Some people are born ahead of their time, and others die too soon. The great guitarist Manolo Domínguez ‘el Rubio’ had the misfortune of doing both. Destiny ordained that Manuel Domínguez García born in Sevilla in 1946 should take his leave in the wee hours of Tuesday, February 14th, before his sixtieth birthday.
Text: Estela Zatania
Photo: Paco Sánchez
He was part of a generation of splendid guitarists destined to conquer
the world. Or so we all thought. Juan Maya ‘Marote’, Paco
de Antequera, Paco Cepero, José Luis Postigo, Paco del Gastor,
Juan and Pepe Habichuela… With Montoya and Ricardo as a jumping-off
point, they had a more dynamic sound, they began to toy with new harmonies
and keep a more rigorous compás. Marote developed an aggressive
strum, quickly adopted by his contemporaries, which changed the sound
of dance accompaniment. From the middle of the nineteen-sixties through
the beginning of the seventies, the conquest was as absolute as it was
short-lived. Who could have foreseen the arrival of a boy from Algeciras
who would be capable of changing the entire panorama of flamenco guitar,
turning it inside-out so dramatically that a fertile generation of young
maestros would go down in history as a mere transition between schools?
Nevertheless it was a rich and prodigious transition that coincided with
the hey-day of the festival era, and Manolo Domínguez and his peers
provided the accompaniment for those long summer nights of flamenco. It
was also a prolific era as far as record production was concerned. El
Rubio’s admirable accompaniment is registered with the voices of
Chato de la Isla, Luis de Córdoba, Tina Pavón, Chano Lobato,
Fernanda y Bernarda de Utrera, Gaspar de Utrera, Pepa de Utrera, Manolo
Limón, Chozas de Jerez, Curro Fernández, Pepe Núñez
“El Loreño”, Gitanillo de Oro, Rafael Calderón,
Emilia Jandra, Manuel Márquez and Aguilar de Vejer among others,
with occasional back-up by José Luis Postigo, Quique Paredes or
Paco Jarana.
In great demand by dancers, he traveled the globe with Curro Vélez,
Manuela Vargas, José Greco and Matilde Coral. He was playing at
the Seville tablao Los Gallos when Manuela Carrasco was an adolescent
dancing in the ‘cuadro’, and later joined her company. In
1980 at the Festival de Córdoba, he carried off the two guitar
prizes, the “Ramón Montoya” for concert guitar and
the “Manolo de Huelva” for accompaniment. In 1984 when the
Cátedra de Flamencología y Estudios Folklóricos Andaluces
de Jerez de la Frontera awarded him the National Prize for Flamenco Guitar,
Manuel Ríos Ruíz underlined “the majesty of his playing,
his command of the styles and his ability to adapt to the most diverse
singers of the moment as well as the most varied dance stars of today…expressive
and harmonious sound, legitimate and full of rhythm…an absolute maestro”.
Friends and colleagues of Manolo Domínguez talk about the melodious
quality of his playing, his personality and his wide knowledge of cante.
Today when maestro Paco Cepero received the sad news he commented: “We
were always working side by side at the festivals…he was in demand by
the most important singers and dancers of the era and was at the top of
his profession. A great guitarist and a great friend, I have only boundless
praise for him”.
Many thanks to Brook Zern for the discographic information.
