Every music lover knows who Manuel Muñoz, better known as Manolo Sanlúcar. Born into an environment of love for the guitar, his innate talent foreshadowed that he would become one of the greats. Today, we remember him.
Manolo Muñoz was born in 1943 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, a place linked to the history of flamenco. From an early age, it was evident that Manolo possessed an extraordinary musical gift. His father, an amateur guitarist, was his teacher and reference and guided his son with a serious and rigorous teaching that marked him forever. His mother wanted another future for him, as Sanlúcar himself said in an interview with La Voz del Sur, a job in a savings bank.
A young Manolo Sanlúcar
At the age of eight, he won a prize with a young cantaor from Sanlúcar and, from that moment on, he did not stop performing with his guitar at musical events, such as festivals in villages around Sanlúcar, private parties, and even on radio programmes. This attracted the attention of the Sevillian maestro Pepe Pinto and his wife, La Niña de los Peines, who proposed that he join the cast of Pepe’s company. As they were on a break at the time, he invited him to join Pepe Marchena’s company, and in 1957, when he was about to turn fourteen, he began his promising artistic career as a guitarist at 150 pesetas a month. And as he was called “Manolo, el de Sanlúcar”, that ended up being his stage name.
From Campillos to success
And it was at his first big performance, in a modest theatre in Campillos, a village in the province of Málaga, that he met La Paquera de Jerez, one of the stars of the moment. They would get on so well that they would form a regular duo for several years, touring from the most prestigious theatres in Spain to the most humble villages.
He also made friends with Manolo “El Malagueño”. a budding cantaor who performed in that theatre in Campillos, and for whose company Sanlúcar would work some time later. After completing his military service, and not before finishing the tour with La Paquera, he was offered a contract at the tablao “Las Brujas” where he began his solo career, recording his first albums as a concert performer.
BIO
Where were you born?
Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Andalusia)
Family
Married since the age of 15 to Ana, father of Isidro.
His brother, Isidro, is also a renowned flamenco artist and lyricist.
Birth – death
21 November 1943
27 August 2022 (renal failure)
Recognition of his genius
Before the age of 30, he began his career abroad, immediately, with recognitions, such as the first prize at the Folk Music Festival held in Campione d’Italia. Sanlúcar did not imagine on those initiatory trips that he would play at the Metropolitan in New York. In 1994, the prestigious U.S.A. magazine Guitar Player names him, by popular vote, Best Flamenco guitarist.
At home in Spain, there was no shortage of prizes either. It was in 1972, after having performed at the Club Urbis in Madrid, that he made his debut at the Ateneo de Madrid, a performance that consecrated him as a magnificent concert guitarist. In addition to his genius, that same year he received the National Flamenco Guitar Prize, awarded by the Chair of Flamencology and Andalusian Folkloric Studies, in Jerez de la Frontera. In 1991, he was awarded the Compás del Cante, the “Nobel” of flamenco.
Teacher of teachers
Not so much because of the economic aspect, although it would certainly have an influence, but because of his love for flamenco, Sanlúcar dedicated a large part of his life to teaching, to being a teacher and also a pupil of his students. At Manolo Sanlúcar’s school, performers of the highest relevance have studied, authentic masters such as Rafael Riqueni, Vicente Amigo, Juan Carlos Romero or Niño Pura.
Farewell to the stage
It was at the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de la Cueva de Nerja. After a marvellous performance, which lifted the audience out of their seats, Sanlúcar announced, to the surprise of the audience, that he was ending his career. And he did it with emotion, singing to the Andalusians and Andalusia with his work “Canción de Andalucía”.
In 2007, the guitarist from Sanlúcar published his autobiography under the name of “El Alma Compartida “ in which the artist retraces his life, from his childhood, focusing on his passion: the guitar. In 2021, he finished the literary and audiovisual work La guitarra Flamenca, Manolo Sanlúcar, his great legacy and an essential part of flamenco music, on which he worked for 15 years of his life.
On 27 July 2013, in the caves of Nerja, Malaga, Manolo Sanlúcar bids farewell to the stage to dedicate himself exclusively to the creation of the Great Masterpiece of the Guitar. Web: Manolosanlucar.com
Concert work
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FLAMENCO RECITAL. Marfer, 1968
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INSPIRACIONES. Vergara, 1970
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MUNDO Y FORMAS DE LA GUITARRA FLAMENCA. Volumen 1 C.B.S. 1971
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MUNDO Y FORMAS DE LA GUITARRA FLAMENCA. Volumen 2 C.B.S. 1971
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MUNDO Y FORMAS DE LA GUITARRA FLAMENCA. Volumen 3 C.B.S. 1972
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SANLUCAR. C.B.S. 1974. Distributed in the USA by Peters Internacional
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THE KING OF GUITAR. C.B.S. USA. 1976
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… Y REGRESARTE. Tribute to MIGUEL HERNÁNDEZ. R.C.A. 1978
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LO MEJOR DE MANOLO SANLÚCAR. C.B.S. 1979
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MANOLO SANLÚCAR EN JAPÓN. R.C.A. 1979
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CANDELA. R.C.A. 1980
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AZAHARES. R.C.A. 1981
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AL VIENTO. Polydor. 1982
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VEN Y SÍGUEME (UN GITANO LLAMADO MATEO). Álbum doble R.C.A. 1982
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“SENTIMIENTO”. C.B.S. 1985.
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TESTAMENTO ANDALUZ. With ANTONIO GALA and M.RIVERA (Junta de Andalucía) 1985.
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TAUROMAGIA. Polygram. 1988
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LOCURA DE BRISA Y TRINO (Tribute to Federico García Lorca)
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LA VOZ DEL COLOR (Tribute to Baldomero Romero Ressendi). 2008
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Symphonic piece
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FANTASÍA PARA GUITARRA Y ORQUESTA. R.C.A. 1977
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MEDEA. Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture for the National Ballet. 1987
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SOLEÁ. Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture for the National Ballet. 1989
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ALJIBE, SINFONÍA ANDALUZA. 1992
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TREBUJENA. Concert for Guitarra y Orquesta
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LA GALLARDA. On libretto by Rafael Alberti. Premiered at EXPO 92 by Monserrat Caballé.
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VIVA LA BLANCA PALOMA. Japanese film production performed by the Royal Philharmonic of London and conducted by Manolo Sanlúcar
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MÚSICA PARA OCHO MONUMENTOS ANDALUCES. Suite. (Commissioned by the Junta de Andalucia) 19
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MARIANA PINEDA. Ballet for guitar and chamber orchestra. Premiered by Sara Baras and her ballet and José Mari Bandera as 1st guitarist.
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VERSIÓN ORQUESTAL DEL HIMNO DE ANDALUCÍA. OCommissioned by the Junta de Andalucía in 2005.
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11 M. Work commissioned by the Andalusian Parliament in homage to the victims of Atocha. First performed in 2005 at the Maestranza Theatre in Seville by the Seville Symphony Orchestra.
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LA CANCIÓN DE ANDALUCÍA. For his 50th anniversary of his profession as a thank you to his homeland
Manolo Sanlúcar has been and will continue to be synonymous with talent and greatness, because every time he went on stage he gave a lesson in mastery and art. It is so technically gifted that no one can doubt its artistic dimension.
His artistic restlessness has led him to express himself through concerts and composition. At all times, he has sought ways to integrate flamenco into symphonic music, gaining worldwide recognition that has led him to perform new works in theatres all over the world.