harmonica as the main one be- cause, as he says himself, it’s what he plays best. His harmonica mo- ves easily through jazz, pop, fla- menco and classical music. He finds himself at home in all these genres… - I feel comfortable in any situ- ation where I can express myself freely, regardless of the style. Jazz was not my first choice, but then I heard Louis Armstrong and Toots Thielemans. They blew my mind! Serrano combines flamenco, which is authentically Spanish, with jazz, which is authentically Ameri- can, and has a very interesting an- swer to the question of where is the connection between the two… - In the Blues! African Ame- rican and Spanish gypsies have suffered in similar ways throug- hout history and what they expre- ss through their music is a similar feeling, although technically they are very different. For me, flamen- co is a very sophisticated kind of popular music. To play it requires a lot of passion, but also a serious understanding of rhythm, melody and harmony. He was lucky to spend ten ma- gical years playing with one of the greatest guitarists in the wor- ld, the unforgettable Paco de Lu- cia, which gave him a lot of expe- rience. “He was a genius and I feel very lucky to have attracted his attention”, says Serrano, who has also played with many top pop and rock artists in Spain, and made an contribution to music for the films of the great Spanish dire- ctor Pedro Almodóvar. - Alberto Iglesias, who wrote the scores, wanted a harmonica and called me in for the recording sessi- on. I didn't meet Pedro until many years later. Although Serrano is the grea- test at what he does, he has remai- ned modest and dedicated to hard work. That is actually what he te- aches those who look up to him as a role model. He says: Work hard and focus on one thing at a time. Also, don't forget that music is more about listening than abo- ut playing. So, even now, he is still searc- hing for beautiful sounds, claiming that there is no end to music. - Music will always exist and evolve.
Deset godina Antonio je svirao sa Pakom de Lusijom, za kojeg kaže da je genije Antonio played with Paco de Lucia for ten years, saying that he was a genius
menata, ali je za glavni izabrao usnu harmoniku jer je to, kako sam kaže, instrument koji svira najbolje. Nje- gova harmonika s lakoćom klizi kroz džez, pop, fla- menko i klasičnu muziku. I u svim ovim žanrovima se oseća kao kod kuće… – Udobno mi je u svakoj situaciji u kojoj sebe mogu da izrazim. Stil je nevažan u tom smislu. Džez nije bio moj prvi izbor, ali onda sam čuo Luja Arm- stronga i Tutsa Tilmansa. Oni su me bukvalno razbi- li. Tako sam se zaljubio u džez. Serano kombinuje flamenko, koji je izvorna špan- ska muzika, i džez, koji je originalno američki pravac. Interesantan je njegov odgovor na pitanje gde se ta dva muzička stila ukrštaju… – U bluzu! Američki crnci i španski Cigani žive- li su sličnu patnju i tugu, pa kroz svoju muziku izra- žavaju sličnu emociju, iako su tehnički ovi pravci, naravno, veoma različiti. Za mene je flamenko veo- ma sofisticiran oblik pop muzike. Da biste ga svirali, morate biti puni strasti, ali i ozbiljno poznavati ritam, melodiju i harmoniju. Imao je sreće da provede deset magičnih godina sa jednim od najvećih gitarista svih vremena, neza- boravnim Pakom de Lusijom, sa kojim je stekao ogro- mno iskustvo. „On je bio genije, imao sam neverovat- nu sreću da me prepozna i posveti mi pažnju“, kaže Antonio, koji je svirao sa većinom pop i rok umetni- ka u Španiji, između ostalog doprinoseći muzici za filmove velikog Pedra Almodovara. – Alberto Iglesijas, koji je komponovao muziku za film, želeo je usnu harmoniku i pozvao me je. Tek mnogo kasnije upoznao sam Pedra. Iako je jedan od najvećih u svom poslu, Serano je i dalje skroman čovek posvećen radu i muzici. Upra- vo su to osobine kojima uči mlade muzičare koji bi voleli da krenu njegovim stopama. On kaže: „Radi naporno, radi jedno po jedno i nikada ne zaboravi da je muzika u slušanju, a tek onda u sviranju!“ Tako čak i sada, posle toliko godina uspešne kari- jere, Antonio još traga za divnim zvucima, tvrdeći ne- pokolebljivo da u muzici nema kraja… – Muzika će uvek postojati, uvek će se menjati i transformisati – kaže on.
BEOGRAD JOŠ ODZVANJA U MENI Serano je svirao sa Pakom de Lusijom na Gitar art festivalu u Beogradu 2010. godine. Nikada nije zaboravio srpsku prestoni- cu. Večerao je u finom restora- nu, gde je grupa muzičara svi- rala samo za njega i ekipu. Kaže da još može da ih čuje u sebi. A u Beogradu ćemo ga opet slušati sa čuvenim kvartetom zahvaljujući Institutu Servan- tes. Budući da je rođen u Madri- du, Antonio kaže da svako bar jednom u životu mora da poseti njegov rodni grad. – Ljudi su druželjubivi, žene su prelepe, a hrana fantastična! Zar to nije dovoljno? BELGRADE IS IN HIS MIND Serrano performed with Paco de Lucia at the Guitar Art Festi- val in Belgrade in 2010, and has never forgotten the Serbian ca- pital. He enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant with live mu- sic that he can still recall. Serra- no will be playing in Belgrade again courtesy of the Cervan- tes Institute. Having been born in Madrid, his parting words are that everybody should vi- sit thecity at least once in the- ir lifetime. - People are friendly, the wo- men are beautiful and the food is excellent! Do you need anyt- hing more?
30 |
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator