Name: Raúl Llamas
City, Country: Cádiz, Spain
Question: An instrument involves a lot of sacrifices, but what have flamenco guitar and music in general given to you?
Regards!
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Jesús Torres: Normally, each person’s personality is reflected in the things one does, and especially in how he does them... I think that in the end guitar becomes a prolongation of oneself and the way you are can be made out in your way of playing and understanding music; that is, one projects himself through the instrument and that helps you to complete yourself as a person, that’s what guitar has given to me. And what’s more, I still owe explanations to that piece of wood since it sometimes asks you really, really compromising questions... And what music has given to me is what it has given to all of us. Imagine a world without music... I can’t. Thanks Raúl.

Name: Jose
City, Country: Barcelona, Spain
Question: Why exactly did you give this excellent album of yours this name? Viento del Norte (Northern Wind)?
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Jesús Torres: Hi Jose, the name "Viento del Norte" came up because I was born in Baracaldo, a town in the Basque Country, (although my whole family is from Écija, a town in the province of Seville) and in short, I’m from the north and that fortunately doesn’t prevent me from feeling and being flamenco. What I mean by this is that the title is a personal little tribute to that part of me. Thanks Jose.

Name: Curro
City, Country: Málaga, Spain
Question: Congratulations on your album, it’s really personal and interesting. My question is the following: What’s your way of putting things together for baile, do you set it up together with Isabel or do you give her the music already put together with the ideas she shapes up for you for her baile numbers?
Best wishes
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Jesús Torres: You see, Curro, the way of making music doesn’t always come the same way. There are times when I have the music and the bailaor-ra adapts to it because it fits in with his or her vision of baile and other times the performer tells me what it is he wants, the sensations he’s trying to capture, how he wants the intentions, etc. And what I do is try and mimic all those sensations and I imagine them in the shape of music and afterwards we contrast them to see if with those notes he or she can capture what they want to express. Sometimes you have to try and be a bit of a chameleon in order to understand everybody, but in the end you realize that the people you normally work with are the ones who have the most similarity to you personally and musically. You understand me, don’t you...?
Thanks Curro.

Name: Francisco
City, Country: Granada, Spain
Question: Hi there, Jesús. I wanted to ask you what you need to know in order to say if a new composition (variant, melody) is flamenco or not, since there are many influences towards flamenco such as jazz, classical (studies of harmony, for example)... I know your work as a guitarist for baile accompanying Isabel Bayón, among others. We’ll be thrilled to receive your album... Thank you very much
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Jesús Torres: Hello Francisco, I think that luckily nowadays it’s really easy for us to access all kinds of music and whether we want it to or not, all that information goes into our "personal bag of tricks" and our tastes are therefore going to be influenced to a greater or lesser extent. It’s clear that flamenco music has some specific musical characteristics which you can find in any essay or book talking about flamenco harmony, but the best maestro is experience and above all having listened to every flamenco musician and artist from previous generations. And after that I think there’s always a little voice inside you that tells you if your music sounds flamenco or not. But in short, I think there are even times that isn’t too important as long as you’re true to yourself and you don’t try and be something that you’re not.

Name: Juan
City, Country: Pamplona, Spain
Question: Jesús, a flamenco from Barakaldo?
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Jesús Torres: Luckily, flamenco is a type of music which knows how to adopt performers from everywhere. It’s a kind of music which is originally from Andalusia but which, thank God, has managed to reach everyone. By the way, did you know that one of the best flamenco guitarists in history was born on Mañueta Street in Pamplona and his name was Agustín Castellón Campos, better known as Sabicas?
Thanks Juan

Name: Japhet Hernández Vaquero
City, Country: Puebla, Mexico
Question: In ‘Calle Espada’, what instrument do you use to make the effect in the introduction? It sounds like cymbals played with brushes, but I don’t think it’s that. I love the album, regards!
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Jesús Torres: Hello Japhet, the instrument used by Antonio Coronel (the percussionist) is just like you say, a brush, and also the palm of his hand, sliding it not over a cymbal, but over a tambourine.
Thanks Japhet. I love your native land, I hope to return soon.

Name: Miguel Ángel Pelayo Serna
City, Country: Santiago / Chile
Question: When you listen to your music and that of other guitarists, what do you notice is different in yours and what do you seek to capture in your music which differs from what has already been heard?
Congratulations from Chile on your excellent record. Worthy of a maestro.
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Jesús Torres: Miguel Ángel, what I aim for when I do a composition is for it to have continuity and musical coherence; that is, that when you hear a note the following one can’t be any other than the one you hear, and that they have dynamics as if it were a conversation, with questions and answers. I don’t try to make my music differ from that of others; I simply relate my stuff and the truth is that it’s hard to manage and it isn’t always achieved, but that’s my challenge. And when I listen to other guitarists what I do is try and enjoy what they give to me, as long as what they’re telling me is true. If not, I don’t enjoy it so much.
I have really good memories of Chile. Thanks, Miguel Ángel.

Name: Abdullah Asaad
City, Country: Kuwait
Question: How do you compose your falsetas, which method do you follow and what are the tools that you use to help you in composing?
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Jesús Torres: Hello Abdullah, I have to tell you that I don’t have any method to do falsetas; what I do need is to have a musical motif which tells me something or which expresses some emotion to me. And it might be a special chord or a single note and beginning there, I start to build and I try for one note to take me to the next. I don’t choose them by chance; I try for the melody to tell you something and to lead you to a conclusion. The tools are having good technique and having inspiration that day; and if nothing comes out, not forcing the situation. Normally, I wait until the following day or the day after that.
Thanks Abdullah.

Name: Fernando
City, Country: Madrid, Spain
Question: Do you think that flamenco is taking a new direction nowadays? That is, do you think it’s becoming commercial now that it’s “in”?
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Jesús Torres: Hello Fernando, well, to be sincere with you, I think that flamenco, as the living artform it is, must move around and sail according to the times it lives in, because what makes flamenco grandiose is the great capacity it has within itself to be performed in very different ways; as many as there are performers. And at the same time, the performer is someone who lives within his time and moves around and is a part of it. By this I mean that you can’t play, sing or dance like 60 years ago because the times are different. It’s true too that I think there’s too much aspiration to commercialize flamenco and to take it to the masses. And in order to achieve that, it’s sometimes at the cost of making light flamenco or “flamenquito” because that’s the way large venues are going to be filled up more easily and reach the general public, but I think that flamenco is a short-distance thing...
Thanks Fernando.

Name: Rafael Ángel
City, Country: Córdoba, Spain
Question: Well, Jesús, in the first place, I’d like to congratulate you and tell you that I love your music and your way of playing. And in the second place, I’d like to ask you what system you use to study guitar and how much time, more or less. Best wishes, and thank you very much for your music.
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Jesús Torres: Hello Rafael, I can tell you that I’ve been practically self-taught, so I admit deficiencies as far as method goes. What I’ve achieved has been by means of being stubborn and repeating a lot the little that I knew. Afterwards, contact with other guitarists feeds you little by little. I can tell you that what’s common for everyone (apart from your natural abilities for the instrument) is study and perseverance. About the hours of study, I’ll tell you that it depends; I have periods of 5 or 6 hours daily and others of one hour, which I don’t recommend. The best thing is time which is constant and daily.
Thanks Rafael.

Name: Alberto
City, Country: Spain
Question: What advice would you give to young people who are getting started? Best wishes
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Jesús Torres: Hello Alberto, the advice I can give to someone getting started in this is to try and get as excited as possible about flamenco, since that will awaken the urge to get to know it deeply and to do the research. Flamenco is a relatively young type of music and we have sound archives by great old-time performers and it’s good to know how they used to do it and, of course, to listen to the contemporary, what’s done nowadays. I’d also advise prudence in judgment because sometimes from youth, besides the momentum characteristic of being young, comes the belief that you know nearly everything... and you start to realize that the longer you’ve been in flamenco, the more you see how much you still have to learn.
Thanks Alberto.

Name: Javier Sámano
City, Country: Mexico
Question: Hello Jesús, greetings from Mexico. At the same time as I heartily read about this opportunity to chat with you, I find out about the death of Ramón de Algeciras. Did you know him? Could you share some anecdote with us? Congratulations on ‘Viento del Norte’, we hope you come back here soon. Best wishes.
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Jesús Torres: Hello Javier, I’m sorry to say that I didn’t have the pleasure to meet Ramón de Algeciras personally. However, I can tell you as a personal anecdote that there have been three occasions when Paco de Lucía has been in front of me in the audience while I was playing and you can imagine the sensation... But I know that all the mastery that man has is also shared with great personal simplicity and respect for his "colleagues".
Thanks Javier, I hope to soon return to that wonderful land.

Name: Orlando Acosta
City, Country: USA
Question: What can I do to speed up my picado, I've seen you in concert and you have an amazing picado and aire. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely,
Orlando Acosta
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Jesús Torres: Hello Orlando, with regards to speed in the picado I can tell you that the main thing is study, and the non-repetition of the fingers in the right hand. Though I’m sure you already know it, you have to do it as slowly as possible and gradually increase the speed with a metronome. But I also have to tell you that there are guitarists who due to their physical constitution can’t manage to achieve great speed even if they study a lot. They’ll improve it, no doubt, but maybe not as much as they would like, so the best thing is to develop other techniques in order to make up for that of the picado. And I’ll tell you a secret: you don’t really have to pluck fast, but you know, sometimes one desires what he doesn’t have and he doesn’t realize what he’s already achieved.
Best wishes and thanks Orlando.

Name: Félix
City, Country: China
Question: How to choose the good flamenco guitar? Any suggestion guitar brands for middle price? Why almost flamenco guitarists used ‘Conde Hermanos’? Is it excellent quality or buy the brand only? What flamenco guitar teaching books and DVDs are the best?
Thank you very much.
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Jesús Torres: Hello Félix, in order to choose a good guitar if you don’t have knowledge of them, the best thing is to be accompanied by a professional to give you advice. But if you can’t, what you have to do is note that the sound of the low and high strings is balanced, for some not to sound louder than the others, also for them to have enough harmonics. That’s to say, when you play a note, there are strings which vibrate out of solidarity, the touch is suitable to the strength in your right hand and left, the fingerboard is straight, you see that the wood of the guitar has good finishes... In short, many things which are easier for an expert but which you may also try out, too. On the other hand, if you’re interested in a good guitar at a medium price, I can tell you about a Spanish guitar maker who is very good. His name is Arcadio MarÍn. If you want to know more, let me know through Flamenco-world and I’ll gladly help you. With regards to Conde Hermanos guitars, I can tell you that they’re very good guitars, but as always, there’s a bit of everything. That is, not all Conde guitars are good and, of course, you’re also paying for the make. As far as guitar DVDs go, I’m sorry but I can’t give you any advice because I’ve never had the chance to buy any, but I’m sure that they’re helpful and there are guitarists who have specialized in developing techniques for teaching in that format.
Thanks Félix

Name: Denis
City, Country: Russia, Novosibirsk
Question: Hello Jesús! Thanks for you music! Guitar of which master do you play and which microphone you use for it on stage? Thank you!
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Jesús Torres: Hello Denis, the guitars I use are guitars by Arcadio Marín, a guitar maker from Madrid; they’re very good and they have a good price. I also have some by Conde Hermanos and José Romero, but I like the ones by Arcadio. The microphone I like to use is a Neumann 84.
Thanks Denis

Name: Federico
City, Country: Italy
Question: Good afternoon, which kind of guitar do you prefer (blanca, negra)? Why you don't use a Hermanos Conde as the most of the famous player (i saw in the pictures)?
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Jesús Torres: The truth is that I like the white ones for accompanying baile and the black ones for playing in concert. I also have Conde Hermanos but now I’m playing guitars by Arcadio Marín, an excellent maker who’s also a guitarist and knows our taste in guitars well and moreover has an affordable price.
I think I’m going to Turin on March 28th to do a concert together with Canito, perhaps we could meet one another there. Best wishes, Federico. And thanks.

Name: George
City, Country: Athens, Greece
Question: Could you advise me about the purchase of a classic guitar and a flamenco guitar (woods etc)? Also inform me about a manual book of flamenco. With owner,
George
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Jesús Torres: Hello George, to buy a flamenco guitar, the best thing is for you to go with someone who is in the know. If that’s not possible, you have to decide if you want a black or a white one. If it’s white, the soundboard is good which is made of cypress and the rest of silver fir and the fingerboard of ebony. It should have good sound, with the highs and lows balanced, and the wood should have a good finish. If it’s black the wood might be indian rosewood or brazilwood; both are good quality although the ones made of brazilwood are better-known but are also a little more expensive. I could advise you on guitars by Arcadio Marin, an excellent Madrilenian guitar maker who has a good price with excellent quality. If you have the chance, it would be interesting for you to come to Spain to be able to compare and look at different makes. With regards to guitar manuals, I can’t give you any advice because I haven’t had the chance to see any, but I’m sure they are a great help.
Best wishes George, thanks.