Paco de Lucía

Francisco Gustavo Sánchez Gómez was born on 21 December 1947 in Spain and took the stage name Paco de Lucía. His fast, fluent picados and willingness to splice abstract chords and jazz scales into flamenco structure broke the form open in the 1970s, helping invent new flamenco and Latin jazz fusion. He recorded ten albums with singer Camarón de la Isla during that decade - work now considered foundational to flamenco history. Collaborations with John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Larry Coryell in the late 1970s brought him audience outside Spain; his 1981 sextet with his brothers and a 1990 album with Chick Corea, Zyryab, followed. Signature recordings include "Entre dos aguas" and "Río Ancho." After 2004 he mostly withdrew, playing a handful of concerts a year until his death on 25 February 2014.