Flamenco music is mourning the death of one of its virtuosos. Paco de Lucía. The Spanish musician was vacationing in Cancún, México with his family when all of the sudden he fell ill. He was taken to a hospital where he died late Tuesday Mexico time. He was 66. The preliminary cause of death appears to be a heart attack. De Lucía leaves a legacy of great music, impeccable interpretation and unique sounds. He was the leading proponent of the New Flamenco style, and helped legitimize flamenco among the establishment in Spain.
Paco de Lucía was one of the first flamenco guitarists who has also successfully crossed over into other genres of music such as classical and jazz. Richard Chapman and Eric Clapton described him as a "titanic figure in the world of flamenco guitar," and Dennis Koster has referred to de Lucía as "one of history's greatest guitarists." He was born Francisco Sánchez Gómez on Dec. 21, 1947. The son of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sanchez, who was of Gypsy origin, and Lucía Gómez, inspiration for his artistic name
"My family grew up with the Gypsies," de Lucía was quoted as saying in 1994. "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. I knew the feeling and the meaning of the music, so when I started to play, I went directly to the sound I had in my ear." De Lucía toured extensively with well known international artists and played with the likes of Carlos Santana and Al Di Meola, expanding flamenco rhythms into other genres, although that upset flamenco purists.
He went on to record flamenco jazz fusion with Di Meola and John McLaughlin in a series of now legendary concerts, and also recorded with Chick Corea. But his most iconic collaboration was with fellow Spaniard Camarón de la Isla, with whom he formed an extremely popular duo in the 1970s and created the rumba “Entre Dos Aguas,” still one of the most popular songs in Spain.
In 2004, Paco de Lucia was awarded Spain's prestigious Asturias Prize for Art as the "most universal of flamenco artists." The jury said at the time: "His style has been a beacon for young generations and his art has made him into one of the best ambassadors of Spanish culture in the world." Spain’s Education and Culture Minister, José Ignacio Wert, described the death of de Lucía as unexpected and premature.
He added that the guitarist was “a unique and unrepeatable figure.” A spokesman for the city hall in Algeciras, where de Lucía was born, said the city had decreed two days of official mourning. Its mayor, José Ignacio Landaluce, called the musician's death an "irreparable loss for the world of culture and for Andalucía."
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