El duende flamenco

Paco de Lucía wanted to highlight his capacity as both composer and interpreter in this 1972 album, evoking with the title the duende —the name Flamenco artists give to the power that comes from within.
There are ten extraordinary tracks, some with orchestral arrangements by Paco and Torregrosan —transcriber of the score for Paco de Lucía's work in the early years of his career—, here responsible for the musical direction and the arrangements. For the first time the sound engineer is credited: José Díaz Auñón. The inclusion of an orchestra was at Paco’s own request, although it seemed he wasn’t totally satisfied with the results.
The singular nature of this work in comparison with previous recordings comes from the melding of flamenco with the tone of the orchestra —one of the strongest desires of Flamenco musicians over recent decades. In some senses it is as if the orchestra interprets the part of the second guitar.
Paco’s brother Ramón de Algeciras collaborates on ‘Canastera’, the final track, the style of which was created jointly with Camarón during the Gypsy Flamenco Festival tours, and which gave the title to the 1972 album recorded with the genius from San Fernando.