Exclusive
Interview with José Luis Encinas
By Piper Henriques / ClassicalGuitarShop.com |
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Calle del Clavel - José Luis Encinas!
"Hailed throughout Europe
as a master guitarist. Artfully blending flamenco,classical,
pop, and world music styles." Jose Luis Encinas, classical
guitar virtuoso, was awarded a scholarship to attend Peabody
Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University during a visit
with his sister in Washington DC. Later his purely classical
1995 album "Ten Masterpieces for Classical Guitar"
received rave reviews from top publications for his technical
ability and the difficulty of repertoire.
In
2001 Encinas' latest release following his U.S. hit CD "Duende"
brings us the romantic "Guitarra Romántica, is on
Billboard's TOP, New Age Charts in the U.S.!!!"
ClassicalGuitarShop.com: I hear you're touring the US in the coming year?
Jose Luis Encinas: Yeah, you
know, I am looking forward to it, I am very excited it's going
to be the very first time I'm going to be touring here.
ClassicalGuitarShop: Tell us
about your new CD "Guitarra Romantica".
Jose Luis Encinas:Well, Guitarra
Romantica is a new CD that tries to be a new way of expressing
Spanish guitar. Spanish guitar has usually been considered like
an instrument or accompanying figure or playing classical music
or flamenco music. I like the Spanish guitar to be a sort of
pop singer, an instrument that can sing with accompaniment behind
it.
ClassicalGuitarShop: How would
you describe your style of music?
Jose Luis Encinas: A style that
tries to show what I feel and the way I can express my feelings
is through the guitar.
ClassicalGuitarShop: What's it
like to create the music, what it will sound like, the different
sounds you have in your music ... what inspires your music?
Jose Luis Encinas: I get inspired
by many things, for example, love, pain, when I'm happy, when
I'm sad, nature, in a way everything I feel, everything that
can create a feeling that can make you feel alive. I think that
helps you to create music.
ClassicalGuitarShop:What draws
you to playing flamenco guitar.
Jose Luis Encinas: Well, I think
it's very expressive, Flamenco guitar has a lot of strength.
It's an instrument that can show extremes from human soul that
few instruments can because you can hit on the guitar, in a way
its a percussion instrument, and with that you can show a lot
of strength and at the same time it can be very sweet and you
can get from the guitar, very sweet, very smooth sounds. So,
I think the guitar has very strong character, and the flamenco
has very strong character so both of them have become friends
for a very long time.
Jose Luis Encinas: And what do
you like in the classical guitar?
Jose Luis Encinas: Classical
guitar is different. Classical guitar in a way it should be a
classical instrument. I mean, in my opinion, what a classical
performer should do is show the rest of the world what the composer
wants. For example, if you're just playing Bach, you should show
your audience, what Bach really wanted to express. So, I think
you should study and be deep in what the composer wanted to express.
ClassicalGuitarShop: Do you have
certain people that were your mentors or teachers that you really
admired?
Jose Luis Encinas: Yes, I was
studying in Baltimore and I had a great teacher there called
Aldo LaGrutta.
ClassicalGuitarShop: What was
it like studying at Peabody ?
Jose Luis Encinas: My main study
was classical guitar, I was studying performance of classical
guitar.
ClassicalGuitarShop: What did
you enjoy about it?
Jose Luis Encinas: Well, I enjoyed
that the guitar is an instrument that can communicate a lot of
things but you need the technique to be able to perform in front
of the public. So that is the reason why I took this course and
I enjoy very much, you know, the feeling of other people, of
my teacher, people who have been doing this for a very long time.
So, I think it is neccessary to be taught by another guitarist
to play in front of the public.
ClassicalGuitarShop: How long
did you study guitar?
Jose Luis Encinas: I'm 34 and
I started when I was 13 - 21 years.
ClassicalGuitarShop: What would
you like to communicate with the audiences?
Jose Luis Encinas: Well, I would
just like to show them what I feel and try for them to feel the
same way I do. I mean, guitar can be an instrument that can communicate
very deep feelings because it has a very passionate way of expressing
the music. And that's what I want, just to move people, to be
able to communicate deep deep feelings.
ClassicalGuitarShop: Are audiences
different in different parts of the world?
Jose Luis Encinas:I've been playing
in Europe, I know pretty well what German, or France or British
public is like and I think audiences are very similar everywhere.
But, anyway, American audience, American public, is very use
to listening to rock and they have a lot of tradition with pop
music, gospel, blues, a lot of styles that have a lot to do with
flamenco -- that in a lot of ways is what I am trying to do --
to try to communicate to all these audiences, a very strong feeling
of what flamenco in Spanish music is.
ClassicalGuitarShop: What projects
are coming up?
Jose Luis Encinas: I'm working
on a new record and I would like to record part of the record
in the US. with music from here. I would like to find Latin jazz
music here in the US and rock musicians to record the new record
so I think it is neccesary to be here for a while.
ClassicalGuitarShop: Were there
people growing up, that you enjoyed listening to their music?
Jose Luis Encinas: Well, it depends,
for example in rock, I like Jimi Hendrix. I like Jeff Beck too,
I like Dire Strait a lot. For example, in classical music, I
like Bach, Vivaldi and Ravel a lot. In flamenco I like a lot
the style of Paco de Lucia and the Spanish singer Isla. And I
think those are among my favorite.
ClassicalGuitarShop: If there
is one thing you always wanted to tell when you talk about music,
is there something you really want people to know about your
music, music in general, and guitar playing?
Jose Luis Encinas: Well, there
are many things, but I like people to know that guitar can be
an intsrument that can help people to realize that there are
many things inside them they didn't even know, because you know,
its a very sincere instrument and it has a very subtle sound.
When you listen to guitar, I think you can listen inside yourself
too, I think guitar is a very spiritual instrument. Spanish guitar,
because you have a very quick sound so its an instrument you
need silence to listen to it, and when you have silence and listen
to the guitar, you start to a listen to a little bit of yourself
too, because when you play guitar you get a little time to listen
to yourself and to realize what's going on in your life.
ClassicalGuitarShop.com: Thank
you for doing the interview, it was really nice speaking to you.
Jose Luis Encinas: Nice speaking
to you, too. Thank you.
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