Tonino Baliardo
Encyclopedia
Tonino Baliardo is the lead guitarist for Gipsy Kings
, the pop-flamenco Roma group from France that has sold more than 18 million albums worldwide.
Most Gipsy Kings albums have 3-5 instrumental cuts - all written entirely by Baliardo; he also co-writes their vocal numbers. After his 2001 solo debut, Essences, Baliardo released an instrumental album under his own name in 2003, all his own originals.
"Tonino is the most creative person in the band," said Chico Bouchiki, a former member who co-wrote their biggest hit to date, Bamboleo. "He has lots of ideas and a great imagination. He used to go to school with his guitar." (Guitar Extra, Fall 1990)
Baliardo - like his bandmates - does not read or write music, he said in a 2007 behind-the-scenes video about their album Pasajero. They developed their styles from a lifetime of playing, and years learning from the generations that came before and contributed so much to flamenco music.
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
, the pop-flamenco Roma group from France that has sold more than 18 million albums worldwide.
Most Gipsy Kings albums have 3-5 instrumental cuts - all written entirely by Baliardo; he also co-writes their vocal numbers. After his 2001 solo debut, Essences, Baliardo released an instrumental album under his own name in 2003, all his own originals.
"Tonino is the most creative person in the band," said Chico Bouchiki, a former member who co-wrote their biggest hit to date, Bamboleo. "He has lots of ideas and a great imagination. He used to go to school with his guitar." (Guitar Extra, Fall 1990)
Baliardo - like his bandmates - does not read or write music, he said in a 2007 behind-the-scenes video about their album Pasajero. They developed their styles from a lifetime of playing, and years learning from the generations that came before and contributed so much to flamenco music.
Sources
- Guitar Extra, Fall 1990, "Gipsy Kings/Ketama - Roots of the New Flamenco," Hank Bordowitz.
- Tierra Gitana (Gipsy Ground), PBS, 1995.