Jose Luis Gonzalez (1932-1998), a guitarist unknown to me until today. I love the fact that this was recorded in 1992, but it sounds like it's from the 50's. His playing is divine - full of color, passion, and freedom.
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i write about your site on my blog at http://bagisahabat.blogspot.com/2009/11/mengenal-gitar-klasik-lebih-dekat.html
Best regards,
Clenoro
Thank you very much Kevin, he is amazing.
The other videos of him playing on youtube are stunning as well. The internet is sparse on information however, do you know anything about him besides the fact that he's sadly deceased? Did he leave behind a legacy, cds, television recordings, perhaps a recording of a full concert somewhere?
Best regards,
Mikkel
Hi Mikkel - unfortunately, I don't know anything about him. Like you, I searched for an hour to try and find information, but turned up very little. If you do find out anything, please let me know. I'd love to get a recording of him. This type of playing is very rare indeed.
Hi Kevin,
I found a cd of him playing Tarrega released in 1998 (year of his death, seems odd for some reason) on i-tunes. For some reason it evaded my sight the first time I looked.
I'm not that fond of Tarrega but the recording has most of his preludes which is properly the pieces I enjoy the most of his compositions. I really enjoyed his granados on youtube as well, his rendition of the second spanish dance is proberly the best besides the presti/lagoya duo I've heard to this date. I also found a mention of a vinyl on http://patmartino.com/record_lib.php?category_id=1 apparently with pieces by Ponce, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Villa-Lobos, Tarrega, Tansman, Barrios and Libaek.
wonderful - I'll hunt down both albums.
thanks Mikkel!
Kevin
Please do contact me if you hunt down the vinyl! I would be much interested.
I saw him playing at a concert in Tokyo (it was 1996 or 1997, I can’t remember) and I must say his guitar tone is the most beautiful I ever heard. His tone was so beautiful that the whole audience (~ 400 to 500 people?) was like in a hypnotic trance. I remember his encore piece, Amor Profundo brought tears to my eyes.
I have his CD produced by Sony, however the recording sound is so metallic and his music has been pretty much destroyed….
In July 1992 issue of Gendai Guitar Magazine, there is an article on his life (he has taught many Japanese classical guitarists and he is highly respected.) …. His first teacher was one of Tarrega’s pupils and he entered the Conservatorio de Valencia (Segovia also taught him in master classes.) His later life was very hard… he abandoned playing guitar when his four young kids passed away.. He instead became a truck loader and didn’t play the guitar for about 4 years.
The videos on YouTube are taken from this DVD:
http://www.gendaiguitar.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=130030
nekola
I believe Jose luis Gonzalez moved from Spain to Australia in or around the nineteen sixties. Enjoyed a successful career in Australasia for quite some time.
He recorded at least one album I know of.
He was one of the "two disciples" living in "Australia" [along with Antonio Losada ex. Madrid (d 2006)] who Andres Segovia used to mention when describing his mission to establish the instrument worldwide.
P.S. when I listened this clip I could have sworn I was listening to my late teacher, Antonio Losada.
He and Gonzalez were rivals of sorts.
I am in total agreement with Kevin, such playing is rarely heard.
According to my vinyl copy of Portrait of the Guitar (CBS Records, 1974), Gonzalez was born in Alcoy, Spain, in 1932. At the age of 16, he gave his first public recital in Madrid's Realto Theater. In 1957, he was graduated from the Valencia Conservatory. For a time, Gonzalez was a scholarship pupil of Regino Sainz de la Maza in Madrid and also studied for many summers with Segovia at Santiago de Compostela. In 1961, Gonzalez won the Margarita Pastor prize in a competition organized by the Orense Conservatory and held in conjunction with the Music at Compostela Festival. In this contest, the young virtuoso competed against master guitarists from all over the world. After being acclaimed in recitals throughout Continental Europe and in North Africa, Gonzalez moved to Australia in 1962, settling in Sydney to teach, concertize and to record for CBS Australia.
Today I was getting rid of some old tapes, and found José Luis González recording of Sor's 20 Etudes (Segovia's Collection). I got nostalgic and, remembered when he copied the long play in this tape. I went to Alcoy to study with José Luis González for one year (1984-1985). He always asked us if we want to have a copy of his Long Plays. José Luis music can be found in Japan, because he used to perform there a lot. When I was in Alcoy, there were many fine guitarists from Japan, among them my good friend Keigo Fuji. When I was there, there were probably 15 Japanese guitarists. We used to have wine and tapas with José Luis in the local market every day before lunch. Alcoy used to have a guitar competition, and I still conserve one of the posters. José Luis was a great performer and his classes were very empirical. He liked to demonstrate in the instrument instead of talking. I will always remember him. I am planning to digitize the tape I found today soon.
Saludos from Philadelphia,
Emiliano
http://www.fermatapub.com/Site/Home.html
I could write at length about Jose Luis Gonzalez Juliá. He was a great man and an exceptional teacher. I lived in Alcoy, studying with him between 1974 and 1979. His story was always considered to be somewhat unfortunate, in that he never became a household name in the guitar world. The family returned to Alcoy, from Australia, where he'd been sent by Segovia, due to the personal family tragedy of having lost a child or two to a rare blood incompatibility. He still did have a daughter and a son who did grow up healthy, and they are still in Alcoy.
For those of us who somehow stumbled upon him, we were in the best of hands for learning how to play the instrument properly. There were always indeed many serious and accomplished Japanese players who lived in his provincial and fascinating home town, which we all came to love. They typically arrived with excellent technique, on a mission to learn how to interpret correctly. At every lesson, Jose Luis would first pour two little glass cups of red wine, one for himself and one for the student. He was animated at all times, loads of fun to be around, and indeed we knew that we were in the company of a musical titan. An entire little international mini guitarist world revolved around him. He would invite everyone to his weekend house in a small town, Adzaneta de Albaida, just to be together, eat and have a good time. He invited us to follow him to his apartment at the beach, in Gandia, when he was presumably on vacation. His wife, Tere, was always very welcoming to us young musicians, who certainly must have seemed like we were hanging on to her husband. Every summer, for many years, he held a workshop for a few weeks in the town of Estella in Navarra.
His repertoire was vast. Whether it was Bach or Sanz or Sor or Ponce or Castelnuovo-Tedesco or Moreno-Torroba, he was masterful and impeccable at it all, with exquisite tone.
The man had a powerful and almost magical look in his eyes when you spoke with him and when he smiled. There was also something enigmatic about him, though he was always light-hearted and jovial, and he enjoyed speaking in English. As a teacher and mentor he was consistently supportive, and always encouraging, even for a player like me who was never destined for the concert stage. Still, to this day, my tone quality is my greatest strength as a guitarist, something he would be delighted to know since he placed such a high premium on that aspect of playing the instrument. We all revered Jose Luis.
I'm very happy that I found this conversation and that I have been able to add some light on the legacy of who this extraordinary man was. He certainly changed my life when I fell into his hands, and he enriched it immeasurably.
I could write at length about Jose Luis Gonzalez Juliá. He was a great man and an exceptional teacher. I lived in Alcoy, studying with him between 1974 and 1979. His story was always considered to be somewhat unfortunate, in that he never became a household name in the guitar world. The family returned to Alcoy, from Australia, where he'd been sent by Segovia, due to the personal family tragedy of having lost a child or two to a rare blood incompatibility. He still did have a daughter and a son who did grow up healthy, and they are still in Alcoy.
For those of us who somehow stumbled upon him, we were in the best of hands for learning how to play the instrument properly. There were always indeed many serious and accomplished Japanese players who lived in his provincial and fascinating home town, which we all came to love. They typically arrived with excellent technique, on a mission to learn how to interpret correctly. At every lesson, Jose Luis would first pour two little glass cups of red wine, one for himself and one for the student. He was animated at all times, loads of fun to be around, and indeed we knew that we were in the company of a musical titan. An entire little international mini guitarist world revolved around him. He would invite everyone to his weekend house in a small town, Adzaneta de Albaida, just to be together, eat and have a good time. He invited us to follow him to his apartment at the beach, in Gandia, when he was presumably on vacation. His wife, Tere, was always very welcoming to us young musicians, who certainly must have seemed like we were hanging on to her husband. Every summer, for many years, he held a workshop for a few weeks in the town of Estella in Navarra.
His repertoire was vast. Whether it was Bach or Sanz or Sor or Ponce or Castelnuovo-Tedesco or Moreno-Torroba, he was masterful and impeccable at it all, with exquisite tone.
The man had a powerful and almost magical look in his eyes when you spoke with him and when he smiled. There was also something enigmatic about him, though he was always light-hearted and jovial, and he enjoyed speaking in English. As a teacher and mentor he was consistently supportive, and always encouraging, even for a player like me who was never destined for the concert stage. Still, to this day, my tone quality is my greatest strength as a guitarist, something he would be delighted to know since he placed such a high premium on that aspect of playing the instrument. We all revered Jose Luis.
I'm very happy that I found this conversation and that I have been able to add some light on the legacy of who this extraordinary man was. He certainly changed my life when I fell into his hands, and he enriched it immeasurably.
I could write at length about Jose Luis Gonzalez Juliá. He was a great man and an exceptional teacher. I lived in Alcoy, studying with him between 1974 and 1979. His story was always considered to be somewhat unfortunate, in that he never became a household name in the guitar world. The family returned to Alcoy, from Australia, where he'd been sent by Segovia, due to the personal family tragedy of having lost a child or two to a rare blood incompatibility. He still did have a daughter and a son who did grow up healthy, and they are still in Alcoy.
For those of us who somehow stumbled upon him, we were in the best of hands for learning how to play the instrument properly. There were always indeed many serious and accomplished Japanese players who lived in his provincial and fascinating home town, which we all came to love. They typically arrived with excellent technique, on a mission to learn how to interpret correctly. At every lesson, Jose Luis would first pour two little glass cups of red wine, one for himself and one for the student. He was animated at all times, loads of fun to be around, and indeed we knew that we were in the company of a musical titan. An entire little international mini guitarist world revolved around him. He would invite everyone to his weekend house in a small town, Adzaneta de Albaida, just to be together, eat and have a good time. He invited us to follow him to his apartment at the beach, in Gandia, when he was presumably on vacation. His wife, Tere, was always very welcoming to us young musicians, who certainly must have seemed like we were hanging on to her husband. Every summer, for many years, he held a workshop for a few weeks in the town of Estella in Navarra.
His repertoire was vast. Whether it was Bach or Sanz or Sor or Ponce or Castelnuovo-Tedesco or Moreno-Torroba, he was masterful and impeccable at it all, with exquisite tone.
The man had a powerful and almost magical look in his eyes when you spoke with him and when he smiled. There was also something enigmatic about him, though he was always light-hearted and jovial, and he enjoyed speaking in English. As a teacher and mentor he was consistently supportive, and always encouraging, even for a player like me who was never destined for the concert stage. Still, to this day, my tone quality is my greatest strength as a guitarist, something he would be delighted to know since he placed such a high premium on that aspect of playing the instrument. We all revered Jose Luis.
I'm very happy that I found this conversation and that I have been able to add some light on the legacy of who this extraordinary man was. He certainly changed my life when I fell into his hands, and he enriched it immeasurably.
I could write at length about Jose Luis Gonzalez Juliá. He was a great man and an exceptional teacher. I lived in Alcoy, studying with him between 1974 and 1979. His story was always considered to be somewhat unfortunate, in that he never became a household name in the guitar world. The family returned to Alcoy, from Australia, where he'd been sent by Segovia, due to the personal family tragedy of having lost a child or two to a rare blood incompatibility. He still did have a daughter and a son who did grow up healthy, and they are still in Alcoy.
For those of us who somehow stumbled upon him, we were in the best of hands for learning how to play the instrument properly. There were always indeed many serious and accomplished Japanese players who lived in his provincial and fascinating home town, which we all came to love. They typically arrived with excellent technique, on a mission to learn how to interpret correctly. At every lesson, Jose Luis would first pour two little glass cups of red wine, one for himself and one for the student. He was animated at all times, loads of fun to be around, and indeed we knew that we were in the company of a musical titan. An entire little international mini guitarist world revolved around him. He would invite everyone to his weekend house in a small town, Adzaneta de Albaida, just to be together, eat and have a good time. He invited us to follow him to his apartment at the beach, in Gandia, when he was presumably on vacation. His wife, Tere, was always very welcoming to us young musicians, who certainly must have seemed like we were hanging on to her husband. Every summer, for many years, he held a workshop for a few weeks in the town of Estella in Navarra.
His repertoire was vast. Whether it was Bach or Sanz or Sor or Ponce or Castelnuovo-Tedesco or Moreno-Torroba, he was masterful and impeccable at it all, with exquisite tone.
The man had a powerful and almost magical look in his eyes when you spoke with him and when he smiled. There was also something enigmatic about him, though he was always light-hearted and jovial, and he enjoyed speaking in English. As a teacher and mentor he was consistently supportive, and always encouraging, even for a player like me who was never destined for the concert stage. Still, to this day, my tone quality is my greatest strength as a guitarist, something he would be delighted to know since he placed such a high premium on that aspect of playing the instrument. We all revered Jose Luis.
I'm very happy that I found this conversation and that I have been able to add some light on the legacy of who this extraordinary man was. He certainly changed my life when I fell into his hands, and he enriched it immeasurably.
Hello Jeffrey:
I am Nacho Palmer González, the grandson of JLG. Do you remember me?.
Zane Turner is writting the biography from my grandfather from Australia, have you speak with him?.
I created a page into Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jose-Luis-Gonzalez-Guitarrista/149203621804542?v=info (José Luis González, guitarrista).
Can you contact with me?.
Best regards from Alcoy.
Nacho Palmer González said...
Hello Jeffrey:
I am Nacho Palmer González, the grandson of JLG. Do you remember me?.
Zane Turner is writting the biography about my grandfather from Australia, have you spoken with him?.
I created a page into Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jose-Luis-Gonzalez-Guitarrista/149203621804542?v=info.
Can you contact with me?.
Best regards from Alcoy.
http://www.facebook.com/joseluisgonzalezjulia
I studied classical guitar using a book by Gonzalez called "Guitar Technique Note." It's only in Japanese and I'm not sure it's still available. I'm surprised he is not better known.
I have never forgotten Jose Luis. Without repeating what may already have been said - I remember him as impeccably Spanish, fond of dark or brown conservative clothing, immaculate footware... This is Sydney about 1963/4 (date a bit vague now & I was a bit of a "hippy" I guess 1960s - I wonder what he thought of me!?). He was teaching for an organization called Ricordi(s) which mostly sold pianos & violins on the ground floor in George or Pitt Street, Sydney Australia.
It had rather "pokey" little sparse studios upstairs, not somewhere to spend a large part of the day. My home was 60 miles north of Sydney near Gosford & I took a train from home (about 3 hours travel) for a weekly lesson. Later I moved to Sydney as a uni student. His contract wasn't good I gather so when it expired he later taught from his flat in respectable Potts Point (near the infamous Kings Cross). On occasion he invited his students for small evening gatherings with his wife & children in his sitting room. I made rapid progress but there were several good students ahead & better than me, especially a young girl(?). He could tell if hadn't practised enough since my last lesson immediately & on occasion I got my knuckles literally rapped with a pencil (I felt guilty because I was disappointing him & wasting my time!). His private life was painful with the death of his young son. His concerts were memorable & in quite small venues to begin with. He always dressed formally - in the spirit of Segovia. If my nails weren't so weak I would have persisted but that & 'uni' study limited my practice time. I made the overland trip Australia to London carrying my Suzuki guitar all the way (I left & lost my excellent Western Australian made guitar during my absence). I was even asked to play on occasion by appreciative audience in unusual places (Singapore YMCA & an atomic physicist's home in Bombay) - but I must say it wasn't my skills that must have shone through so much as Jose Luis' teachings & spirit. I intend to get my guitar out of retirement (since late 1970s). As a final postscript (and confession) I doodle about with a Ukelele nowadays, with obvious limitations - trying to play some of the classical guitar music I use to know... (shush... enuff sed!). London May 2018
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