Rafael Riqueni del Canto (Sevilla, August 16, 1962), is a Spanish guitar player and composer. He is considered as one of the biggest names or “Maestros” in flamenco guitar history. At age fourteen, he won the two main national awards for flamenco guitar in Spain. As an adult, he has won the most prestigious flamenco music awards in Spain, including: Premio Andalucía de Cultura, Premio Nacional de la Crítica, Giraldillo a la Maestría de la XVIII Bienal de Flamenco y el Premio AIE. In 2017, he was awarded with XXXI Compás del Cante, this award is always referred to by the Spanish media as the "Flamenco Nobel prize".
Biography
Early life
Rafael Riqueni was born in Sevilla on August 16, 1962, in Fabie St at Triana, Riqueni also spend part of his childhood at El Arenal, he lived in the same building there than Francisco Palacios El Pali. Riqueni was an early and gifted musician, he had a big creative capacity that started to cause sensation as a child. At age eleven, he started to play with Niño Ricardo records, then he discovered Paco de Lucía and that made him finally decide to pursue a career in music. His first teacher was Manolo Carmona, and then he became a student of Manolo Sanlúcar.
Career (1974-2019)
Early career
Rafael Riqueni gave his first concerts at age twelve, at the Educación y Descanso Festivals. At age thirteen, he stood out during a solo concert at a flamenco festival in Teatro Lope de Vega. One year later, in 1977, Riqueni won the Ramón Montoya concert guitar prize at VIII Concurso de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba, causing a big impression with his performance, y del VI Certamen Nacional de Guitarra de Jerez de la Frontera, considerados los dos principales premios nacionales de guitarra. La consecución de los mismos fue el comienzo de su carrera profesional, una de sus principales cualidades era la búsqueda de un estilo personal y alejado de las escuelas dominantes en la guitarra flamenca.
In 1979, he toured with Isabel Pantoja's company. In 1981, he again won first prize in the X Jerez National guitar contest. In 1982, he was on tour with Rocío Jurado.
In 1984, he took part in the III Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla opening concert, where he played “Sevilla “ from Albéniz along four compositions of his own. In that same Bienal de Flamenco edition, he was one of the finalist contenders for the Giraldillo del Toque guitar contest, along with Tomatito, Pedro Bacán, Jose Antonio Rodríguez, Paco del Gastor and Manolo Franco, who won the contest.
As part of the V Cordoba International guitar festival, in 1985, Riqueni offered a concert together with Manolo Franco and Enrique de Melchor under the name of Jovenes Figuras de la Guitarra Flamenca. That same year, Riqueni participated in the II Madrid Cumbre Flamenca Festival with the show Luces de Chacón, together with Enrique Morente, Carmen Linares and Manolo Sanlúcar among other artists. During the III Cumbre Flamenca Festival, he gave a concert together with José Antonio Rodriguez y Gerardo Núñez, under the name of Empujando. Also in 1986, Riqueni played a solo concert in the Los Veranos de la Villa Festival in Madrid, and offered two solo concerts in the Fráncfort Opera Theater.
Juego de Niños (1986) Riqueni published his first record in 1986, Juego de Niños, with producer Ricardo Pachón, who was well known for his previous work with Camarón de la Isla among other important flamenco artists. The flamenco guitar specialist Norberto Torres stated in his book that Juego de Niños is suggesting a new and different musical order for flamenco”, this album also settled the basis for Rafael Riqueni's style. One of the most prominent pieces is ”Al Niño Miguel”, a tribute to the late guitar player from Huelva, Norberto Torres said ” The intro part of this piece is a total new concept for Fandango (flamenco style), Riqueni was using minor key harmonies before going for the cadencia andaluza".