Teye

Teye (born 1957) is a Dutch guitarist / guitar builder / music teacher, best known for his flamenco guitar work with the Joe Ely band between 1994 and 2000, and for his flamenco ensembles 'Teye & Viva el Flamenco' and 'Teye & Belen'.

Biography

Teye started learning guitar in 1968, at the age of 11. A few years later he buys his electric guitar, visits London, then moves there, only to fail miserably (it is the time of the punk rock explosion and his virtuoso longhaired Jimi Hendrix-Mick Taylor style is not appreciated). So it’s back to the Netherlands where he tries his hand at different university careers but really plays in a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll bands: most notably “Manila Madness” and the “Teye’s Mess Express”, the latter of which releases a 45 EP titled “Wind Wind II”. After three years of touring, Teye abandons his rock career and applies to be admitted to the Conservatory of Music, and starts his classical guitar studies.

Around this time he hitch-hikes to Spain, in search of his ex-girlfriend Maria de Los Angeles Rodriguez Peña, and instead of finding her, he rides into his New Life when in Cordoba he walks into an informal flamenco happening (El Pele on vocals; Manuel de Palma on guitar, and brothers El Güeñi and El Mori on palmas), and meets famous flamenco master Paco Peña in a tavern (Taberna del Potro). This is what Teye has always been looking for and he wastes no time: he starts to study with Paco Peña and hooks up with the ultimate flamenco masters, the Gypsies. For several years he divides his time between classical guitar studies in the Netherlands; flamenco guitar studies in Spain; a new rock band called “Cleopatra & the Shakin’ Sphinxes”; and a relentless series of solo flamenco guitar performances to fund it all.

1985 sees a conflict between Teye and the Dutch Conservatory of music; a performance by Cleopatra & the Shakin’ Sphinxes in the big outdoor amphitheatre in Cordoba; a meeting with Juan Muñoz Planton (nephew of El Güeñi and El Mori); and with Jessica Sollee and Gary Gibbons: flamenco dancer and aspiring flamenco guitarist from the USA. Teye is severely smitten by Jessica, looks her up in Boston, then visits Gary in Austin, and falls in love with that relaxed music town.

Failing possession of the desired USA Green Card, Teye returns, and life of course goes on in the Netherlands: he graduates Cum Laude as rock professor from the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music and starts the Mobile Rock Workshops, funded by the city where he lives. More bands; a Portuguese fado ensemble; his first solo flamenco guitar LP “El Gitano Punky” (now available on CD); many interesting long long musical nights with the Gypsies from Cordoba, Moron de la Frontera, Jerez, Sevilla and Granada, made possible thanks to the explicit welcome by Teye’s good friend Juan Muñoz Planton (it is very rare that Gypsies will truly accept a non-Gypsy in their midst); and then inevitably a return visit to Texas where his friend Gary hooks Teye up with local singer-songwriter Joe Ely, who integrates Teye’s flamenco guitar into his country-rock band, with stunning results: they record and release “Letter to Laredo” in 1995, to unanimous critical acclaim. Teye, who by now lives in Sevilla together with his soon-to-be wife Belen Oliva Bermudez (a hard rock drummer/flamenco dancer) moves to Austin to be able to tour behind the album’s release. Ely gets him the work permit, Belen travels back and forth, until she marries Teye in 1996. Together they then acquire the Green Card and start a very successful flamenco ensemble in Austin called “Teye & Viva El Flamenco” that later morphs into “Teye & Belen”. They release their first CD together in 1999 (“Viva el Flamenco”) and start touring internationally. This renders impossible the collaboration with Ely: after 3 CDs and a thousand shows it must end.

Teye and Belen finally find, after working with many local artists, the flamenco lineup of their dreams: together with Estefania Cuevas, Ana Maria Carcia, Remedios Castro, and good friend Juan Muñoz Planton, Teye and Belen do the performances of their life in Canada, Spain, and the Netherlands. These incredibly talented artists also collaborate on the new CD “FlamencObsesionArte”, which turns into a true work of art that harvests rave reviews all over Europe, even in Spain!

The US release of that CD comes too late: Teye and Belen have decided on a change of pace and career: the electric Rock “n” Roll guitars that Teye makes are rapidly catching on, and he is currently concentrating on their production.

Teye and Belen still perform occasionally with both their flamenco act and with their new rock band “The Barbarians of Sevilla”.

External links

* [http://www.teye.com Teye's website]
* [http://www.teyeandbelen.com/ Teye and Belen's website]