Studying flamenco under Jason McGuire, who also is a recording engineer and produces everything from flamenco to metal, the gear head in me was further encouraged. I played a Lester de Voe negra of Jason’s, and was blown away. Lester was perhaps the first American builder to be played by Paco. Lester is a lovely, gentle, humorous soul, and one of the most important luthiers of our time. I ordered a negra from him, and it is played on my recordings Come to Me and Reincarnation. By this time I was feeling pretty well stocked with flamenco guitars, when Lester mentioned he had a few pieces of the finest Spanish cypress he’s ever seen. So, I commissioned a blanca (blancas are my extra favorites) and it is featured on Samsara. Jason was fond of vintage Ramirez guitars for a while, and he found me a mint 1969 Ramirez 1A flamenco blanca. It had basically never been played, and it’s been opening up beautifully the last few years. (That is a guitar of my youth. I used to borrow a 60’s Ramirez from one of my high school Jesuit teachers for special gigs; he was always so nervous about it I stopped asking).
By this time I was determined to stop buying more guitars (I’ll mention the electrics and amps next time). Jason introduced me to Glenn Canin, who I started studying Alexander Technique with. (Guitar players have notoriously poor posture. McLaughlin, perhaps because of yoga, being a notable exception). Glenn is also perhaps the most gifted young guitar builder today. I’ve just taken delivery of a Brazilian rosewood negra with a cedar top. It is so loud, and has so much tone, it’s amazing. There is a youtube video of Jason playing Glenn’s guitars that has gone viral, for good reason. Then a few months ago, Glenn stopped a gardener hauling a cypress stump to the wood chipper. He pleaded with the guy, who finally let him haul it away. So, as a fourth generation San Franciscan, I figured I had to have a San Francisco blanca. It should be finished in a few months, and I’m sure it will have many songs to sing.
Gregory James
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