An album of discount
flamenco
from
Carlos Montoya
and a trio of other guitarists. The first half is taken up by pieces performed by the ageless
Montoya
and the second half performed by
el Pili
,
Enrique Montoya
, and
el Nino de Alicante
, along with a dancer adding the jaleos and castanets.
performs excellently, as one would expect given his status in the history of
. Most of the major
guitar forms are covered in his nine tracks, with the exception of some alegrias and bulerias perhaps (and the cante jondo, since he's performing in a purely instrumental capacity here). As a nice excursion into other territories, he also performs variations on a
tango
theme to quite astounding effect, mixing the two genres into a coherent work. The second half of the album is perhaps a little less masterful in the guitar work, but portrays a slightly more traditional rendition of
in its full form, with the soulful vocals taking their place (though somewhat quiet in this recording), the jaleos and claps of the other performers, and the castanets and stepping percussion of the dancer all working together to produce a full sound with the guitarists. Overall, it's not a bad album of
at all, though it focuses almost entirely on the guitarists. For a fuller picture of
the way it's meant to be, one should perhaps look up other albums, such as
Cante Flamenco
or the
Rough Guide
album devoted to
(which includes some work from
Camaron & Tomatillo
, among others). For a basic look at a great
guitarist though, this album does well. ~ Adam Greenberg