Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia died suddenly of a heart attack today in Cancun, Mexico, while on the beach with his children.
The 66-year-old guitarist vastly expanded the international audience for flamenco music and helped to legitimize flamenco in Spain itself, during a time when the music was largely being ignored by mainstream popularity.
In this encore report, NPR’s Felix Contreras discusses Paco de Lucia’s influential place at the forefront of modern flamenco. This piece originally aired July 16, 2004, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Reporter
- Felix Contreras, arts correspondent for NPR and co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR’s web-based program about Latin Alternative music. He tweets @felixatjazz.
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