Flamenco took centre stage on Tuesday at the Town hall and the mayor once again put his support behind culture in Granada. Santiago Benavides and Pepe Luis Carmona are the directors of the “Milnoff Flamenco Festival” which aspires to take its place among the great festivals in Spain. Each day is dedicated to a particular flamenco artist. All of the participating public institutions were represented and professed their dedication to culture and their support for those who need it to make a living. Given the situation due to Covid 19 all events will be free of charge for the public.

Last week I finished some work on a Manuel de la Chica 1970 and it has now gone back to its owner. The guitar was in excellent shape but needed some work and especially the owner wanted an expert opinion on a previous intervention and the stability of a crack which seemed to be starting. The first thing I do with a guitar like this is examine it completely and investigate its history and construction as deeply as possible. The first thing I noticed was that the entire guitar was built with white glue. I continue to to find that hide glue is the best glue for guitars the way I make them and have long held that it is superior in every way. This excellent instrument is making me step back from my fierce defense of exclusive hide glue use although I have no intention of moving to synthetic glues at this time. The guitar is extremely well made and gives the impression that, to quote Yuris Zeltins: “he made every cut with a samurai sword”. I think de la Chica brought a technical level to building that didn’t exist in Granada before him.

One of the discoveries I made examining this guitar is the tall brace under the bridge which at first made me think that someone had modified the guitar. However, upon further investigation it seems that Manuel designed the guitar with this element in mind and installed it from the beginning. Since then I have seen photos of two other Chica guitars with the same construction. I am very happy with the result in the look and sound of the guitar and to demonstrate it is Marcus Toscano with Manhã de Carnaval by Luiz Bonfá. He also brought his Marcelo Barbero guitar and hearing the two guitars together was very special.

Esta mañana visité a la viuda y la hija de Juan Francisco en su casa de La Cañada de San Urbano. Quizá lo conozcan por ser bisnieto de Antonio de Torres Jurado. En la última planta de la casa está el taller, más o menos como se quedó hace 10 años cuando murió el guitarrero. El motivo de la visita fue ver la madera que venden como dicen “para que por fin se convierte en guitarras”. Yo no necesito madera ahora pero sí hice unas fotos para que otros pueden ver que efectivamente es buena madera: Caviuna, PS Madagascar, Cocobolo y Amazonas (no he visto otras cosas). Unicamente tiene aros y fondo – todos casados en juegos. Tengo su teléfono y se lo pasaré a cualquiera que tenga interés en ver la madera.

I visited the wife and the daughter of Juan Francisco this morning at their house in La Cañada de San Urbano. You might know him as the great-grandson of Antonio de Torres Jurado. On the top floor of the house is the workshop and very little seems to have been altered since his death in 2010. The reason for my visit was to see the wood which they are selling so that “it will finally be made into guitars”. I am really not in need of wood at this time but I took some photos so that others could see that the wood is perfectly suited for making guitars. Caviuna, Madagascar rosewood, Cocobolo and Amazon rosewood. Backs have been matched to sides and are to be sold in sets. I have their telephone number and can pass it on to anyone who is interested in seeing the sets.

The European Guitar Foundation has made a real effort despite the restrictions on public events and will offer us an interesting festival this year. See this link for the programme.

I am particularily looking forward to the concerts by Rafael Aguirre, Isabel Martínez and Juan Habichuela Nieto. There are also some guitarists whom I have yet to hear play and I am sure I will be pleasantly surprised. The dates of the guitar-making competition are as yet to be announced but the word is that it too is going ahead. I applaud everyone involved for going ahead with this festival.

Registration is now open https://www.upo.es/postgrado/Master-en-Interpretacion-de-la-Guitarra-Clasica?opcion=14&fbclid=IwAR0vEqL-Dsh4kRpQnpr1fVfPs-bF_xbhfOKbi9ngc7ZryG6lgvvG9onicHM