Flamenco Sketches

An album called Zyryab by the Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia. Zyryab is the name of a Syrian who lived in the 8th century at the Moorish court of Cordova and is considered to be the inventor of the guitar, adapting it from the lute. The album mixes fairly straight flamenco with jazz. There are small touches of flute, soprano sax, electric bass and drums, plus orchestration on one track and flamenco vocals on another. Unfortunately the sleeve notes are decidedly uninformative on the copy I have, the only musician credited apart from Paco de Lucia being Chick Corea who adds typical contributions to a couple of tracks on both electric keyboards and piano. The album is a showcase for guitar however, so the absence of information isn't crucial and the playing is soulful, melodic and virtuosic.