A Musical Subculture

Subcultures can be fascinating and I just learned some interesting things about one yesterday. I have a long-standing relationship with a particular taxi company. They have three new Nissan cabs that are much more comfortable than the older ones--more legroom and so on. So I always use those cabs. As a consequence I have gotten to know three or four drivers and the owner, who just drives on the weekends, fairly well. One thing I just learned is that in the taxi world, everyone has a nickname. My most frequent driver, Pedro, is called "Pedrito" in the taxi world. The owner, Vicente, is called "Crí-Crí." Crí-Crí, by the way, was the stage name of Francisco Gabilondo Soler, a Mexican composer and performer of children's songs. A particularly unpleasant fellow with a big belly is known as "panza pelado" which means "bare belly" or "peeled belly".

So what's the musical connection? This is not known among the general public, but famous classical guitarists are also a sub-culture and also have nicknames. I learned this when I was in the master class of Oscar Ghiglia, one of Segovia's outstanding students. The well-known Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes (1927 - 1997) shown below:

Has been given the unedifying nickname "Nabisco Herpes". While the handsome American guitarist Christopher Parkening (b. 1947):

sports the nickname "Customer Parking". Oscar Ghiglia himself (b. 1938), a large man, fond of eating, also has a nickname:

His is "Boxcar Piglia". Continuing on in that tradition, Oscar gave me an official guitar sub-culture nickname. Mine is "Brainless Tonsil".

It's a compliment?