Gino D'Auri

Born in Rome as the grandson of a gypsy, guitarist Gino D'Auri first took up classical guitar studies. During his teenage years the film Sombrero, starring legendary flamenco dancer Jose Greco and one of the all-time great flamenco guitarists, Geronimo Villarino, left him “traumatized by flamenco.” He then began performing flamenco music while exploring the varied cultures that shaped the tradition. After moving to the Los Angeles area in 1967, he worked the local flamenco club circuit. In 1976 he appeared on the self-titled debut album by the groundbreaking world fusion band Caldera. Hearts of Space’s Stephen Hill encountered D’Auri in 1980 while producing a film soundtrack and was subsequently asked to produce D’Auri’s first solo album, Nuevos Caminos (translated “New Paths”), for harpist Georgia Kelly’s label Heru Records. Sonic Atmosphere remastered the recording in 1984 and reissued it as Passion Play. Hill observed that D’Auri achieved a distinctive tone by amplifying his Japanese Takemine guitar and routing the signal through a reverb unit. In the late 1980s D’Auri contributed to two albums by Japanese new age/world fusion artist Keiko Matsui. His next solo release, Flamenco Mystico, came out on Hearts of Space/World Class in 1992 and was followed by Flamenco: Passion & Soul in 1997. D’Auri has toured with famed dancer Jose Greco and continues to perform regularly at Southern California flamenco restaurants such as El Cid in Los Angeles and Lare’s in Santa Monica.