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Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia passes away

Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia passes away

THE flamenco guitarist and composer, Paco de Lucia, has passed away suddenly at the age of 66.

Born Francisco Sanchez Gomez in Algeciras, Andalusia, he had been playing the guitar from the age of five following encouragement from his father, Antonio, who played flamenco. He would later recall: “My father and all my brothers played guitar, so before I picked it up, before I could speak, I was listening. Before I started to play, I knew every rhythm of the flamenco.”

At the start of his professional career, the young Sanchez adopted the stage name Paco de Lucia in honour of his mother Lucia.

During the Seventies, he released a series of albums, including Entre dos Aguas (see below), which helped establish the foundation of his world-renowned reputation. With singer Camaron de la Isla he was credited with helping inspire a New Flamenco movement.

He played concerts across the world and also worked with many top musicians over the years. His great playing skills were not confined to flamenco, having also performed classical and jazz guitar.

Paco de Lucia also worked on a number of films by the director Carlos Saura, including appearing in Carmen (1983) which went on to win a Bafta for Best Foreign Language Film.

Regarded as a great ambassador of Spanish culture, he was awarded his country’s Asturias Prize for Art in 2004. 

In recent years, he had been dividing his time between living in Spain and Mexico. He passed away after reportedly suffering a heart attack while playing with his children on a beach in Cancun.

His home town of Algeciras is to hold two days of official mourning. The Mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, said the death was “an irreparable loss for the world of culture and for Andalusia”.

To see Paco de Lucia performing the title track from his 1975 album Entre dos Aguas, click here.

To view footage of Paco de Lucia playing at Expo ’92 in Sevilla, click here.

To see Paco de Lucia performing La Barrosa from his 1987 album Siroco, click here.

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