FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STEVE KAHN -- FLAMENCO GUITARIST
When
considering flamenco guitarist Steve Kahn, it's best to expect the unexpected.
"I'm not a gypsy. I'm not even Spanish," says the sixtyish New
Yorker. "I'm a Jewish guy who grew up in Beverly Hills, went to a great
college, married three times and raised a seventeen year old
daughter." Disclaimers aside,
Steve's proclivity for what is known as "the Morón style" (an
extremely pure and rhythmic take on flamenco made famous by the great Diego
Amaya Flores del Gastor) has borne accolades. Don Pohren, celebrated in the
world of gypsy Flamenco and author of the books The Lives and Legends of
Flamenco and The Art of Flamenco noted, "It is refreshing and
reassuring to listen to the CD of guitarist Steve Kahn and the gifted singer
Marysol Fuentes and to hear that the Morón style of Flamenco is alive and well
in the Big Apple...Steve accompanies Marysol accurately and well a la
Diego and quite joyously on their renditions of the Bulerías." And in a
2004 Triste y Azul interview, guitarist Tomás de Utrera told Norberto
Torres, "Today there is a group of Americans...who still consider Diego to
have been the greatest flamenco guitarist of all time.
Amongst those is a photographer in New York named Steve Kahn who plays the Morón style like no one else...Here is a man totally obsessed with the toque of Diego del Gastor and interprets it very, very well..."And Six-time Grammy Award winner and Sony record producer Michael Brooks writes, Steve Kahn is “…an exceptionally fine guitarist – unique in many ways.
I think he would add luster to any classical roster.” The reviews are doubly impressive when you consider that in 1984 Steve tore a muscle in his elbow and was unable to play for fifteen years! "I started practicing again six years ago," he confides. "Now I have the full use of my right arm."
Steve Kahn started playing classical guitar at age sixteen; later, a college friend who had discovered Diego's music while living in Andalucia, introduced him to the Morón style. Inspired by his love of the music, Steve decided to take what he thought would be a three-month leave of absence from graduate school to visit Spain and study Flamenco – if it could, indeed, be studied! "Three months grew into two years," Steve recalls. "I lived in the small town of Morón de la Frontera, seventy-five kilometers southeast of Sevilla, absorbing Diego's musical genius." Even when he moved on to make his considerable mark as a photographer, Steve kept the torch of this uniquely powerful music burning, performing in small clubs and restaurants, first in L.A., then in New York City.
"I don't try to mimic the style of my mentors – I’m doing my own thing in the Morón style," Steve explains. "I see myself more as an interpreter of the music than as a creator." He admits he hasn't mastered all of Flamenco's many forms, choosing rather to focus on its three purest and most complex forms: Siguiriyas, Soleá, and Bulerías. (The first two are serious in nature and are played slowly; the last can be serious or light but always rapid-tempo.) Steve relishes performing, particularly among friends in a "fiesta" setting, regretting New York's lack of gifted flamenco singers. "I excel in accompanying the cante and love to do it, which is why recording with Marysol was such a high," he continues. "I never anticipated that we would receive such a positive response to the CD. It's been a little overwhelming!"
Music and photography merged recently when Steve contracted with a Spanish publisher to edit a book of photographs of flamenco artists and their lives, circa 1960-85. This compliments a 35-year career as a fine artist, commercial photographer and author of several photography books, including SoHo New York, a 1999 Rizzoli International publication. He is also negotiating the release of a box set of audio recordings of fiestas he taped in Spain, in the late 1960's that captured the artistry of some of Flamenco's living legends.
Over the past couple of years, Steve has made an increasingly number of trips to Spain, recently performing in the prestigious Madrid flamenco clubs “Los Cabales” and “La Peña Duende.”
"I'm a champion of the pueblo style of Flamenco that thrives in the intimacy of a small fiesta -- the kind that goes late into the night, often 'till the sun rises." And of course he continues to expand the audience for his live performances and exhilarating debut CD.
"Clearly I'm committed to this new life adventure," he concludes. "You might even say the old flame burns anew."
Amongst those is a photographer in New York named Steve Kahn who plays the Morón style like no one else...Here is a man totally obsessed with the toque of Diego del Gastor and interprets it very, very well..."And Six-time Grammy Award winner and Sony record producer Michael Brooks writes, Steve Kahn is “…an exceptionally fine guitarist – unique in many ways.
I think he would add luster to any classical roster.” The reviews are doubly impressive when you consider that in 1984 Steve tore a muscle in his elbow and was unable to play for fifteen years! "I started practicing again six years ago," he confides. "Now I have the full use of my right arm."
Steve Kahn started playing classical guitar at age sixteen; later, a college friend who had discovered Diego's music while living in Andalucia, introduced him to the Morón style. Inspired by his love of the music, Steve decided to take what he thought would be a three-month leave of absence from graduate school to visit Spain and study Flamenco – if it could, indeed, be studied! "Three months grew into two years," Steve recalls. "I lived in the small town of Morón de la Frontera, seventy-five kilometers southeast of Sevilla, absorbing Diego's musical genius." Even when he moved on to make his considerable mark as a photographer, Steve kept the torch of this uniquely powerful music burning, performing in small clubs and restaurants, first in L.A., then in New York City.
"I don't try to mimic the style of my mentors – I’m doing my own thing in the Morón style," Steve explains. "I see myself more as an interpreter of the music than as a creator." He admits he hasn't mastered all of Flamenco's many forms, choosing rather to focus on its three purest and most complex forms: Siguiriyas, Soleá, and Bulerías. (The first two are serious in nature and are played slowly; the last can be serious or light but always rapid-tempo.) Steve relishes performing, particularly among friends in a "fiesta" setting, regretting New York's lack of gifted flamenco singers. "I excel in accompanying the cante and love to do it, which is why recording with Marysol was such a high," he continues. "I never anticipated that we would receive such a positive response to the CD. It's been a little overwhelming!"
Music and photography merged recently when Steve contracted with a Spanish publisher to edit a book of photographs of flamenco artists and their lives, circa 1960-85. This compliments a 35-year career as a fine artist, commercial photographer and author of several photography books, including SoHo New York, a 1999 Rizzoli International publication. He is also negotiating the release of a box set of audio recordings of fiestas he taped in Spain, in the late 1960's that captured the artistry of some of Flamenco's living legends.
Over the past couple of years, Steve has made an increasingly number of trips to Spain, recently performing in the prestigious Madrid flamenco clubs “Los Cabales” and “La Peña Duende.”
"I'm a champion of the pueblo style of Flamenco that thrives in the intimacy of a small fiesta -- the kind that goes late into the night, often 'till the sun rises." And of course he continues to expand the audience for his live performances and exhilarating debut CD.
"Clearly I'm committed to this new life adventure," he concludes. "You might even say the old flame burns anew."