BOAT TRUMPET HORN

Manuel Reyes began as a flamenco guitarist. He was drawn into the world of building by an old, beat up old guitar given to him by Sra. Carmen Lacquer, a flamenco singer. He tried to restore this instrument, but was unsatisfied with the result, so he decided to build a guitar guided by his own intuition. By the time he finished, he was hooked. Later, he meet Joaquin Sanchez Galisteo, the luthier who his first teacher. Sanchez taught Manuel the basics of guitar construction. In 1949, Manuel set up his own workshop in Cordoba. Through Pepe Martinez, the famous flamenco guitarist, Manuel was introduced to great master luthier, Marcelo Barbero (b. 1904-d. 1956). Manuel moved to Madrid to study personally with Barbero. Manuel studied with Marcelo for about a year, and although Marcelo offered him employment in his workshop afterwards, Manuel had so many clients in Cordoba waiting for guitars, he was forced to return to his native city. Manuel only makes concert flamenco and classical guitars, building about 20 guitars a year. Manuel's stature is such that Luis F. Leal Pinar devotes an entire chapter in "Guitarreros de Andalucia" (2004) to him. His flamenco guitars are in such demand that he has a waiting list of ten years, and is no longer taking new orders.

Manuel son's, Manuel Reyes, Jr., was born in 1969 in Cordoba. He was trained as a guitar maker by his father, and has been working with him full time since 1994. Recently, he has begun to sell his own instruments, signing his father's label, Manuel Reyes, Jr. They are built on the elder's Reyes design, under his supervision, and are nearly indistinguishable from those of his father.

had the fortune of seeing MUSE's shows in Vancouver before and seeing them again in Singapore last week~ apparently their first ever gig in Asia outside of Japan! and it's also their first gig of the year!!! woohoo~~~ lucky lucky me!!! hahaha!!! my Muse-loving friends in Van are sooo jealous cuz they skip Van for the tour, wahahaa *gloating* ^O^ it was an absolutely amazing show as usual and they totally rocked the 6,500 people in the park!!!

I actually cannot remember much about the Van shows I saw before, other than the fantastic light beams... and apparently it was the only thing lacking in the Singapore show that disappointed the people here a bit. But to me, I really prefer it this way -- just strip away all the fancy stuff and what's left at the core is what's truly important, the music!!! Back to the basics is the best. But then again, that's because I've seen their light shows before already so I don't mind seeing them in a different setting just as a plain rock gig, heheh =P

I don't particularly like Brit rock but somehow from the first time I've heard MUSE's songs I just fell in love with their music... I didn't know how they look like but just love the massive vocals and the driving guitar and bass lines, and they blend electronica and classical influences beautifully into their hard rock sound~ If it's not MUSE I wouldn't have liked electronica at all in the first place!