Paco de Lucia

Tickets are $34, $47, $62 and $74 (plus applicable service charges).
Tickets available from UNM Tickets.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Our friends at Casa Flamenca want to make sure you are in the right mood for the Paco show.  They are throwing a special pre-show party and sneak preview of their new patio performance space El Patio la Solera on Saturday, April 21.

And if you want to get immersed in the whole Paco flamenco world, they'll  be offering a couple of workshops with member's of Paco's touring ensemble.  There's a dance workshop at 10 am with Farruca and a guitar workshop with Paco's second guitarist (and nephew) Antonio Sanchez.

Paco de Lucía [web site | Amazon.com] is inarguably one of the greatest living guitarists in the world and one of the great heroes of modern flamenco. He is credited with creating a "fusion" style flamenco influenced by jazz – stretching and embellishing flamenco’s strict structure but remaining faithful to the soul of its Roma, Muslim and Jewish roots.

The most innovative and influential flamenco artist of the last thirty years, de Lucía’s flamenco recordings have had a revolutionary impact, infusing new life into the art form and bringing it worldwide attention. His groundbreaking collaborations with jazz artists (John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, and Larry Coryell) and his participation in notable soundtracks have brought him to the attention of a broad audience.

De Lucía started rather traditionally. He was born Francisco Sanchez Gomez in Algeciras, a city in the province of Cadiz, in the southernmost tip of Spain, on December 21, 1947. (His stage name is a tribute to his mother.) His father, Antonio Sanchez, a day laborer, played guitar at night as a way to supplement his income. His father, his elder brother Ramon de Algeciras, and flamenco master Nino Ricardo were De Lucía’s main influences. De Lucía’s first performance was on Radio Algeciras in 1958 when he was only eleven years old.

The training ground for a flamenco guitarist, De Lucía once said, "is the music around you, made by people you see, the people you make music with. You learn it from your family, from your friends, in la juerga (the party) drinking. And then you work on technique. Guitarists do not need to study. And, as it is with any music, the great ones will spend some time working with the young players who show special talent. You must understand that a Gypsy’s life is a life of anarchy. That is a reason why the way of flamenco music is a way without discipline as you know it. We don’t try to organize things with our minds; we don’t go to school to find out. We just live . . . music is everywhere in our lives."

Paco de Lucía’s compositional genius and the pure intimacy of his dazzling guitar virtuosity make a deeply authentic and universal statement that transcends the folkloric. By adapting the past to the present, Paco de Lucía has awakened a new generation to the power and appeal of flamenco. With mesmerizing cascades of high velocity notes, Paco de Lucía’s performances offer superb playing, dancing and singing.

Since people keep asking, here is Paco's all-star group for this show.  

- Antonio Sanchez (guitar)
- Antonio Serrano (harmonica, keyboards)
- Alain Pére (bass)
- Duquende (vocals)
- David de Jacoba (vocals)
- Piraña (percussion)
- Farruco (dance)