i've always been interested in the genre, but never knew where to start. the other day i checked out some toplists on Amazon, and picked up a couple of albums.
John Williams - Spanish Guitar Music
don't know what to say, since i have very little to compare it too. it seems these are all classic pieces. it's not quite as flamboyant as i was hoping to find, but the technical expertise demonstrated here is phenomenal. it didn't bring goosebumps, but it is very good dinner music
Jose Luis Encinas - Duende
now this is more like it! it's a very modern take on the genre from what i can tell. it shares a few songs with the Williams album i sampled. but this album injects the music with occasional trumpet, violen, acoustic guitar, keyboard, bass, and other sounds. it never comes across as a big band sound, the spanish guitar is always very much the centrepiece of the music, but the rest works wonderfully to accent each track. it ends up sounding almost new-age, but in a very, very good way.
if anyone knows more music like Duende, please do share!