LEO KOTTKE

folk-blues guitarist

“The first album I bought was probably a recording of Villa-Lobos music by Laurindo Almeida, and it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. Back then, I detested the sound of classical guitar. I thought it just sounded bland and colorless, although I’m actually quite fond of it now. Anyhow, that was the first.

“I think the second record - and they were the only two guitar records I could find, and I had to go into Oklahoma City to find them. I was living in Muskogee, but my trombone lessons brought me into Oklahoma City - was called ‘Flamenco Fire.’ It must have made Sabicas want to die because on one side was Sabicas and on the other side was Carlos Montoya, who, well, let’s just say that he was less than highly regarded by flamenco players. And they screwed with Sabicas on that record, too, adding a rooster to one piece on the record. In the middle of this song, suddenly you hear a rooster crowing. What were they thinking?

“I got something from both of those records, though. With the Almeida album, I just knew that that wasn’t where I wanted to go. And the flamenco record, well, I couldn’t begin to conceive of what they were doing.”