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Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Spanish flamenco, classical, jazz guitarist & musician
1
Jesse Cook
Jesse Cook
Canadian guitarist, composer, and producer
2
Andrés Segovia Torres
Andrés Segovia Torres
Spanish classical guitarist
3
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
American guitarist
4
Oscar Lopez
Oscar Lopez
Canadian musician
5
Ottmar Liebert
Ottmar Liebert
German guitarist
6
Paco Peña
Paco Peña
Flamenco guitarist
7
Robby Krieger
Robby Krieger
American rock guitarist and songwriter
8
Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr
Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr
musician
9
Tomatito
Tomatito
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10
Pavlo Simtikidis
Pavlo Simtikidis
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11
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin
English guitarist, bandleader, and composer; founder of the Mahavishnu Orchestra
12
Andrei Krylov
Andrei Krylov
Russian musician
13
Rafael Riqueni
Rafael Riqueni
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14
Manitas de Plata
Manitas de Plata
French Gitano flamenco guitarist
15
Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
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16
Vicente Amigo
Vicente Amigo
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17
Roni Benise
Roni Benise
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18
Gino D'Auri
Gino D'Auri
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19
Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
French-Spanish musical group
20
Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats
Canadian synthpop and new wave band
21
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz
Spanish singer-songwriter and musician
22
Chris Broderick
Chris Broderick
American guitarist
23
Johannes Linstead
Johannes Linstead
Canadian musician
24
Manuel Barrueco
Manuel Barrueco
Cuban musician
25
Armik
Armik
Iranian musician
26
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
English musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
27
Luis Villegas
Luis Villegas
American musician
28
Enrique Morente
Enrique Morente
Spanish recording artist; flamenco singer
29
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
American guitarist
30
Slash
Slash
British-American musician
31
Yasuji Ōhagi
Yasuji Ōhagi
Japanese classical guitarist
32
Fred Frith
Fred Frith
English musician, composer and improvisor
33
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Canadian jazz pianist, band leader, composer
34
Dave Martone
Dave Martone
Canadian guitarist
35
Gerardo Núñez
Gerardo Núñez
Spanish guitarist and composer
36
Bucky Pizzarelli
Bucky Pizzarelli
American Jazz guitarist
Michael Laucke
Canadian classical and flamenco guitarist

Michael Laucke

Intro
Canadian classical and flamenco guitarist
Record Labels
Awards Received
Grand Prix du Disque
Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music
Nominated For
Order of Canada

Michael Laucke (born 29 January 1947) is a Canadian classical, new flamenco, and flamenco guitarist and composer, and a music industry businessman. Starting at the age of thirteen, Laucke gave professional snooker demonstrations and his winnings allowed him to take trips from Montreal to New York City to study the classical guitar with Rolando Valdés-Blain. Still active in a career spanning five decades, Laucke began performing in 1965, recording the first of 16 albums in 1969, and has toured in 25 countries. In 1971, he performed his first of many concerts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His first concert in New York, where he also first met Senator Claiborne Pell, took place in 1972.

Laucke was introduced to complex flamenco techniques by Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía when the two shared a loft and performed together for the jet set in New York City in the early 1970s. In 1982 he was selected by Andrés Segovia to perform for the PBS network at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Laucke subsequently became Segovia's pupil, and also studied with other classical guitar players, including Julian Bream and Alirio Díaz. He performed mainly on classical guitar until 1990; from then on, his concerts have consisted exclusively of flamenco and new flamenco works.

Laucke has broadened the guitar repertoire by creating over 100 transcriptions of classical and flamenco music. Several notable Canadian composers have written atonal works for him. SOCAN's The Music Scene magazine considered Laucke to be one of "five of Canada's best-known soloists". Music critic emeritus, historian, and musician Eric McLean of the Montreal Gazette avowed: "Laucke is the person who has done more for the guitar in this country than anyone else." He has received many other awards and honours throughout his career, including the Grand Prix du Disque-Canada for Best Canadian Recording.