Ramón de Algeciras
Who is Ramón de Algeciras?
Ramón Sánchez Gómez, artistically known as Ramón de Algeciras, was born in 1938 in Algeciras (Cádiz), the eldest of the Sánchez Gómez brothers, who also included Paco de Lucía and Pepe de Lucía. He began playing guitar at fifteen under the guidance of his father, Antonio Sánchez Pecino, an amateur guitarist who passed the craft on to his sons.
He completed his training with Niño Ricardo (Manuel Serrapí), a guitarist he deeply admired and from whom he learned much of his technique; he later passed that knowledge on to his younger brother Paco, introducing him to many of the resources Paco would go on to take to another level.
Career
He turned professional at eighteen and in 1957 joined Juanito Valderrama’s company, where he stayed eleven years, precisely taking over from his teacher Niño Ricardo. Between 1966 and 1968 he was part of the Ballet de Antonio and of Paco de Lucía’s Sextet, serving as second guitarist and the group’s director. In the seventies he became Camarón de la Isla’s official guitarist, and in 1975 he and Paco were among the first flamenco guitarists to perform at Madrid’s Teatro Real.
Throughout a career centered above all on accompaniment rather than solo playing, he also accompanied Antonio Mairena, la Niña de los Peines, Pepe Marchena and Fosforito, among other singing figures. Over time he scaled back his performing activity to devote himself to managing the artistic legacy of his brother Paco de Lucía.
Style and discography
He composed around 140 works registered with SGAE from 1976 onward, among them “Collar de cerezas”, “Rosa María”, “Bulerías flamencas”, “Almoraina” and “Siroco”. He also recorded three duo albums with Paco de Lucía between 1967 and 1969, a period that left a record of the musical understanding between the two brothers before Paco achieved international recognition.
Legacy
In 2004 he received the “Especial de Pura Cepa” award from his home city of Algeciras. Described by those who knew him as a modest man of few words — he himself once said he was not “a man of many words” — he expressed himself above all through the guitar. He died in Madrid on 20 January 2009, at the age of 71; shortly afterward a posthumous double compilation with 24 of his recordings was released.