In 2003, at the end of a masterclass Dave Holland had been giving (on Hindu rhythms!) at Seville's Teatro Central, I told him about the jazz and flamenco gatherings that the Andalusian Regional Government has been running since 1999 in its "Jazz viene del Sur" (Jazz comes from the South) festival. He was very enthusiastic about the idea of taking part: "I wanna do it! ... I've worked with musicians from Africa, the Arab world, with Inuits, with people who play traditional Japanese music, classical music, Hindu music and jazz, of course ... But there's still some unfinished business: flamenco." Eventually, with the help of Sergio Merino of Arco y Flecha, we managed to find some dates in March 2007 when Dave could set aside a whole week to work on the project.
Once that was settled, all we had to do was find the right travelling companions for Dave as he embarked on his first journey into the world of flamenco. We suggested a whole string of potential collaborators - people who could switch easily between the two mediums of jazz and flamenco: "amphibious" guitarists, a "bilingual" saxophonist, polymath pianists... But Dave was adamant that he wanted a thoroughbred flamenco musician - "Someone who can teach me the real thing." No sooner said than done: Andalusia's Flamenco Development Agency suggested that Pepe Habichuela might fit the bill. Pepe's career has followed a similar path to Dave's - he started at grass roots level, went on to accompany the greats and has since become a much sought-after solo artist. And, like Holland, he's reached the summit of his profession with his prestige and reputation intact: still wholly committed to teaching younger generations, he fulfils a dual role as an undisputed leader in his field and an accompanist to the stars of the flamenco world.
Via Sergio Merino, we sent Dave some of Pepe's recordings, passed on to me by Mario Pacheco of Nuevos Medios. He soon got back to us to say he'd love to work with Pepe. During Dave's 2006 tour we arranged a brief introductory meeting with Pepe in Madrid. Later we fixed the dates for their rehearsal sessions at the Teatro Central in Seville before the project's first three live gigs: Seville on 7 March, then Granada (Teatro Alhambra) and M·laga (Teatro C·novas) in the days that followed. Just prior to the rehearsals, the two men met up at the Casa Robles restaurant in Seville's Santa Cruz district. There Pepe taught Dave the basic rhythms of some the different flamenco styles: the bulerÌa, sole·, seguiriya and fandango. Holland used a mini recorder to capture the beat of Pepe's knuckles on the table -that night, back in his hotel room, he transcribed the rhythms on to manuscript paper.
When that first rehearsal finally got under way, Dave sat at his music stand and started accompanying Pepe's bulerÌas straightaway and with astonishing ease, as if he'd been doing it all his life. The seguiriya didn't go quite as smoothly and they had a discussion about whether it had three or four beats to the bar. It took a couple of days, but Dave did master the structure and was soon back in the swing of things. The repertoire chosen for the concerts centred around these basic structures, with pieces by Pepe, some co-written by his son, Josemi Carmona, and a stunning solo bass improvisation from Dave. The success of these sell-out events was repeated at the gigs they played the following spring in Huelva, Madrid and Barcelona. They in turn proved to be the ideal preparation for the studio recording which produced this album.
In 2003, at the end of a masterclass Dave Holland had been giving (on Hindu rhythms!) at Seville's Teatro Central, I told him about the jazz and flamenco gatherings that the Andalusian Regional Government has been running since 1999 in its "Jazz viene del Sur" (Jazz comes from the South) festival. He was very enthusiastic about the idea of taking part: "I wanna do it! ... I've worked with musicians from Africa, the Arab world, with Inuits, with people who play traditional Japanese music, classical music, Hindu music and jazz, of course ... But there's still some unfinished business: flamenco." Eventually, with the help of Sergio Merino of Arco y Flecha, we managed to find some dates in March 2007 when Dave could set aside a whole week to work on the project.
Once that was settled, all we had to do was find the right travelling companions for Dave as he embarked on his first journey into the world of flamenco. We suggested a whole string of potential collaborators - people who could switch easily between the two mediums of jazz and flamenco: "amphibious" guitarists, a "bilingual" saxophonist, polymath pianists... But Dave was adamant that he wanted a thoroughbred flamenco musician - "Someone who can teach me the real thing." No sooner said than done: Andalusia's Flamenco Development Agency suggested that Pepe Habichuela might fit the bill. Pepe's career has followed a similar path to Dave's - he started at grass roots level, went on to accompany the greats and has since become a much sought-after solo artist. And, like Holland, he's reached the summit of his profession with his prestige and reputation intact: still wholly committed to teaching younger generations, he fulfils a dual role as an undisputed leader in his field and an accompanist to the stars of the flamenco world.
Via Sergio Merino, we sent Dave some of Pepe's recordings, passed on to me by Mario Pacheco of Nuevos Medios. He soon got back to us to say he'd love to work with Pepe. During Dave's 2006 tour we arranged a brief introductory meeting with Pepe in Madrid. Later we fixed the dates for their rehearsal sessions at the Teatro Central in Seville before the project's first three live gigs: Seville on 7 March, then Granada (Teatro Alhambra) and M·laga (Teatro C·novas) in the days that followed. Just prior to the rehearsals, the two men met up at the Casa Robles restaurant in Seville's Santa Cruz district. There Pepe taught Dave the basic rhythms of some the different flamenco styles: the bulerÌa, sole·, seguiriya and fandango. Holland used a mini recorder to capture the beat of Pepe's knuckles on the table -that night, back in his hotel room, he transcribed the rhythms on to manuscript paper.
When that first rehearsal finally got under way, Dave sat at his music stand and started accompanying Pepe's bulerÌas straightaway and with astonishing ease, as if he'd been doing it all his life. The seguiriya didn't go quite as smoothly and they had a discussion about whether it had three or four beats to the bar. It took a couple of days, but Dave did master the structure and was soon back in the swing of things. The repertoire chosen for the concerts centred around these basic structures, with pieces by Pepe, some co-written by his son, Josemi Carmona, and a stunning solo bass improvisation from Dave. The success of these sell-out events was repeated at the gigs they played the following spring in Huelva, Madrid and Barcelona. They in turn proved to be the ideal preparation for the studio recording which produced this album.
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