2011 Graciliano Pérez SP/CY

This 2011 Graciliano Pérez is a flamenco blanca in spruce and cypress from Córdoba, Spain, built by the maker whose flamencos Vicente Amigo plays.

A Córdoba Maker in the Hands of Vicente Amigo

Graciliano's guitars have been popping up in the hands of more and more great players, including Vicente Amigo, who has already bought several of his flamencos – to see Vicente playing on his most recent Graciliano cedar negra, click here. Graciliano's guitars are strongly influenced by Miguel Rodríguez – in fact the two were friends.

Sound

This guitar, a spruce blanca, is lightly built, feather-like in weight, yet has enormous power and projection. It has the snappy punch of a snare drum and is startlingly reminiscent in sound and playability of an older Reyes (also from Córdoba) from the '60s and early '70s. This guitar has all the character and style of the great Andalusian flamencos of the past century.

Graciliano Pérez: Flamenco and Classical Guitar Maker of Córdoba

Graciliano Pérez (Graciliano Pérez Carrizosa, b. 1955) was born in Puertollano, in the province of Ciudad Real, and moved to Córdoba at the age of 9. He began to play the guitar at 11, and that is when he met the great luthier Miguel Rodríguez Beneyto – the Rodríguez workshop was on his street – and began a friendship with the Rodríguez family that would last a lifetime. He learned from the family directly, studied their guitars in great depth, and still uses woods he bought from Rodríguez for some of his guitars. He also took classes at the Córdoba Conservatory with the great guitarist and teacher Manuel Cano.

The Córdoba School, from Vicente Amigo to Today

His guitars carry the aesthetic of the Córdoba school – his own rosettes that harmoniously combine color and design, a silhouette with an accented curve and a particularly comfortable neck – built the traditional Spanish way on a solera rather than in a mould, from woods at least 25 years old, and French polished. They have found their way into the hands of Vicente Amigo, who recorded his album "Tierra" with them, as well as Raimundo Amador and Eduardo Trassierra. In 2017 Graciliano was honored at Córdoba's Noche Blanca del Flamenco, and today he builds together with his brother José Antonio Pérez Carrizosa in their workshop on Calle Estonia, in Córdoba's Tecnocórdoba business park.