by Stewart MasonA 2001 reissue of an album originally released in Europe in 1987, Rosas del Amor is a legendary album in modern flamenco music; it wouldn't be far off to call it the Spanish folk guitar equivalent of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rosas del Amor takes traditional flamenco music and injects liberal amounts of jazz influence, specifically the French gypsy-influenced jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. The resulting intermingling of styles works beautifully, as the two forms of music (not as far apart as one might initially think) blend harmoniously into a fully realized, richly textured whole. All eight tracks have since become classics in the modern flamenco canon, particularly the title track, a sensuous tango with all the romantic yearning of classic flamenco and the breathtaking virtuosity of gypsy jazz. Magnificent stuff.