Musicpost: Jose Feliciano's Malagueña, Zorba

Most of you know Jose Feliciano from his eternally popular "Feliz Navidad" (Merry Christmas) jingle that starts playing the day after Thanksgiving on nearly every radio station and elevator and grocery store and office party...and doesn't stop until New Year's Day. There's no escaping it.

What you might not know is that Feliciano is a self-taught guitar virtuoso who discovered music around the same time he was being potty trained. He was born in Puerto Rico in 1945. He was also born blind.

"Malagueña" is one of the most popular--and technically difficult--guitar songs of all time. It's super sexy, too, and you must have heard it many times. It's the sixth movement of the Suite Andalucia (circa 1927) by prolific Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona.

The following video of Jose Feliciano playing "Malagueña" is at least 40 years old (probably around 44). I chose this one vs. a more recent one because it's (a) shorter than the others, and (b) such a classic.

He was amazing then and still is amazing. (Yes, he's alive and kicking.)




I adore Greek music. Actually, I adore Greece and all things Greek. And Jose Feliciano's version of the famous "Zorba the Greek" is no exception. This tune is so much fun...makes you wanna get up and dance.

This is another 40-year-old video. Surely, there are more recent ones of him playing this piece, but then we would miss the outfits and hairdos of the people in the audience.




Guitar gymnastics

Following is a video of Tiago Della Vega, the world's fastest guitarist according to Guinness World Records.

After a minute of nothingness that you can skip, and a two-minute introduction in which his background is explained, Della Vega begins playing "Flight of the Bumble Bee" on his guitar at 170 bpm (beats per minute), and I'm thinking, "Wow, that's fast."

What a dunce I am. It turns out 170 bpm for this guy is like slow motion for the average person. The bpm's keep going up and up and up until they peak at 320 bpm. All I've got to say about that is--fuck!

By the way, this guy must go into some sort of Zen-mode when he plays because he barely breaks a sweat. He's cool as a cucumber throughout, and it's not until the end that he kind of exhales.

Warning:

If you're on the jumpy side, you might want to medicate yourself before watching this video--you know...pop in a Xanax or Klonopin...have some wine...whatever. The frantic beat is unlikely to go unnoticed by your body. Trust me on that.

On the other hand, those of you who can't live without your morning dose of caffeine might want to wait until after seeing the video to have that perfect cup of black coffee or espresso, which you might not need by the time you're done watching this.



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