Flamenco legend leaves behind 53 years of unreal concerts and dizzying collaborations. His influence is immense among contemporary musicians, most of whom have no connection with flamenco. But what makes this guy such an exceptional artist? One evening at a friend's house, after I got excited watching a video of Paco (I tend to get excited), this friend said "if I see that by myself, I’d just have the impression that he’s a normal guy who plays guitar.”

………….a normal man…………who plays guitar…………

When you see Kylian Mbappé, Novak Djokovic and Lebron James, what impression do you get? Normal guys who play football, tennis and basketball? Why not, maybe you have to at least have played a little guitar or music to understand the madness. After all, I am unable to see how Kasparov is a great chess player. Anyway, i’ll still try to decipher Señor Paco to you.

Because this is indeed madness. The combination of technical virtuosity, musical sensitivity and the subtlety of his touch is absolutely crazy, unreal, impossible. Usually a musician is more technician than artist, artist than technician. To be both technically and artistically grandiose is to enter the domain of the gods. For example Jimi Hendrix and Ray Charles are both technical and artistic prodigies. Virtuosos, innovative and popular. La crème de la crème. Paco is of this caliber, except that he is only popular among musicians and music lovers, the same way Django Reinhardt is. Hence my desire to pass on his Olympian flame to you.

Because it is too easy to summarize the gentleman by his clusters of ultra-fast electric notes. Moreover, in the long run, the reactions aroused by his virtuosity tended to annoy him : “The audience is more impressed by the speed of the execution than by the feeling I’m trying to convey. I don’t like it, but I can’t do anything about it.” He said in 2001 in the columns of the newspaper Libération. Well, no, you can’t help it, Paco, and neither can we. It is difficult to understand that his technical qualities are completely at the service of his art (and not the other way around), because it goes so quickly, so precisely, so perfectly that it dazzles. In the first sense of the term. You have to accustom your eyes to looking straight into the light to see what it contains of sincerity, humility, love and suffering.

Because PDL is a free, sensitive, innovative and authentic artist. He redrew the contours of flamenco by incorporating new rhythms, new melodies and even new instruments. He collaborated with jazzmen and pop artists, even if it meant angering purist flamencologists. The Rolling Stones also offered him a big (big!) check so that he agreed to play with them, Keith Richards devoting him a real cult: "There are only two or three guitarists in the world who can be considered as legendary, and above them is Paco de Lucía.” Well… Paco declines, claiming that “this way of playing isn’t really [his] thing”. What do the purists say now?

We cannot paint a portrait of Francisco Gustavo Sanchez Gomez (yes, that's Paco's real name) without mentioning his physical dimension. That face! This posture! This attitude ! Where are we there? In a Visconti? If I say to you “draw me a flamenco guitarist” you will probably give me a Paco, even without knowing him. Is he the one who imprinted this picture in our minds, to the point where he became a caricature of himself? The egg or the Paco, the Paco or the chicken… that is the question. How can you physically stick to your music to this extent? Probably by fulfilling the dream of every artist : to become yourself through your work. Although he is a man of few words, Paco has always been an open book, because his art says everything about him. “If I hadn’t had the guitar, I would have remained an introvert all my life,” he said. What if that was art? We give you wood, strings, and you express yourself honestly, without concession. You illuminate, you warm, and you burn eternally.

All is not lost: if there is life after death, Paco de Lucía will be there. The problem is, so are the shitty dinners.