Artist: Miguel Angel Cortés
Album: Bordón de trapo
Year: 2006
Line-up: Miguel Angel Cortés –
flamenco guitar
Carmen Linares – vocals
Esperanza Fernández – vocals
Arcángel – vocals
Juan Antonio Suárez ”Canito” -
flamenco guitar
Cepillo – percussion, palmas,
jaleos
Julio Blasco – bass
Carmen Cortés – palmas
Raquel Enamorado – backing vocals
Label: Karonte
The one common problem of instrumental
albums is that they easily end up being musically uninteresting,
self-indulgent demonstrations of the performers technical proficiency
over his instrument. You are also more likely to find an instrumental
albums like this if you happen to play the particular instrument
which the album focuses on. No where is this more evident than in the
world of the guitar. Maybe it is because I have been playing the
guitar in various forms for over ten years now and have grown bored
most of the music which relies heavily on the instrument. Yet, there
is no denying that there is a vast amount of guitar virtuosos who are
making instrumental albums where the guitar is playing the lead role
and the other instruments are merely on supporting roles. This does
not only go for the electric guitar but I have noticed a similar
trend of mundane technical acrobatics in the flamenco guitar scene as
well.
The flamenco guitar has two distinct
dimensions to it: There is the accompanying element which is yet
divided into the accompaniment of dance and the accompaniment of
singing. Then there is the element of solo playing. Every
professional flamenco guitar player has done the demanding duties of
accompaniment before moving to pursue the stardom of a solo guitar
player. Thus one learns the almost endless intricacies of the
rhythmic dimension of flamenco as well as the harmonic and melodic
conventions. To exaggerate by generalizing I would say that most
flamenco guitar players are divided into accompanists and solo
players. While most flamenco guitar players continue to work with
dancers and singers among their own personal artistic endeavors, the
majority of them are profiled either as soloists or accompanists.
Then again we are blessed with guitarists such Miguel Angel Cortés
who is recognised as a master of both of these fields.
Miguel Angel Cortés was born in
Granada in 1972 to a flamenco family with a large history of guitar
players. It is not strange then that Miguel Angel would continue the
family tradition by picking up the guitar himself at the young age of
eight. By the time Miguel Angel was 14 he was already doing tours all
over the globe playing for many distinguished dancers. In 1990 he
began to work with one the most famous flamenco singers of all time,
Carmen Linares with his brother Paco Cortés, who is also
unsurprisingly a guitar player. In the most recent years Miguel Angel
has rose to the public attention by providing his imaginative but
rock solid accompaniment to such great singers as Estrella Morente,
Esperanza Fernández and Arcángel not only doing shows and tours
with them but recordings as well.
Speaking of recordings, in 1998 the
first solo album of Miguel Angel Cortés was released titled
Patriarca. I have not personally heard the album and it seems
that it has remained more or less unknown among even in the flamenco
circles. However, eight years later Miguel Angel released his second
album Bordon de trapo which finally has brought his skills as
soloist and the maturity as a composer to a wider attention. This
album perfectly showcases the versatility of Miguel Angel Cortés:
what Bordon de trapo offers
us is the technically proficient playing with the whole variety of
flamenco guitar techniques including rasgueados, picados,
alzapua and Miguel Angel's
trademark staccatos. Yet,
at the same time the album treats us with great melodies, harmonies
and compositions in general not forgeting the various different
flamenco styles present here and the unique treatment they are given.
In addition to all this, three frequent collaborators of Miguel
Angel, Arcángel, Carmen Linares and Esperanza Fernández appear here
providing vocals for couple of the tracks making Bordon de
trapo a even more rich listening
experience.
I
bought Bordon de trapo
myself
in the early 2011 and even after two years I find myself coming back
to it on a regular basis. The album is merely 33 minutes long but due
to its limited running time it never gets boring and I might play the
album through twice at one sitting. Bordon
de trapo is
an album which captures the beauty and dynamics of the flamenco
guitar with a modern touch while also respecting the traditional
roots of flamenco. It is a work of love for the guitar which serves
the music, never falling to just express the technical supremacy that
one truly dedicated to the instrument might have. I you have the
chance to witness Miguel Angel Cortés performing live it is strongly
recommended you do that since that way you are likely to witness the
full potential of this amazing guitarist. Meanwhile, Bordon
de trapo is
definitely worth your time and money. Olé Miguel Angel Cortés!
Here
is a theme from the album demonstrating the capabilities of Miguel
Angel Cortés as a player and a composer:
and
an other where you can hear and see him play masterfully for a
singer:
Written
by Παναγιωτιης
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