Band - Diego Amador Quartett

Flamenco & Jazz aus Spanien

Diego Amador (p, g, voc.), Jesús Garrido Toro (b, eb), Jorge Reyes Oliva (nn),Israel Varela (dr)

DIEGO AMADOR
"You have to play the piano the way they play flamenco guitar nowadays"
Diego Amador, "Churri", the youngest of the multi-talented Amadors, founders of the legendary group Pata Negra, presents his second recording to Deflamenco. According to the musician "it's the first ever record of flamenco piano because never before has anyone really played flamenco on the piano", although he also includes guitar, mandolin and bass, and of couse his own voice. He shares his reflections on the purity of flamenco, what flamenco on piano represents for him and his outlook on fusion. He also talks about the problems he had at last year's Festival de Cante de las Minas de La Unión and his view of Dominique Abel's documentary 'Polígono Sur' about Seville's Tres Mil Viviendas neighborhood.
Diego, how do manage to juggle piano, guitar, bass, percussion, cantaor, composing....?
You have to make a living, and since I don't have a lot of work playing piano...but I like all instruments, aside from the fact that the piano is my instrument, I also enjoy playing bass, guitar, singing....
What do like best?

The guitar is my favorite thing, and singing, but guitar is very hard, you have to spend hours and hours to be on top of it, you can't leave it for a moment. Piano as well...I've put in many hours studying piano.

"You can't push it, you have to be flamenco, period...you're either flamenco or you're not."
Do you have to force the piano to sound flamenco?
No, you can't push it, you have to be flamenco, period...you're either flamenco or you're not. Although the piano, for all practical purposes isn't flamenco, you have to focus it in such a way that it enters into flamenco. I'm a guy who plays several instruments and I want whatever I play to sound flamenco, but without contrivances. It depends on the musician...if the person playing is flamenco, the final result is bound to be flamenco, even if it's bagpipes. Is imitating flamenco guitar the starting point?

When I started playing piano it was because my brothers were playing Chick Corea's records, Herbie Hancock...lots of people, and I started playing piano because I liked it a lot, I didn't think it could sound flamenco, but it does, you have to play piano like contemporary guitar they play nowadays. People are off-base when they play piano, they try to play it like old-style guitar and it sounds Andalusian, but not flamenco. My way of playing piano is different, it's like modern flamenco guitar, the way Paco de Lucía or Tomatito play.

Does the piano have more possibilities than the guitar, or is it more limited?
The piano has a lot to offer, but even though the guitar appears to be more limited, it's like a woman, when you play her right she sounds good. Piano is more Japanese in a way, cold and electronic, despite being acoustic...the guitar has more life, depending on how you play it of course. When I play piano I try to get the most expression and I go for the little details.