Flamenco Passion & Soul

Guitarist Gino D'Auri talks about Flamenco Passion & Soul, "These days, many people think that flamenco is about playing sixty thousand notes as quickly as possible. My flamenco is slower, very traditional and down to earth. I may use cello and percussion, but its done in a traditional way, without a lot of notes. For me the music is about feeling and improvisation. I like to take chances, the communication is better that way. Like the blues, the rules of rhythm are strict, but there is much melodic freedom, the possibility of limitless improvisation, and a need to express the feelings that arise from a unique way of life." D'Auri's playing on Flamenco Passion & Soul lives up to the album's title. Dark, droning bass overtones and hypnotic percussion support D'Auri's marvelous flights of melodic fancy. "Striving for perfection gets in the way of the feeling," he says. "When you improvise you cant allow yourself to think about anything but the feeling of the moment. That's where great music comes from."