Victor Monge ( 1942 ) Victor Monge Serrano better known as “ Serranito ” was born in Madrid in 1942 . His self taught musical formation started from his childhood . Before dedicating exclusively to his concert career he passed from the stage that all good flamenco guitarists have passed , as an accompanist of many famous flamenco artists . As a flamenco guitar composer and interpreter he has given concerts throughout the world and today he is considered to be among the best flamenco virtuosos and the most celebrated guitar composers in Spain . Being amongst the best guitarists of our days Serranito , Manolo Sanlúcar and Paco de Lucia are the basic group of flamenco soloists that have achived to establish an international solo career without permanently moving from their native Spain .
Manolo Sanlúcar ( 1943 ) Manuel Muñoz Alcón “ Manolo Sanlúcar ” was born in Sanlúcar de Berrameda in 1943 . Being son of a professional guitarist he was an integrated guitarist himself by the age of twenty . Investigating flamenco music he is always applies new ideas in order to develop flamenco music forms closer to the symphonic music . His extensive guitar teaching courses in Andalucia tend to be real lessons of flamenco philosophy . His appearances as flamenco guitar soloist as well as his collaborations to living legends of flamenco dance and song , give him the prestige of one of the best guitarists living in Andalucia nowdays .
“ Paco de Lucia ” ( 1947 ) Francisco Sanchez Gómez “ Paco de Lucia ” was born in Algeciras on 1947 . Before he was five he was playing guitar under the guidance of his father and his brother . By the age of fourteen he toured world wide as an accompanist of José Gréco flamenco group . Touring in New York he met Sabicas who was permanentally living there . Paco de Lucia seems to have understood better than any other guitarist in the world what Sabicas was making clear for more than 30 years , that is : Flamenco has no borders . In 1967 , when Sabicas returns for the first time in Spain after a 30 year creative abscence abroad , Paco de Lucia makes his first recordings as a guitar soloist . His next recordings were to change the flamenco history . He introduced international musical ideas never used before in flamenco music keeping meanwhile the purity of the traditional forms . His collaborations to the great singer Camarón de La Isla , the forming of guitar trio with Al di Meola and John Mc Laughin as well as his performings to the sountracks of Carlos Saura movies are considered to be the top points of his carrer although the moment which possibly gave him the highest emotion in his artistic life was when he participated in the homage paid to Sabicas in New York where Paco de Lucia played guitar together with his old maestro , the guitar genius called “ Sabicas ”. Was It the top guitarists ’ common performance in the flamenco history ? Noone can reply since a new generation of marvelous guitarists is coming to add more things on the vivid , unlimited world of flamenco guitar music and on the musical heritage that all guitarists from Ramón Montoya to Paco de Lucia offered us during the first century of flamenco guitar .
40