Music Reviews : Flamenco Guitarist Pena Performs at Orange Coast College

With an album that made it into the pop charts, a teaching position at the Rotterdam Conservatory and a recently composed and recorded Mass, Spanish guitarist Paco Pena maintains a career almost as multifarious as the Andalusian culture that gave birth to the flamenco music he plays.

But unlike many who spread themselves too thin, Pena gets by impressively with a superlative technique tempered by an unpretentious, tasteful performance style.

An even dozen--not including an encore--examples of his improvisatory artistry made up the program for his Sunday afternoon recital at Moore Theater, Orange Coast College.

The order of the program was improvised, as Pena announced the traditional forms he would perform--such as malaguenas , soleares or tarantas --from the stage. Each usually began slowly, gradually increased in activity and ended with a convincing cadence.

The impromptu creations produced mesmerizing experiences, not of complex or even especially sophisticated harmonic construction, but of a soaring virtuosity connected to easily accessible chord progressions.

Included in the program, as well as the program notes, were the theories of flamenco music that Pena utilizes.

Similar to the tala of East Indian music, a rhythmic model called the compas is employed in some of the forms, often identifiable via visible, and at times audible, foot-tapping.

A pair of tributes to past flamenco artists--one to Ramon Montoya, the other to Sabicas--proved satisfying items.

A lively guajiras ended the first part of the program with an especially inventive study.