Manitas de Plata (born Ricardo Baliardo; 7 August 1921 - 5 November 2014) was a French Gitano flamenco guitarist.

Personal life

Ricardo Baliardo was born in a gypsy caravan in Sète in southern France. He became famous by playing each year at the Saintes-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 garnered fame in the United States 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 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.

He had toured the whole world since 1967, and recorded discs. He played with the dancer Nina Corti. In 1968 he played at the Royal Variety Performance in London. Despite the fact that Manitas de Plata was famous, he was also known for disrespecting certain rhythmic rules (compás) that are traditional in flamenco.

Manitas de Plata is the father of Jacques, Maurice, and Tonino Baliardo and uncle to Paul, François (Canut), Patchaï, Nicolas and André Reyes (the sons of renowned flamenco artist José Reyes), all members of the world-famous Rumba Flamenca musicians, Gipsy Kings. Australian multi-instrumentalist Chris Freeman, his student in 1971, acknowledged de Plata's influence and teachings.

Selected albums

• Juerga! (1963, Philips, 844 535 PY) (re-released by Connoisseur Society in 1967 as CS2003)
• Flamenco Guitar (1965)
• Flamenco Guitar
• Manitas de Plata - The world's greatest living flamenco artist (1966, Phillips, BL 7787)
• Manitas et les siens (1967, Columbia Records, FL 363)
• The Art of the Guitar (1968, Everest Records, SDBR 3201)
• La guitare d'or de Manitas (1970, Columbia Records, S 63915)
• Et Ses Guitares Gitanes (1972, CBS, S65020)
• Excitement of Manitas De Plata (1973, RCA Camden, CDS 1139)
• Hommages (1973, Embassy Records, S EMB 31003)
• Soleil des Saintes-Maries (1978)
• Feria Gitane (1994)
• Olé (1994)
• Manitas de Plata at Carnegie Hall (1995)
• Flaming Flamenco (1997)
• Manitas de Plata (1998)
• Camargue de Manitas (1999)
• Guitare D'Or Manitas de Plata (1999)
• Flores de mi corazon (1999, Troubadour Records)
• Guitarra Flamenco (2001)
• Manitas de Plata y los Plateros (2004)

Note: Juerga! was recorded in Arles, France, in October 1963, and featured Jose Reyes and Manero Ballardo, and the gypsies of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer. Producer E. Alan Silver; recording Engineer David B. Jones. A Connoisseur Society Recording.