Manitas De Plata: Famous French Guitarist

Eddie Delezen over at our facebook page recommended this video of guitarist Manitas De Plata.

After checking out his bio, I’m almost embarrassed to say that I’ve never heard of Manitas De Plata before since apparently he is very famous over in France. And in trying to decide what category his playing falls in… well, in my opinion it’s not really flamenco, not really classical… but he is playing a nylon string guitar and it’s definitely not bluegrass so… (ha ha).

Technically (don’t throw fruit at me) I think Manitas is a little sloppy compared to others, but he has a lot of passion and spirit (which always makes up for it).

Here’s some bio information on Manitas De Plata:

“He was born in a Gypsy (Gitano) caravan in Sète in southernFrance. He became famous by playing each year at theSaintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Gypsy pilgrimage in Camargue, where he was recorded live by Deben Bhattacharya. Manitas de Plata only agreed to play in public ten years after the death of Django Reinhardt, unanimously considered the king of gypsy guitarists. One of his recordings earned him a letter by 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 the guitar.

Manitas de Plata became really famous only 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, for the Phillips label. It was also later re-released, in 1967, by the Connoisseur Society Label and sold through the Book of the Month Club. This was a popular LP that brought him to the attention of an American audience. An American manager obtained a booking for him to play a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York in December 1965.” read more