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Can’t let this moment pass without noting the passing away of flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata. If ever there was a showman he was one! He was loved and adored by huge numbers who were turned on to flamenco by his very particular brand. Others were not so keen. I heard the story from a reliable source that Sabicas sat through one of his concerts and kept spitting on the floor. On another occasion he once boasted to a great classical player that he never did any practice. Why? Because “if I did I could get good, and might not make so much money!” Make of those stories what you will, but he had that one indefinable quality precious to an artist: he was a great communicator.