Almoraima

Paco de Lucía, 1976, from Almoraima. Solo by Paco de Lucía.

A bulería with Arabic flavor and a bouzouki-like sound; one of his best-known compositions.

Almoraima is a bulería with an Arabic flavour, and Paco de Lucía plays it with a sharp, bright tone that at times recalls a bouzouki. The piece moves through a series of falsetas, each built on the twelve-beat bulería cycle yet full of melodic turns that point toward North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. His rhythmic control is remarkable: dense runs land exactly on the accents, then give way to crisp rasgueado. It became one of his best-known compositions and a touchstone for players exploring flamenco's Moorish echoes. Listen for the ornamented melodic lines between the rhythmic passages, where the guitar seems to sing in a different scale from the one you expect.

Almoraima by Paco de Lucía is featured in our Flamenco (#3) list. The solo is played by Paco de Lucía and the song was released in 1976.

In our lists

• Beyond the Canon — #20
• The 25 Greatest Flamenco Guitar Recordings — #3
• The Best Paco de Lucía Guitar Solos — #5

Sources