Ronaldo Baca
An accomplished performer of Flamenco, Jazz, Classical Guitar, and the Arabic lute (a.k.a. the Oud), Ronaldo has been playing for New Mexico audiences for over 20 years at venues such as the National Hispanic Culture Center of New Mexico, El Rey, Albuquerque Convention Center, La Posada Hotel, Cafe Broadway, Silk Road, and the Santa Fe Play House. Outside of New Mexico he has performed in Hollywood, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Denver, CO; Lawrence,KA; Amarillo,TX, and Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Ronaldo has been a guest artist on several recordings, among them Devil Dog Road, a Psychic Sparkplugs CD recorded in 1995 by the band Liar, and Hard Steps, a Window Records audio tape by poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, recorded in 1996. He also recorded in Spain for a CD being produced out of England. Ronaldo has formed and been a member of several bands, including Maria Benitez’s Second Company, Flamenco del Encanto, Cabaret Flamenco, Aire Flamenco, Sadaqa, Sci-Fi, Scheherezade/Rajaz, and Fathom. Ronaldo has been studying, composing, teaching, and performing music for twenty-three years. He began to study classical guitar at the age of thirteen under Hector Pimentel. Then, he was a soloist for three years in Satin Nights, a high school jazz band where he played both guitar and bass. Under the influence of his grandfather, his interests broadened to include Flamenco. He has studied Flamenco for twelve years under the guidance of Juan Junquera Cortez, Santiago Moreno, Pedro Cuadra, Chuscales, Pedro Cortez, Roberto Castellon, and Eric Patternson. Ronaldo has also become an accomplished Middle Eastern Oud performer. His love for Flamenco has greatly influenced this. Without the Arabic Oud, Flamenco guitars would have never existed. This is why is comes so natural to him.
His Oud teachers consist of well known maestros from both the Arabic and Turkish cultures, namely Naser Musa, Haig Manoukian, and Necati Celik. Ronaldo pursues Spanish Flamenco and Arabic music particulary because of their intensity and raw passion. He brings to the music an aggressive style and an instinctive understanding of its underlying pathos. For over a year, he studied and lived in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucia, Spain, with a Moorish echo in the background, amongst the true Flamencos of the present day. He was reared amidst a family devoted to Flamenco, and his familiarity with its form and its culture is reflected in his passionate performances.
