biography

Of Andalucian origin, Ricardo's family left for France during the Franco years. Flamenco was a way of holding on to roots and the whole family was brought up within the tradition: Ricardo learning guitar from his uncle Antonio from a very young age and later performing with his aunt, Ana Maria, brothers and cousins. His mother, Maria del Carmen is an excellent singer and he accompanied her from an early age. His father, Dionisio, encouraged him and bullied him alternately as a child, making sure he practised regularly and taking the whole family back to his village near Sevilla every summer in order to experience first hand the music and soul of the region.

Ricardos first public performance was at the age of nine and he has played regularly in public ever since. He continued to perform both solo and with his aunt and uncle in numerous concerts throughout France and in 1988 he was chosen to represent France culturally on a tour around Uruguay and Argentina, sponsored by the Casa de America Latina. Whilst still a student he performed in the Zenith in Paris fronting a Pat Metheny concert, which inspired him to incorporate jazz into his repertoire. The Zenith is one of the biggest and most prestigious venues in Paris.

Between the ages of 15 and 18 he attended flamenco masterclasses with Merengue de Cordoba, Paco Serrano and Jose Antonio Rodrigues Munoz. His studies with his uncle and on various intensive residential guitar courses focussed heavily on classical guitar at this stage and the three cornerstones to his personal style are flamenco, classical and jazz.

Ricardo acknowledges his debt to masters such as Paco de Lucia and Tomatito, the great masters of guitar in flamenco today.

Ricardo worked in Malawi, Africa for eight years before returning to Europe and settling in Spain, in Barcelona in 1999. The years in Malawi brought him into contact with many other musicians and again widened his repertoire to incorporate African rhythms as well as Asian. He worked especially with Aaron Sangala and the late, great Tione Mwera. A creative collaboration with a sitar player, Bimal Lohd resulted in several excellent concerts. With Aaron Sangala and Bashir Sacranie Ricardo was a founder member of the group Kalulu, mentioned in The Rough Guide to Music in Africa. Both solo and in cooperation with others, Ricardo frequently performed at the French Cultural centre, The British Council and the University of Malawi.

Returning to Europe in 1999, Ricardo settled in Barcelona and continues to travel mainly between Spain, France and Scotland to perform, although he has also performed in Singapore, England and Ireland in recent years.

2006 will be the sixth Fringe in Edinburgh for Ricardo and he has brought some excellent musicians within his "Familia Flamenca" in the past four years: the idea is to continue to develop the music and bring the Edinburgh audience some surprising and impressive fusions: an original and innovative slant on the genre - reflecting the rich background of the performers and the intelligent discernment of the audience.