Mario
Escudero
Photo: James Scalese (courtesy
of Guillermo Salazar)
Mario Escudero
was born in Alicante in 1928. While still a child, he moved to
Madrid to study guitar. In his early performances he used the name
Niño de Alicante. His first concert took place in 1937 when he
was nine years old in Burdeos, France, in the Cinema Galia in a
show presented by Maurice Chevalier.
His Madrid debut was in 1944 in the Teatro Español along with
Vicente Escudero, Ramón Montoya, and Jacinto Almadén. From that
time on he toured throughout Spain and accompanied Tomás Pavón,
Niña de los Peines, José Cepero, Antonio Mairena, Juanito
Mojama, El Sevillano, Canalejas de Puerto Real, Pepe de la Matrona,
Pericón de Cádiz and many more of the great singers of that era.[see note] He later
traveled to Europe and America with the companies of Carmen Amaya, Vicente
Escudero, and Rosario and Antonio. During one of his tours of the
United States with Vicente Escudero, he decided to stay.
In the United States he gained fame as a soloist, especially
after his first performance in New York's Carnegie Hall in 1955,
but most of all, through his more than
thirty records.
His flamenco music has been used as background in numerous
motion pictures including Café Cantante, A Toast to Manolete,
and Jalisco canta en Sevilla.
His fame has spread throughout the world and, he is generally
considered one of the foremost flamenco concert guitarists. In
1984, he returned to Spain tho give a concert at the Third Bienal
de Arte Flamenco Ciudad de Sevilla, and, in 1985, appeared again
in Madrid at the Third Cumbre Flamenca.
For some years after that he lived in Sevilla, where he had a
guitar academy.
Source: J. Blas Vega and M. Ríos Ruiz,
Diccionario Enciclopedico Ilustrado del Flamenco,
Editorial
Cinterco,Madrid, 1988
Mario Escudero died in Miami, Florida, November 19, 2004. He had been
suffering of Parkinson's disease. His ashes are buried in Madrid.
Discography
ESTRELLITA
CASTRO, Mario on 2 tracks, EMI 256 122 1844
EL PILI, with Mario Escudero and Alberto Velez, (re-release
of French original c. l952) Esoteric Records ES-543
FLAMENCO, Mario Escudero, Folkways FW-6920 (10 inch)
NIÑO DE ALICANTE PLAYS SPANISH DANCES, Mario
Escudero under pseudonym of Niño de Alicante,
Folkways FW-8829
FIESTA FLAMENCA, Mario Escudero and the "bailete"
from the Vicente Escudero company, MGM E3214
VICENTE ESCUDERO, sings accompanied by Mario Escudero,
Columbia CL 982
GUITAR VARIATIONS, Mario Escudero solo and
accompanying Domingo Alvarado, Montilla FM 83
MARIO ESCUDERO AND HIS FLAMENCO GUITAR, Montilla FM
57
TEMAS DE ESPANA, Luisa Triana with Mario Escudero and
Chinin de Triana, Montilla FM 82
FLAMENCO CARNIVAL, Mario Escudero with Enrique
Montoya and Anita Ramos, Period PL l927
DANZAS Y CANCIONES DE ANDALUCIA, Mario Escudero,
Carlos Ramos, Niño de Almaden; Esoteric ES-544
FLAMENCO, Aamco ALP-322 (same as previous record)
OLE FLAMENCO, Counterpoint CPT 1504
FIESTA FLAMENCA, various artists with Escudero on 3
tracks with Enrique Montoya, Montilla FM 110
FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA, POEMAS DEL CANTE JONDO, Mario
Escudero accompanies Enrique Montoya, Spanish Music
Center SMC-1037
JUERGA GITANA, Mario Escudero accompanies Enrique
Montoya, Spanish Music Center SMC-103
MARIO ESCUDERO Y SU BALLET FLAMENCO, Montilla FM-1003
FLAMENCO, MARIO VALERO GROUP WITH JOSE ALVAREZ,
Treasure TLP812 (same as Montilla FM-1003)
FLAMENCO FESTIVAL IN HI FI, NIÑO DE ALICANTE, Design
DCF-1046
VIVA FLAMENCO, Mario Escudero flamenco company, Decca
DL-78736
FLAMENCO, Niño de Alicante and Enrique Montoya,
Whitehall WG-20021
RITMOS FLAMENCOS, NIÑO DE ALICANTE, Atco 33-106 and
Musical Heritage Society MHS-842
THE FANTASTIC GUITARS OF SABICAS AND ESCUDERO, Decca
DL-78957
THE ROMANTIC GUITARS OF SABICAS AND ESCUDERO, Decca
DL-8897
SABICAS Y ESCUDERO, Montilla FMS-105
MARIO ESCUDERO, ABC Paramount ABC 396
MARIO ESCUDERO, FIESTA FLAMENCA, ABC-428
ESCUDERO AT EL POCHE, Mario accompanies Pepe Segundo
and Anita Ramos, ABC-4492
MARIO ESCUDERO PLAYS CLASSICAL FLAMENCO MUSIC,
Musical Heritage Society MHS 994/995 (2 records)
CLASSICAL FLAMENCO GUITAR, re-release of Esoteric
albums) Everest 3131
FLAMENCO FIRE, has El Pili with Araceli Vargas and
some Escudero stuff from the Flamenco Carnival album,
Tradition Everest 2087
MARIO ESCUDERO IN CONCERT AT THE "Y",
singer Luis Vargas; Guitar Review
Copyright © 1994 Guillermo
Salazar
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biography |
From: |
Guillermo Salazar gsalazar@cris.com |
| Sent: |
Saturday, July 17, 1999
3:05 PM |
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| To: |
FLAMENCO@cronkite.ocis.temple.edu
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| Subject: |
Mario Escudero |
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--------------------snip-------------------------------
Another thing that I saw on several web sites was
the claim that Mario had accompanied la Nin~a de
los Peines and some other old time cantaores. The
first time I ran into that was in the Diccionario
Enciclopedia of Flamenco. In 1992 I asked Mario
if he ever accompanied la Nin~a de los Peines and
he said that he did not. He said that he saw her
sing in a private party once. Another web site
claims Mario accompani ed Jose Cepero. Does that
also originate in the Diccionario? |
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--
G. Salazar
http://www.cris.com/~gsalazar |
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