Juan Manuel Cañizares was born in 1966 in Sabadell, in Spain’s northeastern province of Barcelona, the son of immigrants from southern Spain. He started his studies at the age of 10 at the Sabadell Municipal Conservatory then continued in Tarrasa and Barcelona. In 1982, Cañizares obtained the Jerez National Guitar Award. He toured with the group El Ultimo de la Fila in 1989, which allowed him to see outside the world of flamenco. Since then, he has continued to work with Spanish and international musicians such as: Enrique Morente, the legendary Camaron de la Isla, María Pagés, Pepe de Lucía, Rocío Jurado, Vince Mendoza, Joan Manuel Serrat, Peter Gabriel, Al Di Meola, Mike Stern, Peter Erskine, Michael Brecker and The Chieftains.  

Meeting Paco de Lucía was one of the most decisive experiences in Cañizares’ musical career. He collaborated with Paco de Lucía in the shows Sólo, Dúo, Trío and was later a member of the Paco de Lucía Septet. Their collaboration lasted ten years (1988-1998), until Cañizares decided to launch his own career. 

In 1997, Cañizares recorded his first album entitled Noches de Imán y Luna, which is rated as a great event in the flamenco world. With this recording, Cañizares has truly found a new way to understand flamenco and has become one of the most important advocates of flamenco guitar. His second album is based on an exceptional transcription of Albéniz’ piano sonnets for two guitars it is a beautiful work from both a musical and a historical point of view.

In 2004 Ca?izares collaborated with the recording of "The Official Torch Relay Theme". This track has been included on the record "Unity" (the official record for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004) which was sold in over 50 countries. In 2005 he had a huge success at Carnegie Hall in New York where he performed at the "Mano a Mano" show with Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey. Ca?izares is also a noted composer who has created works for the Ballet Nacional de Espa?a as well as film scores.

In 2007 he released "Suite Iberia, which is a transcription and interpretation of the Iberia Suite, exactly a hundred years after Isaac Albeniz composed the masterpiece. This rather grand and vast composition is based on the popular music and sonority of the Spain in which Albeniz lived, inherently influenced by flamenco. Iberia, originally written for the piano, is for the first time adapted for two guitars, both played by Ca?izares. The result is an exciting and surprising communion between the charisma of Ca?izare's guitar and the flamenco underlying the original piece by Albeniz.

First part of the biography translated by Rita Granda, rgranda@sympatico.ca

Official Web Site: www.jmcanizares.com

Noches de Imán y Luna (Nuevos Medios, 1997)

Isaac Albéniz, Sonatas para piano (Nuevos Medios, 1999)

Punto de Encuentro