Flamenco An Englishman's Passion

This excitingly fresh flamenco book tells the story of how an Englishman first became interested in, and eventually addicted to, a culture that is so different to that of his own; an art normally only associated with the gypsies of Andalucía. The author starts his story with his own musical up-bringing in London and discusses the similarities that exist within the evolution of flamenco and other world music like jazz and the blues. He also takes the reader on a journey through some of the small villages and towns in Andalucía; where he met some of the most influential flamenco artistes of Spain. The book includes some amusing tales and anecdotes of things that happened to him whilst he was researching the book; like the old man he met in Seville who wanted to talk about an approaching game of football between Chelsea FC and Real Betis. The old guy was dumbfounded that this Englishman had no knowledge of football, yet knew more about flamenco than the average Spaniard. The book also describes in great detail some of the flamenco parties that the author attended, and he explains how different these impromptu juergas are compared to the commercial flamenco that is staged for the tourists. The main purpose of the book is to explain the two immensely different sides of flamenco; the glitter and sparkle theatre flamenco, and the cante jondo, the deep songs that have existed in Andalucía for approximately 500 years. The book includes an in depth chapter concerning the history of flamenco, and as well biographies of flamenco artistes who are considered to have played a major role in the evolution and preservation of this culture. Flamenco; an Englishman’s passion explains many of the myths and legends that surround this predominately gypsy art, so this book will not only appeal to lovers of flamenco: the book also reveals Andalucia’s fiestas and celebrations, like Easter week, the festivals, the ferias and the romerias. The author realized that there was much more to flamenco than just music and dance, and he deals with all aspects of life in Andalucía, especially the people, as he believes that they are what make flamenco so unique. The author cut himself off from the outside world to immerse himself in the world of flamenco, mixing with gypsies and andalusians alike, in order to get a true understanding. Tony Bryant claims flamenco became “like a cuckoo”, pushing to one side everything else that was once important, to become a major part of his everyday life. He is a lover of the purest, duende fuelled, gypsy flamenco and he holds no punches when explaining why he feels that the orthodox side of this art is being destroyed by the commercial scene that is desecrating this age old culture.