Universal Music Spain’s Paco de Lucía, will be presented with the 2004
Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, marking the first time that a
flamenco artist has been honoured with this prestigious award. The
official award ceremony will take place at Oviedo (Capital of
Asturias, Spain) on the 22nd October.
The Awards are presented annually
to individuals from around the world who make notable achievements
in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs.
Paco de Lucía is considered to be
one of the most universally famous Flamenco artists; his style has
become a school of music amongst the younger generations, and has
made him one of the greatest ambassadors of Spanish culture
worldwide. He has graced the major stages of Europe, the USA,
Russia, Japan and the Middle East.
Francisco Sánchez Gómez, known as
Paco de Lucía, was born in 1947 in Algeciras (Cádiz). He started to
play the guitar at the age of seven and as one of the Chiquitos de
Algeciras alongside Pepe his brother, he made his first record at
just fourteen years of age. In 1963 he toured abroad with José
Greco's company, recording his first solo album, La fabulosa
guitarra de Paco de Lucía, the following year. However, it was
Camarón de la Isla with whom he would form one of the twentieth
century's most important duos. They recorded over ten albums
together. Paco de Lucía has revolutionized Flamenco guitar playing
and accompaniment by bringing novel chords and rhythmic counterpoint
to his musical expression. His creative genius and mastery of the
instrument has led to Flamenco entering into a dialogue with the
classical music of Falla, Rodrigo and Albéniz, with the bossa nova
and jazz of Chick Corea and John McLaughlan, and with many others.
His "Friday Night in San Francisco" album sold over a million
copies, a figure that is undreamt-of for a Flamenco artist. He
formed his famous Sextet in 1981, thereby creating the modern-day
concept of the Flamenco group.
His numerous recordings
include Fantasia flamenca (1969), Recital de guitarra (1971), El
duende flamenco de Paco de Lucía (1972), Fuente y caudal (1973),
Almoraima (1976), Sólo quiero caminar (1981), Paco de Lucía en Moscú
(1986) and Luzía (1998). He
has also composed and performed music for such films as La Sabina,
The Hit, Carmen, Montoyas y Tarantos and Sevillanas. In 2004, after
five years of silence as a composer, he published Cositas Buenas,
praised by the critics as "a masterpiece". Four books have been
published on his life an work, one of them written by Paco de Lucía
himself. The National Prize for Flamenco Guitar, the Gold Medal for
Merit in the Fine Arts (1992) and the Honorary Prize of the Music
Awards (2002) figure amongst his many honours.
