This album features some of my personal favorites of Sabicas, who domineered my childhood journey into flamenco.

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Sabicas was one of the leading flamenco guitarists in the 20th century, and one of the greatest virtuosos of all time.  He introduced many new guitar techniques to flamenco, combining elements of romance, classical harmonies, and delicate styling into his compositions. Most importantly, Sabicas concertized flamenco guitar in major theaters and concert hall presentations, a tradition which I am also continuing to preserve.

​                                                                                                ~Grisha

                                                                                                    

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From CD Cover

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Imortalized as "Sabicas", Agustin Castellon Campos was one of the leading flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and one of the greatest guitar virtuosos of all time. Sabicas possessed an incredibly refined technique and a remarkably full and powerful tone. While Sabicas was an important innovator and introduced many new guitar techniques to flamenco, his playing style was almost never daring, but rather reserved, tasteful, delicate and romantic. His compositions were always very melodic and featured somewhat classical harmonies.

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My love for Sabicas' music began in early childhood when my father, a classical guitar teacher, acquired some flamenco tapes. For many years Sabicas' recordings were my favorite, and I would listen to them for hours on end. My work on Sabicas began in 1987, shortly after my immersion into flamenco guitar. As there was absolutely no sheet music or tablature of flamenco guitar in Russia, I had to transcribe everything by ear, first with my father's help and later by myself. To my great surprise Sabicas' music laid very naturally under my hands, and before long, I had the pleasure of performing some of the masterpieces by this maestro. To this very day, Sabicas' music maintains a very special place in my repertoire.

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This album features some of my personal favorites of Sabicas. While trying to retain the overall old-school robust feel in my playing, I also sought to introduce more dynamic contrasts and classically-derived tone colors. Performing this music in a variety of ways is essential to keeping it alive and revealing Sabicas' compositional genius.