Flamenco Romantico

You might think of flamenco as being bustling fingers on a guitar, and musicians and singers in search of those moments of duende, or transcendence. But, as German-born Rafa El Tachuela proves admirably here, flamenco can work just as well when it's more subdued and introspective. El Tachuela's a superb musician with an excellent ear and he's finely attuned to the possibilities, not only of different flamenco styles, but of the guitar itself. He's not afraid to play with form, as he does with "Energia Pura," where he mixes in Arab melodies that work quite gracefully, or "En la Noche," where the power of the music is in its restraint. About the only thing that seems even slightly out of place here is the brief percussion solo, "Paseo en la Selva Verde," where the forest sounds seem to take the album to another, slightly false, dimension. But that's a brief exception to a rule of powerful, gorgeous played music that seems to emanate directly from the soul. More than that, El Tachuela's a man who understands and lives flamenco. Flamenco Romantico leans far closer to the nuevo rather than the traditional end of the genre, but loses none of its muscle for that. Is it romantic? Yes. But it's more than that; it's a wonderfully satisfying record.