By: PAULO SILVESTRE
Paco de Lucia will be returning to Portugal on Thursday (November 29) to perform at Pavilhão Atlântico, in Lisbon.
Born in 1947 as Francisco Sánchez Gómez, he adopted his artistic name in honour of his mother, Lucia Gómez. His father António and his brother Rámon gave him his first lessons on the guitar when Paco was five years old.
His mentors were guitarists Nino Ricardo, Miguel Borrull, Mario Escudero and Sabicas. For him, it was also important to stand out on his own, away from the figure of his father. In 1958, he quit school to focus on the guitar and he played his first performance in public in Radio Algeciras.
In 1959 he obtained a special award in the Festival Concurso Internacional Flamenco de Jerez de la Frontera. It was the beginning of a brilliant career full of distinctions over the years.
De Lucia is considered the master of rasgueados and picados, and is able to play on the classical guitar with blinding speed. His collaborations have included 10 albums with late flamenco vocalist El Camaron de la Isla and work with American pianist Chick Corea and the Guitar Trio, featuring guitarists John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell and Al DiMeola.
His recordings include such inventive masterpieces as La Fabulosa Guitarra de Paco de Lucia, Fantasia Flamenca, Fuente y Caudal, Almoraima and Zyryab.
No flamenco guitarist has achieved more prominence than Paco de Lucia. With a formidable technique, a dynamic sense of rhythm and an authentic creativity, new standards have been set in the world of flamenco.
A show not to be missed!
Visit his website at www.pacodelucia.org
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