Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Luis De La Paz.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I am from the small town of Huelva, a seafaring town in the Southwest of Spain. Although I was not born there, North Africa, Huelva became my adoptive city, since I arrived there at just three years of age.
My father, a doctor by profession, was a great flamenco aficionado. He was always listening to classic singers and guitarists, and I played around his sound equipment. I got my first guitar when I was just 3-4 months old. From this young age, I played with that guitar, and then with others, creating chords and riffs. In an intuitive manner, the guitar began to adapt to my hands, to my body.
At the age of six, I had my first teacher, who immediately told my father to find other teachers. That’s how I passed through the hands of various professors until I found those who were my mentors.
The first, Antonio Sousa, was a guitarist who was an accompanist for singing. With him, I learned to listen to and understand the flamenco style of singing and thanks to him; I got to know the world of flamenco festivals. Then there was Niño Miguel, a brilliant guitarist who, in spite of his schizophrenia, transmitted his strength and many exercises for composing, which was like a game to him. Yet it was truly the Maestro Mario Escudero, who imbued me with his legacy, his knowledge of many classical techniques, of modes of composition, and of the flamenco guitar repertoire before Paco de Lucía. The influence of the latter, after his musical revolution of the 80s, completed my learning, and marked my influences.
In 1994, I was invited to be a part of the Ballet Company headed by Cristina Hoyos, one of the most important dance artists in Spain. I composed music for five of her works; I was the Musical Director of her company until 2005, the year I decided to leave the company.
After a time of transition looking making music for Belen Maya, a choreographer who decided to dance some of my guitar solos, and forming my own band, I met Nuirca Marquez, who became my life partner. Sometime later, and considering the complicated situation in Spain and the politicization of flamenco art as an institution, we decided to move to Miami, where I have resided since. Here we founded Nu Flamenco, to try to show Flamenco in all its forms, breaking the flamenco/Spanish stereotypes in order to show the audience the essence of flamenco, from the most traditional to the most experimental forms.
Once here, I encountered the cultural diversity of this city. I met and played with musicians from other styles. During this time, my music has been impregnated by all of those elements, creating new hues and textures for my music. The clearest examples of these influences are “Flamenco Abstractions” (CD released 2011), “The History House” and “Resonancias” (performance/concert 2014), in which I utilize the deconstruction of my compositions and electronic elements and the image as musical discourse, in collaboration with David Font (electronics), Gustavo Matamoros (electronics), Jose M. Dominguez (Physical Theatre), Niurca Márquez (experimental flamenco dance) and Dhinora de Jesus (film-art) or Bistoury Theatre (experimental film).
I am also interested in classical music, and so I composed a symphonic work in 2015, Avalon Suite for Flamenco Guitar and Orchestra, with arrangements by Alex Conde and I was able to interpret the famous Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo in 2017. I also composed an introduction for El amor brujo by M. De Falla that premiered with the LA Philarmonic and Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, under the artistic direction of Siudy Garrido.
Over the last few years, I have composed the original score of the movie “Finding Compas” by Kathy Douglas, that will premiere son, and I have collaborated with Big Band Raíces, headed by Maestro Pablo Gil.
This variety of sounds, resources, of hues, of textures led me to rethink my stage role as a concert artist. From this multiculturality “Ensemble” is born, this most delicate of projects, where I am placing a good deal of my energy at this time. This project includes hybrid elements coming from “American sound” like a drum set that includes flamenco, jazz, and rock elements at the same time, in addition to a double bass, dance, and guest instrumentalists that will add a special character to the music.
The ensemble is comprised of Kenneth Jimenez (Double bassist from Costa Rica), Adolfo Herrera (Venezuelan percussionist), and Niurca Márquez(Cuban-American dancer). From this sonorous base, the collaborations will begin to mold some works, creating textures and environments.
This project seeks to become a record, and we are preparing a strong crowdfunding campaign, since, today, the cost of production and marketing for a recording are very high and the majority of independent artists need the support of philanthropists who love music and art.
It has been almost nine years since I came to this country. Thanks to this decision, I have been able to develop all of these projects here. This makes me feel active and focused on my career, and it stimulates me to go forward every day.
Please tell us about your art.
I think there are two very important characteristics that mark my work.
The spectral fluidity of my path has allowed me to integrate all those elements from different disciplines in an organic manner. Also, having been exposed to so many different influences and having mentors who came from very different approaches to flamenco has given me the possibility of integrating traditional with experimental forms or playing with other forms or styles without compromising my own sound or style. I think this combination of experience, along with my profound study of the old forms of flamenco, allows me to mold my music in harmony with my personality and my roots.
There was a moment in my career where I felt the need to approach my spirituality and to look for a balance in my relationship with my instrument and composing. This led me to encounters with Buddhism and mysticism (Sufi indo-pakistan). These philosophies of life demonstrate that our existence has a purpose. With this idea, I began to transform my music and my compositions to search within them for a connection with my own essence, and with the universe. I have arrived at a moment where I can integrate all of the elements, and my interpretation, at the moment of performance, passes through a connection or communication with my idea of spirituality. It’s like becoming a transmitter of emotions in real time. This results in every concert becoming an unrepeatable experience. In the realm of composition, this allows my emotions to conduct my hands; sometimes through unstructured melodies or through very coherent ideas, it depends on the moment. The most important thing is to connect to myself and to attempt to reflect what I am feeling in real time, letting my hands travel in themselves through the strings and the frets.
These two modes of understanding my music and my work mark my personality. That’s why I don’t allow myself to be influenced by fashions and trends. I’m here doing what I really want to do and to feel, I don’t depend on anyone or anything, and this freedom, although it sometimes carries a price, for me, has an immeasurable value.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
The advice for other artists is, be honest with yourself. The art doesn’t need to be beautiful or ugly. Art is a mode of expression, a mode of connecting your soul with the universe. The beauty of the art is in honesty, not in the form.
Lessons? Well, like somebody said… Life doesn’t have rehearsals, so, just live.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can see and listen to my work on my website. Everybody is invited to take part in our website by subscribing or participating by buying music or making a donation.
Today, it is very difficult for many artists to enter new markets and festival circuits, etc. We have to produce the work of an entire office team on our own: video and music editing and recordings, graphic design, production, logistics, writing grants, marketing, etc., etc. We are our own business, and we have to invest money very frequently.
We need to learn the new order of things in the music industry. We need to learn how to ask for grants. We need how to use marketing strategies and much more.
Sincerely, I think art is indispensable in society. It’s what reminds us of where we come from, it takes us to new emotional spaces, and it connects us with each other deeply. A lack of understanding about the role of art in our lives makes us less human.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.joseluisdelapaz.com
- Email: nuflamenco2@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joseluisguitar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joseluisguitar
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/joseluisguitar
Image Credit:
Gabriel Ramirez
Jose Manuel Alconchel
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