Mario Escudero

Mario Escudero
Born(1928-10-11)October 11, 1928
OriginAlicante, Spain
DiedNovember 19, 2004(2004-11-19) (aged 76)
GenresFlamenco
InstrumentGuitar

Mario Escudero (October 11, 1928 – November 19, 2004), was one of a handful of Spanish flamenco guitar virtuosos who, following on the footsteps of Ramon Montoya, helped spread flamenco beyond their Spanish homeland when they migrated to the United States in the early 1950s. Along with others such as Sabicas, Carlos Montoya and Juan Serrano, Escudero helped forge the viability of solo flamenco guitar as a concert instrument, with lauded performances at New York's Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and other venues. Invited to perform at the White House for President John F. Kennedy, Escudero was counted among the best in his era; Ramón Montoya called him "the best flamenco guitarist of this new generation."

During the early part of his career, at the age of 15 (1944 - 1954), he began touring extensively with the best known flamenco companies throughout Spain and the rest of Europe (Rosario and Antonio, Vicente Escudero, Estrellita Castro, and Carmen Amaya), playing both as soloist and guitar accompanist. During this time, he made several records with Estrellita Castro,[1][2][3][4] accompanied many of the best flamenco singers of the time, (including Niña de los Peines, Tomas Pavon, José Cepero, Juanito Mohama, Pepe de la Matrona, Jacinto Almadén, Rafael Farina, Pericón de Cadiz, Palanca, Chiquito de Triana, Canalejas de Puerto Real and others.[5] and provided the musical background to several films:[6][7]

  • Brindis a Manolete (1948), with Paquito Rico, Jose Greco, Manolo Badajoz, Rafael Romero "El Gallina", Trio Escudero (Mario performs as one of the guitarists along with his father, mother and one of his aunts, Milagros).[8] This is the first time Escudero would meet Jose Greco, with whom he would perform several years later.
  • Jalisco Canta en Sevilla (1949), with Jorge Negrete and Carmen Sevilla [9]
  • Cafe Cantante (1951), with Imperio Argentina, Angel Pericet, Rafael Farina, Emilia Escudero. In this film, Mario Escudero is playing is the entire soundtrack.[10]

After completing his obligatory military service in Spain, he toured Central and South America with Carmen Amaya, and in early 1955, the United States with both Vicente Escudero and Jose Greco as soloist and guitar accompanist (from 1950 - 1956).

From 1958 - 1961, he formed his own group "Capricho Español" and performed extensively in Central and South America. From 1961 onward, he settled in the United States to focus on what would become a very successful career as a flamenco concert guitarist. In total, his career as a performer and concert guitarist spanned 47 years, beginning with Vicente Escudero in 1944, and ending in 1991, with his last concert appearances in Spain and the United States. During all of this period, he had a very active concert schedule, performing on a regular basis in the United States and internationally, including several concert tours to Russia (then the Soviet Union), Japan, Hong Kong and Turkey, all as a private citizen; that is, not backed or sponsored by State-financed organizations in any way.

His career as a recording artist, however, was much shorter (17 years, from 1952 - 1969), essentially beginning with his first long play record in 1952 ("El Pili Flamenco", Esoteric-2001, 1952),[11] in which he played guitar duos with Alberto Velez and accompanied the singer "El Pili"), and ending with his last double record album with the Musical Heritage Society in 1969 ("Mario Escudero Plays Classical Flamenco Music", MHS 994/995, 1969).[12] He did not make any more records after 1969, as a result of his long lasting dislike over what he considered to be ongoing unfair commercial practices on the use of his original recordings by some record companies. Nevertheless, during this relatively brief 17 year period, Escudero made over 30 original long play records (both as Mario Escudero and as "El Niño de Alicante").

While he composed more than 250 of his own works, he regularly performed and recorded the works of other notable flamenco and classical guitar masters, like Niño Ricardo ("Almoradí", "Recuerdo a Sevilla"), Esteban de Sanlucar ("Castillo de Xauen", "Mantillas de Feria") or Tarrega ("Recuerdos de la Alhambra"). When he was not performing, he very much enjoyed teaching flamenco guitar to his many students, writing down his own compositions, and furthering his knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, both on his own and studying with other teachers himself. Lastly, he loved listening to and learning from all types of music, including jazz, "soft" rock, all types of folk music and, of course, classical composers like Albeniz, Falla, Granados, Wagner, Beethoven and Bach (the latter of which he always referred to as "el payo Bach", as he regularly listened to Simon Preston´s album of his complete organ works).[13]

He died November, 19th 2004, in Miami, Florida, USA.

  1. ^ "Gitanos falsificaos [Grabación sonora] :tanguillo / Fernández de Córdoba y Castellanos. La salinera : danzón gitano / García Padilla y Mostazo - Castellano, Carlos - Registro sonoro musical - 1954". bdh.bne.es. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ "Tientos del reloj [Grabación sonora] :Qué le voy a hacer / Quintero, León y Quiroga. Tanguillo del Campo de Gibraltar / J. Carlos de Luna - López-Quiroga, Manuel - Registro sonoro musical - 1954". bdh.bne.es. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  3. ^ "Er Yeli [Grabación sonora] :zambra mora; Sevillanas de la moda / Kola y Castellanos - Castellano, Carlos - Registro sonoro musical - 1946". bdh.bne.es. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  4. ^ "Los marismeños [Grabación sonora] :canción por bulerías; Niña Caracola : tanguillo de Cádiz / Kola y Castellanos - García Padilla, Antonio - Registro sonoro musical - 1945". bdh.bne.es. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  5. ^ "Carmen Amaya". MAGISTERIO FLAMENCO (in European Spanish). 14 August 2017. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  6. ^ "Mario Escudero". Diario Sur (in European Spanish). 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  7. ^ Expoflamenco, Redacción (2021-09-11). "Al Maestro Don Mario Escudero, semblanza a su memoria". Expoflamenco (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  8. ^ Brindis a Manolete (1948) (in Spanish), retrieved 2021-10-24
  9. ^ Jalisco canta en Sevilla (1949) (in Spanish), retrieved 2021-10-23
  10. ^ Café cantante (1951) (in Spanish), retrieved 2021-10-23
  11. ^ El Pili – 'El Pili' Flamenco (1952, Vinyl), retrieved 2021-10-21
  12. ^ Mario Escudero – Mario Escudero Plays Classical Flamenco Music (Vinyl), retrieved 2021-10-21
  13. ^ "BACH The Organ Works Preston". www.deutschegrammophon.com. Retrieved 2021-10-24.