When Jason Webster heads off for Spain in search of “duende”, the intense emotional state
- part ecstasy, part desperation
- so intrinsic to flamenco, he has no idea what to expect. What he finds is a kaleidoscope of experience & excitement: From the tyranny of his guitar teacher, practising for hours on end until his fingers bleed, to his passionate affair with Lola, a flamenco dancer (and older woman) married to the gun-toting Vicente, which causes him to flee Alicante in fear of his life. In Madrid, he falls in with gypsies & meets the imperious Jesus. Joining their dislocated, cocaine-fuelled world, stealing cars by night & sleeping away the days in tawdry rooms, he finds himself spiralling self-destructively downwards. It is only when he arrives in Granada bruised & battered, after two years total immersion in the flamenco lifestyle, that he is able to put his obsession into context.