Manolo Franco
Who is Manolo Franco?
Manuel Franco Barón was born in Seville in 1960. A non-gitano with a flamenco calling, he began playing in public at fifteen, accompanying dance, thus launching a career devoted entirely to accompaniment and concert performance. In 1979 he won first prize for guitar at Radio Sevilla, an early recognition that hinted at what was to come.
Career
His big breakthrough came when he won the Giraldillo del Toque at the 2nd Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Sevilla, beating competitors of the stature of Pedro Bacán, Tomatito, Riqueni and José Antonio Rodríguez, with a jury that included Paco de Lucía, Serranito, Manolo Sanlúcar and Juan Habichuela. In the mid-1980s he gave recitals in cities across Spain and abroad, and his name became a regular fixture at the Cumbre Flamenca de Madrid, in peñas and at Andalusian festivals.
Style and discography
Critic Manuel Ríos Ruiz always highlighted in him a musical and flamenco sensibility perceptible from the first note, combined with complete technical mastery and a distinctive interpretive personality, with an unusually classical aura for contemporary flamenco: Franco moves with particular ease through calm, ad-libitum passages, closer to unhurried phrasing than to pure rhythmic display. His only solo album, “Aljibe” (1986), was later reissued in sheet-music form by Acordes Concert and on CD by Pasarela Records, and he combined that work with numerous recordings as an accompanying guitarist.
Legacy
His standing within the world of toque was recognized in 2009, when the Peña La Soleá dedicated its 29th Semana Cultural Flamenca to him as a tribute to his entire career. Manolo Franco is still regarded as one of the figures who, from Seville, raised flamenco guitar toward greater classical refinement without losing its jondo roots.