Granada’s Palacio de Gomerez was host on the 19th of October to the presentation of the new 40th anniversary model by Juan Miguel Carmona. One of the founders of the “official” Escuela Granadina de Guitarreros, Juan Miguel has been a part of the Granada guitar-making and flamenco scene since his father (a french polisher of guitars) sent him to the workshop of Manuel Bellido at the tender age of 14. The guitar was the star of the evening although also present were guitar-makers Francisco Manuel Díaz and his son Francis, José López Bellido, Juan Manuel García as well as Dr. Erhard Hanen and supportive friends and family.
Category Archives: Granada guitar-makers
Asociación de Guitarreros de Granada
California State University is for the second year in a row holding their Guitarra Española course (part of Summer Arts) here in Granada. This year twenty-four students have come to study the guitar in a wonderful setting with guitarists of international repute. This morning classes were cancelled and the Granada Guitar-makers Association was asked to invite the guitar-makers to show their guitars to these students. This was, for all intents and purposes, the public presentation of the Association. The students were thrilled to have us come to them and to meet the people behind their favorite instrument.
The guitar-makers association is made up of a group of makers who wish to have Granada recognized as an international centre for guitar-making, support one another and to convince the different levels of government that the guitar in general and specifically this craft is worth promoting. For this reason we support Summer Arts and Vicente Coves and his Festival Internacional de la Guitarra de Granada. Not all guitar-makers in Granada are members of the association and the reasons include the following. Some are not full-time, professional makers, some sell guitars made by others instead of their own work, and others can’t see the benefit of working towards common goals. We hope to convince a larger number of makers as time goes on.
Doctoral Thesis Aarón García Ruiz
Ever since the book about Granada guitar-makers was published the most informed critics have expressed a desire to see something more scholarly and extensive on the subject. Well, one of the authors of the book, Aarón García Ruiz, has made his doctoral thesis (2017) available and I would think that this will make those people happy. I attended the defense of his Ph. D. but only now will I be able to read the thesis. I am looking forward to it, I know that is is a revindication of the Granada School and that there is some very convincing evidence that Antonio de Torres learned from José Pernás who was in turn one of the greats of Granada. Download here.
Pictures at a fiesta
I promised photos of this retirement party that José López Bellido organized so here are a few. It was very well-attended and the food and the wine was great. I had a chance to chat with most everyone there but particularily enjoyed hearing about the old times from these two giants:
I think everyone knows that when Manuel Bellido left Eduardo Ferrer’s shop he set up with Antonio Marín and started making history.
From Granada to You
My first love is building guitars but if you read this blog you will know that the history of the guitar and guitar-makers is part of that passion. Furthermore I have a special interest in the evolution of the Granada school and its influence on the rest of the world. David Ganz writes about this particular subject in the book “The Granada School of Guitar-makers” and was asked to do so precisely because of his interest and knowledge of the material. A week or so ago he sent me this note: “I just discovered the attached advertisement in the back of the Fall 1972 issue of Guitar Review magazine out of New York.”
I had heard that guitars from Granada “arrived” a bit later in the decade although we know that some musicians had travelled to Granada and purchased instruments here. I printed the image above and went down the street to see Antonio Marín and his nephew José Plazuelo to ask them about F. Alex Guzmán. They remembered two partners, both named Alex, and they mentioned in passing that Antonio had built guitars for both Morales and de la Chica. I love the prices; now you would pay 3000 to 15,000 USD at today’s exchange rate. This remains only publicity but I persnally think that most of what it says was true and continues to be true today.