This Man, This Soul
by J.E. Beni Bologna
(poem for a guitarmaker)

Listen !

Over the firing air, fly the sounds from thumbs, fingers feet and nails, of players, dancers, palmeros.

Astonished, our burning hearts mastering mysteries hear life itself, telling stories and histories of love, pain, hate and forgiveness.

Tantalized by the hypnotic rhythm, by crystal sharps and golpes, we forget that behind this kind and mysterious tool, there is the hand of a man with a soul.

Able to whisper, winds through trees, kidnapping them in a structure of strings, offering to nails, the meaning of all meanings.
(continued on right side)
























Where do I start? I'm guessing that beginning in Spain in the 70’s is as good a place to start as any, especially if you are a fan (as I am) of the Iberian peninsula and its culture. After studying classical and jazz music for a few years at the University of Victoria on the West Coast of Canada, I headed to Andalusia in Southern Spain with my mind set on becoming an accomplished classical/flamenco guitarist. It was on the back streets of Granada, Cordoba and Seville that I found myself more intrigued, however, by the activities in the workshops of local luthiers, than in the development of my repertoire – and so the die was cast.

After returning to Canada, I initially built exotic flamenco guitars and then, under the influence of a shift from traditional flamenco to flamenco-jazz by artists like Paco De Lucia, Gerardo Núñez, and Tomatito, I designed and began handcrafting Super Negra guitars – and an electro-acoustic variation known as the Sóla, which sparked global interest in the flamenco, jazz, and classical worlds.

Through the years I’ve always been attracted to Latin jazz, which eventually lead to the design and development of the Cocobolo Classic – particularly suited, not only to playing a traditional classical repertoire, but also to playing the type of music made popular by guitarists like Baden Powell, Charlie Byrd, and Bola Sete.

Years later, after dedicating myself to the life of a luthier with a tendency to approach every instrument as a work-of-art – and after building an international reputation for designing and creating custom-made classical, flamenco and Latin jazz guitars (with websites in 14 different languages), I've turned my focus in the workshop to making a limited number of very high-end, collectable instruments each year, based on my own specifications and built exclusively from rare and inherently valuable tone woods.

And finally – although I’ve found that it can be gratifying (on most days :-) to spend time sawing, sanding and shellacking in the workshop, today I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to put down the tools and savour just one more trip back to Spain, where it all started, to find (as my poetic friend, Beni, once said) the renewed inspiration to become: a master of light and shadow, of moon secrets of varnish and glue ...


Daniel Turner

Victoria, BC, Canada
Where do I start? I'm guessing that beginning in Spain in the 70’s is as good a place to start as any, especially if you are a fan (as I am) of the Iberian peninsula and its culture. After studying classical and jazz music for a few years at the University of Victoria on the West Coast of Canada, I headed to Andalusia in Southern Spain with my mind set on becoming an accomplished classical/flamenco guitarist. It was on the back streets of Granada, Cordoba and Seville that I found myself more intrigued, however, by the activities in the workshops of local luthiers, than in the development of my repertoire – and so the die was cast.

After returning to Canada, I initially built exotic flamenco guitars and then, under the influence of a shift from traditional flamenco to flamenco-jazz by artists like Paco De Lucia, Gerardo Núñez, and Tomatito, I designed and began handcrafting Super Negra guitars – and an electro-acoustic variation known as the Sóla, which sparked global interest in the flamenco, jazz, and classical worlds.

Through the years I’ve always been attracted to Latin jazz, which eventually lead to the design and development of the Cocobolo Classic – particularly suited, not only to playing a traditional classical repertoire, but also to playing the type of music made popular by guitarists like Baden Powell, Charlie Byrd, and Bola Sete.

Years later, after dedicating myself to the life of a luthier with a tendency to approach every instrument as a work-of-art – and after building an international reputation for designing and creating custom-made classical, flamenco and Latin jazz guitars (with websites in 14 different languages), I've turned my focus in the workshop to making a limited number of very high-end, collectable instruments each year, based on my own specifications and built exclusively from rare and inherently valuable tone woods.

And finally – although I’ve found that it can be gratifying (on most days :-) to spend time sawing, sanding and shellacking in the workshop, today I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to put down the tools and savour just one more trip back to Spain, where it all started, to find (as my poetic friend, Beni, once said) the renewed inspiration to become: a master of light and shadow, of moon secrets of varnish and glue ...


Daniel Turner

Victoria, BC, Canada











1999- ©  Daniel Turner  All Rights Reserved



 1999- ©  Daniel Turner
  All Rights Reserved
















(continued from left side)
This hand, of a man with a soul is made out of sounding woods to describe mankind in all their moods.

He can pick up the trunks, the branches, dig back the roots and make them speak so high that wind and streams ever flow, never die.

This man is a luthier, the perfect tuner, he is the hands behind the fingers, he is the saw below these sounds, the alchemist beneath the timbre.

A master of light and shadow, of moon secrets of varnish and glue, sometimes negra, sometimes blanca, sometimes red, but never blue.

J.E. Beni Bologna
Brazilan Writer and Poet
Sao Paulo
January 27, 2012