Press
TÉLÉRAMA (novembre 2014)
Installé en France, le guitariste espagnol cultive un flamenco fluide et rêveur, melodieux et élégant. Sur le disque BELLAMAR, ses soleas,bulerias et autres fandangos résonnent avec une grande douceur et des echos indiens ou argentins.Avec contrebasse et bandonéon.
Anne Berthod
LES INROCKS (La guitare.com octobre 2014)
LA REVUE DU SPECTACLE
(novembre 2014)
ELEKTRIK BAMBOO
(novembre 2014)
LA GUITARE CLASSIQUE (novembre 2014)
ZICAZIC.COM (décembre 2014)
RFI (octobre 2014)
MANUEL DELGADO & GRUPO
Magazin "FLAMENCO" N° 6 Planète Andalucìa, 29 Avril 2006
Pour ce dernière samedi frileux d`avril, Planète Andalucìa nous a régalés d`un concert chaleureux dont le guitariste Manuel Delgado a été le chef d`orchestre......
Tel un peintre talentueux, Manuel Delgado a décliné une bonne partie de la palette des "toques" flamencos. La plus part de "palos" ont été évoqués avec finesse. La "Taranta" en solo par la quelle il a débuté le concert, empreinte de sérénité et de modernité, nous a plongés en douceur dans l`atmosphère du Levant. Manuel a ensuite été rejoint par d`autres musiciens (guitare et cajon), un "cantaor" et un "bailaor": Bulerias , Tanguillos, Soleà, et Alegrias se sont succédés dans la première partie, et le groupe emporta définitivement l`adhésion du public après l`entracte par ses Tangos, Fandangos, Bulerias, Solea por bulerias, et Rondeña :
un répertoire de grande qualité dont nous retiendrons particulièrement une Buleria por Granaina( avec la 6éme corde en si ) et des Fandangos très originaux. La justesse des choix de tempo donne au jeu de Manuel Delgado un swing d`une grande souplesse, notamment pour les Bulerias et les Tangos.
Nous souhaitons bonne route à cet artiste ............
Maguy Naïmi
MANUEL DELGADO & GRUPO
Nuits Flamencas à Châteauvallon le 28 Juillet 2007
...place au Flamenco actuel avec Manuel Delgado y Grupo qui investit la scène du théâtre à 19h30. Le grand guitariste Manuel Delgado présenta au public ses compositions personnelles, accompagné par la danseuse Estefania Suissa et les chanteurs Mencho et Alberto Garcia et par le percussioniste Miguel Sanchez. Manuel Delgado est natif de Barcelone et vit à Paris depuis plusieurs années. La création récente de son groupe est le fruit de longues années de travail en tant que guitariste accompagnateur et compositeur. Dans ce spectacle, il présente des thèmes finement élaborés,accompagné par les étoiles montantes de la scène Flamenca française. Son spectacle fut très applaudi par le public.
Isabel Jacq pour : sitemusiquealhambra.free.fr
MANUEL DELGADO & GRUPO
”Sur le routes de musiques Tsiganes”. Théâtre de Caen. 17 Janvier 2009
LE FLAMENCO DE MANUEL DELGADO SEDUIT 800 SPECTATEURS
A l`occasion du 9ème festival "Sur les routes des musiques tsiganes",
organisé à l`espace Jean Vilar et l`association Archipel, du 16 au 31 Janvier, le Théâtre de Caen accueillait ce samedi trois figures emblématiques de la scène flamenca: le guitariste barcelonais, MANUEL DELGADO, qui fut une de révélations du Premier festival de guitare flamenca de Paris, accompagné au chant par Alberto Garcia..... et au" Cajon" par Miguel Sanchez. Quelques minutes avant le début de la représentation à 17 h, les Foyers du Théâtre accueillent déjà une foule considérable: de nombreux spectateurs sont installés dans les marches.........la prestation a réuni prés de 800 personnes. PENDANT UNE HEURE, MANUEL DELGADO, et ses deux comparses, ont su captiver leur public, OFRANT UN FLAMENCO DE QUALITE, DANS SA TRADITION, ALTERNANT DES RYTMES "SANGUINS" ET DES AIRS PLUS TRANQUILLES ; et tous les trois dans un accord subtil,ont reçu à chaque fin de chanson des applaudissements nourris et son REPARTIS SOUS DES OVATIONS.
Südwest Presse - KARL-HEINZ RÜCKERT | 05.02.2013
"Sin Distancia" is not only the name of the musician trio to Manuel Delgado, Ernesto Martinez and Ralf Siedhoff. The name is also synonymous with the "Bilderhaus Gschwend". Artists and audiences come there especially close, even "without distance".
Just connect the trio rhythmic dances and the sounds of Latin music together. Here, too, determines the acoustic perception programmatic area.
Guitarist Ralf Siedhoff and Manuel Delgado on the flamenco guitar mediated images in house by carefree game of Mediterranean flair with touches of jazz and flamenco. Whose emotional passion and temperament brought the percussion rhythms Ernesto Martinez powerfully expressed. The fiery rumba "Bellamar" or the sparkling pearly "Buleria del Deseo" (temptation) testified of sparkling passion of continuous melodies whose accented game met an enthusiastic audience.
The audience experienced again and again, as the musicians - almost in a trance - brought in economical accompaniments in the interaction to be in the next moment held by a driving percussion on topic.
Most concert posts were original compositions that come from the current CD production of Sin Distancia trio "Soleado". The Indian soundscapes in "Behind the Mirror" kept the audience wonder about the origins of the Spanish gypsy music. An unusual feeling of hearing Manuel Delgado’s daughter Carmen added with her tango bandoneon-heavy game in the multi-faceted tunes consequences. With the flattering harmonies determining the rhythm percussion nearly got into the background.
Ernesto Martinez brought himself with a superb solo performance on his percussion instruments at the concert audience in mind. He created the sound itself rubbing palms together to rhythmic style element, as chants of "La-La-La" or "Takataka". Without hesitation the audience followed the "exercises". Again to the quartet had grown ensemble sprayed finish with "Negrita" unleashing dynamics and adopted almost dreamy with a wistful melody.
Thüringer Allgemeine - Karl-Heinz Veit
....Temperament and southern charm exude, the musicians conjured a mental images of a summer day on the beach, where sun, wind and ocean waves let forget all the stress of everyday life. „I feel like in a deck chair“ said one of the audience during the break....
...With incredible dexterity put the two guitarists the musical ideas, describe as a world-music melodic melange from elements of Flamenco, Jazz, Indian and oriental classical music and folk music. Pleasantly conspicuous in the musicians’ team was the actions of the percussionist Ernest Martinez. With great sensitivity he brought his performance to the game….
www.flamencoweb.fr - CLAUDE WORMS - Dicember 2011
Sin Distancia Trio : new album "Soleado"
Manuel Delgado (guitare flamenca) Ralf Siedhoff (guitares) Ernesto Martinez ( percussions)
... a remarkable constancy in musical complicity which ensures Sin Distancia Trio an outstanding unity. Rarely the so overused word of “fusion” (a concept which in this case epitomises more the connection between the musicians than between the different music styles) will have been so relevant, and Sin Distancia Trio’s live performance equals that of the best specialists in the genre, such as Ultra High Flamenco...
The two guitarists seem to be playing a four-handed guitar, the subtlety of their musical phrasing and their conception of music (their artistry in suggesting and hinting) being so identical. Only the range of the instruments enables us to make out who does what in the impressionistic interlace of strings, comparable to a mist of resounding droplets, halfway between very subtly played arpeggio and rasgueado, and pierced by short and sharp rises towards the extremely high pitched register of the instrument.
The finely (yet firmly) outlined melodic themes stand out from this pastel coloured background, and are created by modulating harmonic sequences achieved with great inventiveness (the two guitar performance allows delicious superimpositions of chord inversions), which ensure the coherence of the compositions.
The soothing tone of the ensemble, muy "soleado"indeed, doesn’t exclude rhythmical vigour, efficiently enhanced by the percussions of Ernesto Martinez’s, who performs a very musical solo.
Seat yourselves comfortably on the terrace of a sea-front café at sunset, an Americano cocktail at hand. Play Soleado on your turntable... and enjoy, without moderation.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Ulrich Olshausen
"in the section of world-musical overlapping" The Guitar Duo” convinced with a connection of Flamenco (Manuel Delgado), classical guitar (the german Ralf Siedhoff) and mutually jazz-trained improvisation ability. With its great technical possibilities of the string staccato salvos one can compare it with Paco de Lucia and John Mc Laughlin (of over twenty years ago); the warm interaction was far distant from a copy."
KÖLNER STADT-ANZEIGER
The Guitar Duo
Fast Fingers
Bergisch Gladbach: The duo formation of Manuel Delgado from Barcelona and Ralf Siedhoff from Weimar is simply called "The Guitar Duo". They met first in Tunis, talk in English and include folkloric elements from India, Spain and god knows from where else – who would say that this is not international enough.
A considerable audience gathered in the stage area of the "Löwe" in order to listen to the original compositions of the two musicians. The Spaniard played predominantly the flamenco guitar and the German the "ordinary" classical guitar and the tinny 12 string guitar. Both have fast fingers and to top it all a remarkable culture of sound.
It was played without big talks: alternating compositions of both of them, always from memory, always virtually perfect. It was stylistically a multicultural cuddle mix for feeling good and relaxing – sometimes a bit of jazz, sometimes a bit of Indian sitar music but also pure-bred flamenco. The changes of the different instruments and styles brought variety into the soundmix. Without them it would be on a long term basis more suitable as background music. An evening for the musical relaxation followed by strong applause. (D.M.)
LEIPZIGER VOLKSZEITUNG
Guitar Duo – Spanish heat in the early autumn of Leipzig
Delgado and Siedhoff delighted their audience in the jampacked MB
There couldn’t have been more heat in Tunisia where Manuel Delgado first met Ralf Siedhoff. This could have been the thought of some people while they were listening to the strains of the Guitar Duo in the grand event room of the MB. The spotlights contributed to this impression while Delgado invoked the shimmering heat of Spain.
The highly concentrated faces of the guitar players showed that there is an enormous effort behind the melodies which flow wonderful lightly along. Both of the musicians gave the time once more once less intensive with the foot. But with more passionate songs they acted with the whole body. You saw and felt their enthusiasm for the music and the joy for their own pieces. They are actually a little bit proud of their new CD „Azucena", which one Siedhoff quite often pointed out to the audience with a wink. The disc is warmly recommended but it doesn’t reach the atmosphere of the live concerts of the duo. Delgado acts the proud Spaniard at the guitar and Siedhoff wins the audience quickly by his nonchalant manner. The harmony in the team wasn’t only heard but seen. During the play they give each other looks over and over again, they smile and peruse attentive the soloparts of the other one.
The looks of the listeners were sticking to the artists with the same kind of tension. The duo develops a strong presence on stage which is therefore only barely equipped. Beside the instruments and loudspeakers there was only a flag of the Raï-Haus which was the organiser of the concert.
After more than one and a half hours and two encores which were knocked out by the stormy applause of the enthusiastic audience the guitar duo dismissed his listeners into the autumn Leipzig. But still after a while you had the feeling of just coming out of the sun.(Andrea Burkhardt)
Scala
A flamenco and a classical guitar meet here for a splendid session.
Although, according to the statements of the musicians of "The Guitar Duo", spanish, asian and jazz elements run together the iberian colour is predominantly.
Faultless, elegant technique make a positive general impression sure, even if the ten songs on "Azucena" are not really different from each other.
Manuel Delgado’s and Ralf Siedhoff’s songs are in any case more original and more creative than, for example, the ones of Ottmar Liebert, with his overproducted "New Flamenco Esoteric".
Wolf-Christian Fink
Music: good
Sound: very good
FRÄNKISCHER TAG BAMBERG
The Guitar Duo
A trip into new sound spheres
Jazz, flamenco and more with "The Guitar Duo" in the "Neuen Palais" of Bamberg
The flamenco guitarist Manuel Delgado from Barcelona and the jazz guitarist Ralf Siedhoff from Weimar met first in August 1997. What started with an international meeting of musicians in Tunis and a concert in the Amphitheatre of Carthago became within one year "The Guitar Duo" whose first CD was recently completed. For one week they are now on tour in Germany and within this tour they guested in Bamberg last Thursday in the "Neuen Palais".
So for the opening of the season there was a dialog in guitar-language between the north and the south of Europe. Rather in various guitar-languages because the different musical roots of the two musicians are also the main topic of their co-operation. With their own compositions they are searching for a way without musical borders. Certainly the flamenco and Iberian stylistic elements are dominating even if some African, Indian or Middle Eastern sounds smuggle into the songs now and then and Siedhoff does not deny his jazz origin.
Already with his first piece "Aquellos Gitanos" Manuel Delgado swings himself up to flamenco flights to which however Siedhoff knew how to add a few jazz elements. The result therefore was very distant from every folkloric banging melodics which are sold to every holiday-maker in Andalusia in the dives of Malaga as the real flamenco. Delgado brought the warm spain with his Solo Buleria (one variante of Andalusian folk music) to the autumn Germany. With "Dorsaf", which is dedicated to a female Tunisian singer, Delgado and Siedhoff reminded of the World-Music-Festival in Tunis that brought them together and whose musical elements, which were assembled there, formed their style. The Siedhoff composition "Waiting for a friend" shows the attachment to the free-jazz as well as to the Indian Raga music.
And there are far more possibilities. Siedhoff underlined this later with pieces like "Song for the Raï-House" - his musical home in Leipzig - or "Kleines Lied" where the play with jazz and folk elements was mixed with free improvisation. But the two guitarists do not play themselves or their styles in any way against each other. The harmony was perfect and if one of them performed a furious solo the other one formed the suitable background. On their trips into new sound spheres they drive each other forward. Perfectly tuned caesuras, abrupt changes in time, breathtaking fast successions of chords - the general impression of the evening was a strong dynamically push forward - a musical vortex. And with the partly maddening tempo of the pieces both of them showed commanding knowledge of guitar-playing. That also includes stroking, tapping, striking or sweeping, which allowed the two musicians to elicit additional nuances from their acoustic guitars. So there was not only technically brilliant resonance but also very intensive expression. Even though the words are borrowed from another genre of music it shall be allowed to say that the concert of the Guitar-Duo had "groove and soul".
Der neue Tag
.. Because the two avoid getting into superficial effects and experiments, they let intensive ,guitaristic’ thoughts rise so the surface. Indian and oriental classical music, jazz and flamenco enter into an almost intimate dialog...
