I'll stop messing around. These days, flamenco guitar is at an unprecedented level, far beyond what the modern world has advanced. cante or the dance. I'm getting wet now: all the guitarists are there and then, a handful of steps above, Antonio. And just as in the past we talked about Diego o Paco and it was not necessary to name them, now it is Antonio –King– the one who distributes, dominates, and commands. Tastes aside, no one can match his paw, or rather his hand, in terms of execution and technique. And that's undeniable. Forgive me for being blunt. And if not, judge for yourselves. The fact that he's won two Latin Grammys isn't necessarily a reason that justifies it, especially now that music awards and competition recognition are being devalued or prostituted by media issues. But they're there too. What does endorse him are the discerning ears, the colleagues who prostrate themselves at his feet, and the extensive concert schedule he gives traveling around the world. It seems we don't get it here. Last night at the Cultural Week of Flamenco Activities in Paradas It was free to the public, and he played for an hour and a half under a damn spotlight that didn't let him see the neck until, halfway through the concert, they turned it off. He's equally good at performing in a small room with friends as he is at performing for thousands of people, because Antonio doesn't understand the whole thing halfway, nor is he conditioned by the fee. He offered a masterful performance worthy of the best theaters in the world, thus revalidating his scepter among contemporary sonantists.
I don't know how he can fit so much music inside him, or how it flows so easily through his fingertips. He has a prodigious left hand and a dizzying right hand. His touch is precise, powerful, and decisive. He presses the frets with aplomb. Not a click, a dirty note, or a mistake in his fingering escapes him. Always in tune, sensitive in the soft passages, powerful in the bold parts. The swift and crystalline picados, alzapúas of astonishing neatness, rounded drones, fine arpeggios and tremolos, sustained or arpeggiated tiraíllos, off-beats, hits and silences in their measure… His guitar is understandable, shining full of melody, without getting lost in harmonic tangles that camouflage the beat, transparent at all times what palo It is between its strings, reading on its neck how the depth of its falsetas flows, supported by profiled strumming, apparently simple, but tremendously polished and worked.
«His guitar is understood, it shines full of melody, without getting lost in harmonic tangles that camouflage the beat, making transparent at all times what palo It is between its strings, reading on its neck how the depth of its falsetas flows, supported by profiled strumming, of apparent simplicity, but tremendously polished and worked.
He played for the hour and a half recital without a capo, in the air, from the bone of the head to the sound hole of the guitar. shedding scales impossible for most mortals, enjoying the ride, tickling the Bajañí and the audience, who couldn't help but surrender to him. Despite the excessive decibels and sometimes unbalanced volumes between the two guitars. I don't know if it was to Antonio's liking or that of his sound technician.
He abandoned himself with substance for several of the cuts on his last album, with nods to the previous one, Flamenco without Borders -with Cañaílla Street, for example - starting with Levantine airs to get his hands on his rumba, the aforementioned alegrías, the bulerías of Stories of a flamenco, the mining company Calm… He played together with his father Tony Rey and he brought a second guitar to Manuel Heredia, whose base blended perfectly when the sound was heard. On percussion was Ane Carrasco, with just the right amount of interventions to provide the melody without disturbing. And as a guest artist he was surrounded by the thunderous and velvety voice of Jesus Mendez which was good for tangos, but much better for the fandangazos that he performed without a PA system and the short bit of bulerías with which they closed the curtain.
Apotheotic. Antonio is today the king of the guitar.
Friend Paul Grill He previously spoke masterfully about the trajectory and qualities of Diego Clavel, the honoree of this Cultural Week. But his lecture deserves a separate mention, or if you see fit, its full publication in this magazine.
Credits
Recital by Antonio Rey
35th Cultural Week of Flamenco Activities in Paradas, Seville
March 31th 2025
Guitar: Antonio Rey
Second guitar: Manuel Heredia
Guest guitar: Tony Rey
Cante, guest artist: Jesús Méndez
Percussion: Ané Carrasco
Speaker: Pablo Parrilla
Presenter: Jesús Pérez
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