Manitas De Plata

Ricardo Baliardo 7 August 1921 5 November 2014 better known as Manitas de Plata little hands of silver was a French flamenco guitarist of Catalan Gitano descent born in southern France Baliardo was born in a gypsy caravan in Sète southern France Nicknamed Manitas de Plata little hands of silver in Spanish he agreed to play in public only ten years after the death of RomaniBelgian jazz guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt in 1953 Baliardo attained fame in the United States after a photography exhibition in New York organized by his friend Lucien Clergue He had recorded his first official album in the chapel of Arles in France in 1963 on the Philips label It was later rereleased in 1967 on the Connoisseur Society label and sold through the Book of the Month Club This record brought him to the attention of an American audience where a manager obtained a booking for him to play a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York on 24 November 1965 and on The Ed Sullivan Show the same year He went on to perform in various venues around the world Manitas de Plata was the uncle of Diego Paco and Tonino Baliardo and cousin to Pablo François Canut Patchaï Nicolas and André Reyes the sons of his cousin flamenco artist José Reyes with whom he performed as a duo in the 1970s all current or former members of the Catalan rumba band Gipsy Kings De Plata died on 6 November 2014 aged 93 in a retirement home in Montpellier He had suffered a severe heart attack in April 2013 One of his recordings earned him a letter from Jean Cocteau acclaiming him as a creator Upon hearing him play at Arles in 1964 Pablo Picasso is said to have exclaimed that man is of greater worth than I am and proceeded to draw on Baliardos guitar Australian multiinstrumentalist Chris Freeman his student in 1971 acknowledged de Platas influence and teachings A statue by the sculptor JeanLoup Bouvier depicting de Plata playing his guitar was erected in front of Hôtel de Ville Montpellier in June 2017 Source Article Manitas de Plata from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA