"The life and career of Carmen Amaya
spanned three periods in flamenco history...Paco Sevilla,
perhaps the best English language writer and researcher on
flamenco, gives extensive background details for each of
these eras, the flamencos who lived through them, and their
influence on Carmen Amaya. The author has woven together the
most complete and best researched book on Carmen Amaya to
date. In eleven chapters the reader can learn fascinating
details about the lives and techniques of some of the most
revered flamencos in history...Most of the information may
never have been published in English, and much of it has
never been published in Spanish...
Almost a complete history of flamenco guitar is
contained in these pages. Paco Sevilla
is a professional
flamenco guitarist whose intimate knowledge of the art
grants his writing and authority equaled by very few
writers.
—
Emma Martínez Hockley, Flamenco International
Magazine, Autumn, 1999.
|
|
"...The most
incredible book, on more than just Carmen Amaya—on
everyone in flamenco. You'll read dozens of pages about
Carmen, then interjected will be biographical details of a
singer, dancer, or guitarist. There are so many anecdotes
about everyone that I found it hard to set the book down. In
fact, I've read it while practicing guitar! Paco
Sevilla...makes you feel like you are there at the death of
Ramón Montoya, when the public lined up for blocks to
view the body of the maestro of the flamenco guitar. Go with
Carmen when she buys three fur coats or seven fur stoles at
once. Hear about the toll on Sabicas, who says they toured 49
weeks a year for five years straight. The details are so
numerous on not less than 115 icons of the Golden Age of
Flamenco. In a world of five stars, this book deserves six
stars. It will be a long time, if ever, before another book
like this one comes along."
— Randy Osborne: Fine Fretted String Instruments.
|
|
|
Queen of the Gypsies, page 17 |
|
In
a plaza on the waterfront, where Las Ramblas ends at the docks, was the
restaurant Las Siete Puertas. A favorite of the upper classes, it was frequented
by millionaires, shipping magnates, Nobel Laureates, artists of all sorts, and
elegant women. The owner often permitted gypsies to perform at the tables, and
it was there that Carmen first began to make a name for herself. On a tile
floor, while dodging waiters as they came and went, Carmelilla danced in her
bare feet, letting herself be carried by the rhythm of the guitar as if
possessed by some internal torment, her eyes looking off into the distance, her
hair falling over her glistening face, her mind in some other place, oblivious
to the hustle and bustle of the busy salon. The customers paid her in dollars,
francs, sterling pounds—money she hadn't the slightest idea how to use.
While she danced, El Chino kept his eye on the door, watching for the Guardia
Civil [police]. He knew it could be very costly to him if he were caught making
a child work at night. "When she finishes her dance, Carmen Amaya, the
daughter of El Chino, raffles off, at ten
centimos for each number, tickets for the drawing of two bottles of
good Spanish wine that the owner of Las Siete Puertas gives to the Amayas each
night. If some customer makes the mistake of giving a
peseta [roughly equivalent to a dollar at that time], under the
illusion that he will receive change, he is surprised to see that the little
girl who dances as if in a trance has no change, or after a few mumbles words
that the customer cannot understand, she says thank you for the gift of a
peseta."
|
|
|
|
|
