Born Francisco Sánchez Gómez in Algeciras, Cádiz, Spain on December 21, 1947,
Paco de Lucia was a virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer who crossed over
into many genres including classical and jazz. He became known for his blending
of fluent fingerstyle playing and flamenco strumming, his musical style – which
was referred to as ‘new flamenco’ – became influential to future generations of
musicians. At the age of 5, his father began teaching him to play guitar and
forced him to practice up to 12 hours per day. At the age of 14, he collaborated
with his brother Pepe on the alb...