I met Luis Soler Guevara, the scholar from Malaga of flamenco who has just passed away at 81 years old, in his beloved Mairena, while I was a judge of the prestigious competition in that town in the Alcores region of Seville, along with his nephew and colleague, the great Ramon Soler, the no less great Antonio Barberan and the wise singer Marcelo SousaI was fortunate enough to share long and very informative conversations with Luis, who welcomed me as a friend and colleague with the generosity typical of family. I will always be grateful for his sincere friendship and for sharing his knowledge with this Galician enthusiast. The years I worked at the Conservatory of CórdobaWhile living in Cádiz (2007-2017), many Sundays, instead of traveling via Seville, I would go through Málaga, stopping for breakfast with Luis and spending the morning with him, learning. He had a small wine cellar in the basement of his house, and we would go down there with my guitar, and I would accompany him for a whole hour playing soleá without repeating a single note. cante With a thread of a voice that remained, but with a dedication and expressive power that many would envy. Luis was a true sage of flamenco. He knew the canteYes, it's true. I repeated two versions of the Canary's Malaga highlighting the subtle differences between Pena's father's and his son's with astonishing precision. A marvel. He lived the flamenco with a passion I have rarely seen.
«All the flamencoThey adored and respected him. I didn't just hear about it, I saw it with my own eyes. Luis Soler deserves all the praise and recognition that can be given to him now that he is no longer with us. He will always remain in the memory of the music world. flamenco and in the hearts of those of us who were lucky enough to share time with him."
He has been recognized with the most prestigious awards. His professional activity in Algeciras for half his life led him to become close to the flamencofrom the Campo de Gibraltar, learning of cante more than any other flamenco scholar I have ever known. His studies on his beloved Antonio Mairenahighlighting Antonio Mairena in the world of Siguiriya and Soleá, along with his nephew Ramón, a classic of flamenco bibliography (1992), have set the pace for those of us dedicated to the musical analysis of canteNot surprisingly, the classification of the repertoire flamenco The seguiriyas and soleares that continue to guide flamenco enthusiasts to this day are based on that work. They also produced the magnificent 40-CD collection Ttestimonies flamencos with recordings, many of them previously unreleased, or The flamencos of the Campo de GibraltarTo name just a few. At his house, he showed me some very thick volumes of memoirs that he had typed and bound, and which I hope will see the light of day someday.
All flamencoThey adored and respected him. I didn't just hear about it, I saw it with my own eyes. Luis Soler deserves all the praise and recognition that can be given to him now that he is no longer with us. He will always remain in the memory of the music world. flamenco and in the hearts of those of us who were lucky enough to share time with him. Thank you for everything, dear Luis. We will miss you. You were a true phenomenon, the generosity of flamenco personified. Now you are with your beloved Antonio.
