Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia dead at 66

CNN: “Legendary Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia, who is credited with transforming the folk art of flamenco into a more vibrant modern sound, has died. He was 66. The Gipsy Kings may have gone a long way toward making flamenco mainstream, but de Lucia paved the way. A proponent of the New Flamenco style, de Lucia’s career is defined by crossover collaborations with guitarists such as Eric Clapton, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola, and jazz pianist Chick Corea.”

The Washington Post: “A spokeswoman for the town hall of de Lucia’s native Spanish town of Algeciras cited de Lucia family members as saying the artist died of a heart attack. She said he began to feel unwell while on a beach in Cancun and died while being taken to a local hospital. … Describing the death as unexpected and premature, Education and Culture Minister Jose Ignacio Wert said he was ‘a unique and unrepeatable figure.’”

BBC: “Algeciras is to hold two days of official mourning. Its mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, called the musician’s death an ‘irreparable loss for the world of culture and for Andalusia.’ He had lived both in Mexico and in Spain in recent years.”

source: theplazz.com