The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    My wife and I just returned from 2 weeks in Spain. What an incredible place! Aside from all the sightseeing, I managed to see and play many great flamenco guitars and meet some of the master builders. In Madrid I visited the shops of Felipe Conde and Mariano Conde. It was an honor to meet them both. I played guitars in both shops, the highlight being a 1974 Esteso reissue built by Felipe Conde. My one regret in Madrid was that I didn’t make it to the Ramirez shop. Maybe next time!

    Granada was the most beautiful, amazing, culturally rich place I have ever been. Visiting the Alhambra, Sacromonte, Mirador San Nicolas, the various small cathedrals, etc helped me to really understand and internalize the flamenco culture. I was able to visit the Casa Ferrer, where classical and flamenco guitars have been built by the family for 4 generations. I stopped at the shop of Rafael Moreno (I really wanted to meet him), but it was closed for siesta by the time I got there. Later in the day I was fortunate to find Maestro Antonio Marin Montero and his protégés Jose Marin Plazuelo and Jose Gonzalez Lopez all working in their small shop in the Realjo neighborhood. Maestro Antonio is the father of modern Granada guitar building, having pioneered the exceptionally light and incredibly responsive guitars known for Granada. At age 89, he is still producing sone of the world’s best guitars. Srs Gonazalez and Plazuelo are also master builders and heirs to the Marin legacy. I have a flamenco negra built by Sr. Gonzalez Lopez, and it’s an incredible instrument. While none of them speak and English and my Spanish is rudimentary at best, I was able to express by admiration and appreciation for their work and get a picture I’ll always treasure.

    The highlight of the trip was meeting my friend Mijail Kharash who is also one of the finest guitar builders in Granada. I have two of Mijail’s guitars - a cedar/rosewood classical he built for me and an amazing flamenca blanca that I was lucky enough to find used here in the US after missing the opportunity to buy it new in 2019. After getting a tour of his shop, my wife and I had dinner at Mijail’s home with his wife and some mutual friends who are well known in the flamenco and classical guitar world.

    The Mirador San Nicolas is a place that provides an amazing vista of the Alhambra and it’s a place where flamenco guitarists gather and play together in a casual environment. We listened to these two gentlemen lay rumbas and sing for a couple of hours. I could have sat there all day. We also came across a Gitano street musician playing “gypsy jazz” in another part of town. If I can figure out how to do it, I’ll post videos.

    In Sevilla, I did not get a chance to visit any great guitarreros, but I did stumble across a small flamenco tableau/museum that had an astounding collection of historic flamenco guitars, some of which are pictured here.

    It was a great trip. I know I’ll be back to Spain often in the future!

    Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-a437a282-b21f-4f1e-b4ec-083a7788d155-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-81855b16-7765-473a-a100-39172fc89f80-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-d8693dcd-4194-40ca-8ec3-cc08da0b31f8-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-35414de3-1f39-4413-893b-a11367e8f333-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-70881e07-7cd8-465b-9fdf-dc0765228a4c-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-6b3f73cc-0586-4c7d-9f5a-a8d9ac82064d-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-2b0a6dfd-3f56-4fb8-b3f9-e8ed8170a8ee-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-2e833a6b-2603-49c3-abb7-c0bab6288644-jpg
    Last edited by Mark M.; 03-12-2023 at 12:49 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2
    More pics:

    Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-97c6bf8a-e493-4126-865a-b363f4417284-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-7f9274dd-34c4-46c1-bb16-820dbb36aa32-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-cf8a5a32-7727-46db-a595-8e33c516eabe-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-75c83336-58d4-42f7-b7cc-6f91fea18c7a-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-34675e44-c372-4b1e-9f25-8c1bf27e0956-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-d6ac1441-2579-4841-93c9-12bcf258f0eb-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-bd00b0b5-65ba-47b5-9510-d2f9f9ff7626-jpg

  4. #3

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    WOW!! That's a trip I'd LOVE to take!!! I don't think I'd be able to leave without a guitar tho...

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by ruger9
    WOW!! That's a trip I'd LOVE to take!!! I don't think I'd be able to leave without a guitar tho...
    I went there with the intent of maybe bringing a guitar home with me, saving the exorbitant shipping costs. But, after playing several great guitars I decided that I can’t really improve on the 3 that I have. I really favor the lighter Granada guitars over the heavier built Madrid guitars. So, that confirmed something that I suspected would be true. Instead of buying another, I am going to save up a little money and go Spain for a month when I retire and build my own guitar at Stephen Hills European Guitar Building Workshop. One of our friends who we saw in Spain did this last year and, with virtually no experience she built an excellent flamenco guitar.

    I would highly recommend going to Granada if you are interested. It’s an experience of a lifetime.

  6. #5
    Pictures corrected and links to videos added:

    Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-23313a0e-ac77-4b62-a4d8-f46f3312bc21-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-70da4e7c-e0e4-4830-95fa-97f80fc26d39-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-a4cfda87-bbe5-4577-9257-f4b87f0a897b-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-222db7c2-9252-4373-9ffe-5fb517a9a1c2-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-8bb1eacf-e1c7-4a70-a46c-ced4ce0fc22e-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-1249a543-d071-42c9-ba9d-5f480619a55b-jpg

    Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-931c7f20-7eda-4efd-a4df-bee845708078-jpgMadrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-0e2341e1-b523-4c9e-8c48-d14c9085a6c7-jpg


    https://youtu.be/fbyBHof4QWk


    Attached Images Attached Images Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-455ff5ff-1c26-45b3-9996-7e457f123223-jpg Madrid, Granada, Sevilla - Meeting the Great Guitarreros-527bd577-afec-4bf0-92e2-66051c1fdd13-jpg 
    Last edited by Mark M.; 03-12-2023 at 06:57 PM.

  7. #6

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    Thank you for posting - and all the wonderful photos! Those objects of a purist's desire.