Three years after the death of Manolo Sanlucar, the flag of the Cádiz guitarist continues to fly strong. Further proof of this is the recent release of Manolo Sanlúcar, the eternal mark of a genius, a volume of almost 600 pages published by the foundation that bears the name of this creator along with Aura InsuranceIn it, one of Manolo Sanlúcar's best friends, Juan Manuel Suarez Japan, traces a journey from the humble patio of his house to the great theaters of the world.
“The book emerges as a kind of inner mandate that I feel, and with the idea of settling a debt with him after thirty years of friendship and coexistence, always learning from him,” comments this professor of Human Geography and former magnificent rector of the International University of Andalusia (UNIA), author of other reference books on the subject such as Cristina Hoyos. Thanks to life o Manuel Morao. I never broke my law., among others. “This one came to me on February 28, 2023, after a tribute to Manolo. For a moment I thought that songs and speeches are carried away by the wind, and that I shared with him the idea that the perpetuation that a book provides is not provided by anything else. I talked about it with José Martínez Talavera, president of the Foundation, and he immediately encouraged me because I had documents and experiences that the people who loved Manolo also had the right to access.”
"I wanted to convey to the reader the plurality of Manolo, because people still think he was a guitarist, but that was only part of his rich personality. Manolo was a musician, but also a writer, a poet, a theorist, an art connoisseur, a person committed to the fate of Andalusia and his time."
Suárez Japón also remembers that it never occurred to him to write a typical biography of the sonanta giant, because "that one had already been wonderfully written by Manolo himself in The shared soul, his now-out-of-print autobiography. I wanted to convey to the reader the plural Manolo, because people still think he was a guitarist, but that was only part of his rich personality. Manolo was a musician, but also a writer, a poet, a theorist, an art connoisseur, a person committed to the fate of Andalusia and his time… And he lived it all at the same time, not separately.”
“The word that best defines Manolo Sanlúcar is consistency,” Suárez Japón continues. “I've seen few people who live by their own set of values like he does. And at times, he had a tough time, precisely because he defended those values.”
In this way, the author has presented the book as a collective portrait, "with as many voices as possible," presenting each chapter as a story in its own right. Therefore, the volume explores the fascinating life of the Cadiz native, from his humble beginnings, that courtyard where he learned his first chords with his father, to his conquest of the main stages around the world, including the Royal Theatre. “It is extraordinary to see how someone who comes from such a precarious environment ends up being able to compose symphonies like Medea, the most often represented by the National BalletBut I understood when, the first time I entered the studio in his house in Sanlúcar, I saw that he only had one photo and it wasn't of any flamenco, but of Bela Bartok".
Suárez Japón doesn't shy away from talking about that year, 2004, "when Manolo experienced the worst tragedy a human being can endure: losing a child. From that moment on, he was dominated more by rage and sadness than by creative drive. That second stage was marked by suffering and disappointment, to the point of making him throw in the towel, as well as by the lack of understanding from the administration and the ultimate concern: what would happen to his legacy?"
"He was often asked about his duality with Paco de Lucía, and he argued that between them they had embraced everything. The only difference was that Paco had drifted down the path of Mozart, and he had drifted down the path of Beethoven."
That legacy, the author asserts, is in good hands thanks to the miraculous appearance of Martínez, a businessman based in Santa Coloma de Gramanet and a child of Andalusian emigration, who offered his support to Manolo Sanlúcar. "I remember Manolo calling me several times in the following days asking me, 'What do you think?' He had many doubts because he had been promised so many things, even in public, that were never fulfilled... But luckily today there is a museum with his guitars, his scores, the books and paintings he owned, as well as the International Center for Flamenco Guitar, which he is responsible for creating and managing." Juan Carlos Romero".
Episode after episode of his life, work after work, the book is an almost definitive testimony of what Manolo Sanlúcar's life entailed. "He himself wondered who he was and what his transcendence was," concludes Suárez Japón. "He was often asked about the duality with Paco de Lucía, and he argued that between the two of them they had encompassed everything. The only difference was that Paco had drifted down the path of Mozart, and he to the one of Beethoven. Most of his efforts were directed towards training 15, 20 or 25 high-level guitarists, among whom are Vicente Amigo, Riqueni, José Antonio Rodríguez, Santiago Lara, Can Wang, Juan Carlos Romero… And he didn't limit himself to teaching, many came to his house and stayed there as a member of the family. That commitment to the flamenco and with culture. That's why he's a person worth studying for many years to come, just as one studies the classics. He was already that way in life, and even more so now." ♦
