Paco de Lucena
Who is Paco de Lucena?
Francisco Díaz Fernández, “Paco de Lucena,” was born in 1859 in Lucena (Córdoba), the son of a humble farm laborer. He trained as a barber’s apprentice under the master Espinosa, a trade in which he also picked up the guitar, and in his early years performed under the names “El Lentejo” and “Niño de Lucena.”
Career
His career took off in the café cantante scene of Málaga, especially at the Café Bernardo, where he arrived competing with Paco el Águila, the venue’s lead guitarist, before becoming the house’s second guitarist himself. He also accompanied the singer Juan Breva. He married the singer Trinidad la Parrala, with whom he crossed the Atlantic and performed in France and other countries, taking flamenco playing abroad at a time when that was still unusual.
Style and discography
He left no recordings, as was typical of an era before the phonograph reached flamenco, but he is credited with restructuring the toque por caña and creating the toque por rosa, contributions that brought the flamenco guitar of his time to a peak of technique and expressiveness. The researcher José Manuel Gamboa summed up his importance by saying he was to flamenco guitar what Mozart was to classical music.
Legacy
He died in his native Lucena in 1898, at just thirty-nine, leaving an influence that reached later guitarists such as Ramón Montoya. In 2009, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, he was honored at the Sixth Flamenco Days of the City of Lucena.