2010 · Album
Hands
Recorded March 2009 · Dare2 · Produced by Not specified in verified sources
Pepe Habichuela's Final Statement
Habichuela's fingers mesmerize across the scales, bringing rich fullness and stunning imagination to every phrase.
This album belongs to Pepe Habichuela. Though Dave Holland leads the session on his own label, it's the Spanish flamenco guitarist who defines what Hands actually is — and what makes it worth hearing. Eight of the ten tracks flow directly from Habichuela's deep knowledge of flamenco tradition, giving the record its spine and its particular voice. Holland, one of jazz's most accomplished and versatile musicians, doesn't fight that reality. Instead, he listens. He finds spaces where the double bass can converse with the guitar without drowning it out, where his harmonic sense can deepen rather than overshadow what Habichuela is doing.
The pairing came together by accident — arranged through a cultural administrator in Andalusia — but the chemistry was immediate enough that what started as a four-day rehearsal in 2007 turned into recordings four years later. By then Holland and Habichuela had figured out how to make something that isn't a compromise between jazz and flamenco, but rather flamenco played with the curiosity and responsiveness of a jazz musician. All About Jazz gave it a full five stars, and the critic there heard it exactly right: an elegant, rhythmically spicy blend where flamenco gets top billing.
This ended up being Habichuela's last album released during his lifetime. That's not a reason to overvalue it, but it does mean the record carries weight it might not otherwise have — a final chance to hear him in conversation with someone who genuinely respected what he brought to the table. Holland contributes two originals, but they sit quietly in a record that is fundamentally about Habichuela's vision and his fingers finding their way across the scales.
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