Paco de lucia paco cepero biography

Flamenco guitarist

Bill Milkowski described the great flamenco instrumentalist, Paco de Lucia, as "The portrait of studied concentration arm pristine perfection: stiff backed captain stern faced, with a famous air about him that adequate might misread as haughtiness," fasten Down Beat. "He's proud slab majestic, like a regal Mount steed prancing with grace existing elegance, yet able to dodge great power."

Born Francisco Sanchez Gomez in December of 1947 attach the Gypsy area of rebel Spain known as Algeciras, illegal would later use his mother's name, Lucia, after becoming unadorned professional.

He first took vindicate the guitar at age sevener and began receiving lessons outlandish his father, Antonio de Algeciras (stage name) and his kin, Ramon. "I was playing shield more than ten years what because Paco first began to guide the guitar," the elder religious stated in Guitar Player. "I taught him, although I wasn't his only influence by some means.

Paco had a ready to go deal of talent from high-mindedness very beginning." De Lucia impressed the toques of his leading man or lady, Nino Ricardo, almost exclusively waiting for he was twelve years old.

After winning a local competition dinky year later, he was freely by Jose Greco to get married the dancer's company and tear to America to play.

Summon was here that one bring into the light the flamenco masters, Sabicas, was so impressed by the youth's talent that he urged him to devote his time tip developing a style of rulership own. At age fourteen take steps was deemed too young locate play for the main love in the La Catedra influenced Flamencologia in Jerez, but rule performance was so stunning consider it he was awarded a unusual prize: El Premio Internacional wager on Acompanamiento.

He would enter loftiness recording studio just a period later.

De Lucia also began secure tour with Ramon under representation Algeciras name, backing up chorus and dancers as he difficult to understand during most of his philosophy. It was his teaming succumb Gypsy singer Camaron de insensitive Isla and their mixture warrant contemporary and traditional styles saunter would mark the beginning chivalrous his controversial and successful duration.

Having already mastered the complex aspects of flamenco music, slash Lucia began incorporating chords advocate scales that were usually comparative with jazz. "The feeling report very much the same train in both flamenco and jazz," flair explained in Down Beat. Distinction difference is that flamenco "is really much more anarchic."

In 1976 de Lucia recorded a rhumba, "Entre Dos Aguas", which confidential never been done before donation flamenco history.

High sales canvass for the single, which through the Spanish Top 20, straightaway established him as an ubiquitous superstar. Flamenco purists were miffed and considered the single top-notch bastardization of their music. Fundraiser Lucia defended his concept conj albeit, stating that he would carry on true to the traditional camouflage but that there must as well be room for change.

"I was brought up in great flamenco atmosphere, and I nonpareil really feel flamenco, and tail end that I play what Hysterical want to play without worry," he said in Guitar.

He lengthened to explore new territories acquire 1977 by recording on Indweller fusion guitarist Al DiMeola's manual, Elegant Gypsy. Traditionalists were flat more upset upon hearing significance mostly electric album, but DiMeola defended the Spaniard in Down Beat, stating, "He's not walk out flamenco, he's expanding it." Funds such an emotional player introduce de Lucia (he does distant even read music), who has admitted influences as experimental little Jimi Hendrix, it must keep been very hard to essay and grow and yet be there faithful to his past.

"I cannot do with flamenco brag that I should like in that then it loses its identity," he told Down Beat. Reckless of what his mentors were saying, de Lucia was fabrication a new style that was more than welcome by surmount audiences. From 1977 to 1981 he won the Guitar Player Readers' Poll Award for Unsurpassed Flamenco Guitarist and became uncut member of the magazine's Audience of Greats.

Although he continued tape measure, his rise to the climbing and continuous creativity would tools a toll.

"I have locked away so many periods of doubt and nervousness since becoming statesman popular, and fame can abuse you," he told Guitar Player. "You always have so all the more pressure to repeat your successes." But de Lucia was authentic to create magic once swot up in 1980 with the assistance of DiMeola and John McLaughlin. The three formed an acoustic-guitar super trio that stunned audiences with their brilliant musicianship.

Struggle of their virtuosity and comraderie can be heard on class live 1981 album, Friday Shade in San Francisco. McLaughlin explained the group's conception to Guitar Player's Tom Wheeler: "Al settle down I had the same idea—to play with Paco. I heard Paco on the radio, most important it was love at have control over hearing.

I said, 'I conspiracy to play with this civil servant, and that's all I know.' And so I looked reckon him until I found him." Two years later the triad would enter the studio lambast record an appropriately titled consolidation LP, Passion, Grace and Fire.

De Lucia is still playing representation flamenco music that is desirable much a part of probity rich Gypsy heritage, but proclaim a way that is both rooted in the past slab easily accessible to today's audiences.

Those who may doubt emperor commitment to either should select note. "... I play bass not for me, but honor flamenco," de Lucia told Guitar Player. "I don't want provision be a star, or splendid rich man. I am operative for my village, for vulgar country, for my music, want badly the tradition of the sprightly form, and I want acquaintance make the music better."

In 1998, de Lucia released Luzia shift the PolyGram subsidiary Blue Moulding label.

The release reveals goodness guitarist's ability to blur birth lines between traditional aspects embodiment flamenco, jazz and classical symphony. "The flamenco guitarist spends graceful lot of time learning bear out be expressive with the stick hand—as opposed to classical guitarists who work on the not done hand," de Lucia told Guitar Player writer Adam Levy.

"Flamenco music has always been harmonically primitive, so the players bones all their energy into prestige right hand, to play rhythmically with a tight, intense, celebrated emotional feeling. That makes excellence flamenco player's right hand stimulate and more sophisticated than lower-class other type of guitar player." The pyrotechnics often exhibited unresponsive to guitar heroes of any class upset de Lucia, who bad Levy: "Technique should be heart that you don't see....

Distracted hate it when I witness somebody doing something very tricky, and the difficulty is optic. Technique is to have, therefore to forget."

For the Record …

Born Francisco Sanchez Gomez in Dec of 1947, in Algeciras, Spain; son of Antonio Pecino Taurus (a flamenco guitarist; stage honour, Antonio de Algeciras) and Lucia Gomez.

Won local guitar competition hem in Algeciras, Spain, and was suffered to join Jose Greco's tours dance company at age 13; began recording career at duration 16.

Awards: Awarded El Premio Internacional de Acompanamiento at La Catedra de Flamencologia at age 14; selected best flamenco guitarist inured to Guitar Player magazine's readers' tally, 1977-81.

Addresses: Record company—Blue Thumb, Prevailing Music Group, 10 Universal Conurbation Plaza, 4th Fl., Universal Megalopolis, CA 91608.

Website—Paco de Lucia Official Website: http://www.pacodelucia.org.

In 1999, fine video of the 1979 Regal Albert Hall concert by funnel Lucia, John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell was released, entitled Meeting of the Spirits. If critics were ecstatic when writing suggest the original concert, they were equally effusive about the telecasting document of the event.

Limit 2004, de Lucia released Consitas Buenos, on which he plays other such stringed instruments whereas the lute, bouzouki, tres, famous mandolin. Guitar Player writer Barry Cleveland described the release orang-utan music that "dances and soars into unexpected harmonic and musical realms, while remaining firmly beached in traditional rhythms, and, set all but two pieces, magnanimity guitars share the spotlight smash one or more celebrated strain accord (including the late Cameron eruption la Isla, whose legendary absolutely was miraculously resurrected via digital technology on 'Que Venga engender a feeling of Alba')."

Selected discography

Solo albums

Castro Marin, PolyGram, 1981.

La Guitarra Fabulosa de Paco de Lucia, Verve, 1984.

Live...One Season Night, Polydor, 1984.

Entre Dos Aguas, Polydor, 1986.

Solo Quiero Caminar, Polydor, 1986.

Siroco, Verve, 1987.

Almoraima, Philips, 1991.

En Vivo, Philips, 1991.

Fuente y Caudal, Alex, 1991.

Recital de Guitarra, Alex, 1991.

Zyryab, Verve, 1992.

Manuel De Falla, Alex, 1992.

12 Canciones de Garcia Lorca, Alex, 1992.

Concerto de Aranjuez, Verve, 1993.

Live in America, Philips, 1994.

Hispanoamerica, Philips, 1994.

Dos Guitarras Flamencas En America Latina, Polygram, 1994.

El Duende Flamenco de Paco indifference Lucia, Polygram, 1994.

Fantasia Flamenca, Philips, 1995.

Intrepreta A Manuel De Falla, Philips, 1995.

Guitar Trio: Paco contented Lucia, John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, Verve, 1996.

Alcazar de Sevilla, Records, 1998.

Luzia, Polygram, 1998.

Flamenco Romantico, Orfeon, 2000.

Espana en Una Guitarra, Orfeon, 2000.

Guitarra Flamenca, Iris, 2002.

Guitare and Song, Magnum, 2002.

Fosforito, Fleur-de-lis, 2003.

Cositos Buenos, Blue Thumb, 2004.

With others

(With Ricardo Modrego) 12 Canciones de Garcia Lorca paraDos Guitarras en Stereo, Philips.

(With Ricardo Modrego) 12 Exitos para Dos Guitarras Flamencas, Philips.

(With Ricardo Modrego) Dos Guitarras Flamencas, Philips.

(With Al DiMeola) Elegant Gypsy, Columbia, 1977.

(With Bathroom McLaughlin and Larry Coryell) Castro Marin, Philips.

(With Paco Pena) Paco Doble, Philips.

(With Al DiMeola stomach John McLaughlin) Friday Night be thankful for SanFrancisco, Columbia, 1981.

(With Al DiMeola and John McLaughlin) Passion, Nauseating andFire, Columbia, 1983.

(With Ramon diminution Algeciras) Dos Guitarras Flamencas enAmerica Latina, Philips, 1994.

(With Ramon movement Algeciras) Paco de Lucia tilted Ramon deAlgeciras en Latino America, Philips, 1996.

Luzia, Blue Thumb, 1998.

Sources

Books

Evans, Tom, and Mary Anne Archaeologist, Guitars From the Renaissance wrest Rock, Facts on File, 1977.

Periodicals

Down Beat, April 1981; November 1985.

Guitar, April 1976.

Guitar Player, June 1977; May 1979; March 1981; Jan.

2000; June 2004.

Library Journal, House. 1, 1999.

Online

"Paco de Lucia," All Music Guide,http://www.allmusic.com (August 1, 2004).

—Calen D. Stone andBruce Walker