saura cinema.
… (meer)