Oscar Lopez (born 1953) is a Chilean-Canadian guitarist,"Guitarist breaks traditional mould". Victoria Times-Colonist, December 9, 1998. whose signature style blends Latin and jazz styles."Acoustic Waves series draws new faces; The Arrogant Worms, Oscar Lopez among new performers". Ottawa Citizen, September 21, 1995.
Background Lopez was born in Santiago, Chile, studying music through the University of Chile's youth music program."Fusion in his fingers". Calgary Herald, May 16, 1990. He moved to Canada in 1978, initially settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba before moving to Calgary, Alberta in 1981. He began pursuing music as a career, initially as an electric guitarist in a rock cover band"Finger Pickin' Good: Incendiary guitarist Oscar Lopez plays string of concerts on Vancouver Island". Victoria Times-Colonist, January 25, 2001. before starting to perform as a Latin-style acoustic guitarist."Guitarist plays with passion". Kingston Whig-Standard, February 20, 1999.
He was a regional finalist for Western Canada in the Montreal International Jazz Festival's national Concours de Jazz in 1987."Jazz competition names semi-finalists". The Globe and Mail, April 23, 1987.
Music career He released his debut album Hola in 1989."Fascinating rhythms: Oscar Lopez makes his fiery, Latino music in a most unlikely place -- the Prairies". Halifax Daily News, October 2, 1998.
At the 1990 Northern Lights Festival Boréal, Lopez and singer-songwriter James Keelaghan met for the first time and began to explore the fusion of Celtic and Latin music."Just your average 'Celtino' guitar duo; The unlikely fusion of Latin American and Celtic music came easily to Lopez and Keelaghan". Toronto Star, October 11, 2007. The duo undertook a number of tours together,"Keelaghan's music transcends borders". Edmonton Journal, April 29, 1994. and contributed as guest musicians on each other's solo albums"Mr. Melody: Calgary's Oscar Lopez plays fiery, intricate acoustic guitar rhythms". Calgary Herald, June 29, 1994. before recording two Juno Award-nominated albums, Compadres (1997)"Celtino smokes -- even if it has no right to work". The Province, October 10, 1997. and ¿Buddy Where You Been? (2007) as a duo.
At the Juno Awards of 1995, Lopez garnered his first nomination for Best Global Recording, for the album Dancing on the Moon Contigo."List of 1995 Juno Award nominations". Montreal Gazette, February 9, 1995.
He signed to Narada Records in 1997."Canada has more talent in the wings". Calgary Herald, March 6, 1997.
In 1998, Lopez co-produced Volcán: Tributo a José José, a tribute album dedicated to the iconic Mexican singer José José. He received a nomination for Best Instrumental Artist at the Juno Awards of 1998, the same year in which the album Compadres was nominated for Best Roots & Traditional Album – Group."Juno list a tribute to flourishing Calgary artists". Calgary Herald, February 12, 1998.
At the Juno Awards of 2002, Lopez won his first award, in the Best Instrumental Album category for Armando's Fire."Albertans hit high notes at Junos". Calgary Herald, April 15, 2002. He won a second Juno Award in the same category for Mi Destino/My Destiny at the Juno Awards of 2005."The Juno Award winners are..." Kingston Whig-Standard, April 4, 2005. Around this time, however, Lopez took a break from performing for two years to deal with depression."I've Seen Fire. Rain." Calgary Herald, November 9, 2007. As a result, Spirit of the West recorded a tribute song to Lopez, "Come Back Oscar", on their 2004 album Star Trails. On July 24 that year, Lopez appeared on stage with Spirit of the West at the Calgary Folk Music Festival to perform the song; the following year, he returned to the stage as the festival's headlining act."Lopez back in good groove". Calgary Herald, July 24, 2005.
After collaborating with Keelaghan on ¿Buddy Where You Been?, which was again a Juno Award nominee for Best Instrumental Album at the Juno Awards of 2008, his next recording project was with Pavlo and Rik Emmett on the album Trifecta (2009)."Guitar trio passionate about acoustic project". Windsor Star, June 3, 2009. Credited as P.R.O., the trio toured North America in support of the CD,"Triple threat; Three guitar greats combine musical forces". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, February 17, 2010. which was again a Juno Award nominee for Best Instrumental Album at the Juno Awards of 2010."Alberta artists get Juno nods; But country stars may miss out on awards". Calgary Herald, March 4, 2010.
Lopez released his latest recording Apasionado on October 21, 2014 as an independent artist."Passion Project; Lopez finds new life in new album Apasionado". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 27, 2015.
Awards and nominations
| || Dancing On The Moon Contigo || Best Global Recording || |- | rowspan="2"| || Compadres (James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez) || Best Roots & Traditional Album: Group || |- | Oscar Lopez || Instrumental Artist(s) of the Year || |- | || Armando's Fire || Best Instrumental Album || |- | || Mi Destino/My Destiny || Instrumental Album of the Year || |- | || ¿Buddy, Where You Been? (Compadres – James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez) || Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group || |- | || Trifecta (Pavlo, Rik Emmett, Oscar Lopez) || Instrumental Album of the Year ||
Other Awards 1999: Prairie Music Awards Winner Instrumentalist of the Year
2002: SOCAN Winner Hagood Hardy Jazz/Instrumental Award
Discography Title Album details Nominations/AwardsHola Released: 1989 Label: Fantasy of Latin Strings Formats: cassetteSueños Released: 1991 Label: Fantasy of Latin StringsDancing on the Moon Contigo Released: 1994 Label: Socan (#FLS2) Formats: CD, cassetteNominated for a Juno Award for Best Global RecordingCompadres (James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) Released: 1997 Label: Jericho Beach Music (#JBM 9701-2)Nominated for a Juno Award for Best Roots & Traditional Album – GroupHeat Released: 1997 Label: Narada Productions (#ND-63040)Seduction Released: 1998 Label: Narada Productions (#72438-46140-2-7)Armando's Fire Released: 2000 Label: Narada Productions (#72438-49799-2-8)Won a Juno Award for Best Instrumental AlbumFlashback: The Best of Oscar Lopez Type: Compilation album Released: 2002 Label: Narada Productions (#72435-42521-2-9)My Destiny (Mi Destino) Released: 2003 Label: Narada Productions (#72435-93645-2-0)Won a Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year¿Buddy Where You Been? (Compadres – James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) Released: 2007 Label: Centino MusicNominated for a Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: GroupTrifecta (Pavlo, Rik Emmett, Oscar Lopez) Released: 2009 Label: P.R.O. (#PRO-001)Nominated for a Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the YearApasionado Released: 2014 Label: Independent
Other compilation appearances Masters of Acoustic Guitar (1997) (Narada) (Track 5 – Classical Soul (Edit)) Narada Smooth Jazz (1997) (Narada) Narada World A Global Vision (1997) (Narada) The Next Generation: Explore Our World (1997) (Narada) Gypsy Passion: New Flamenco (1997) (Narada) Gypsy Soul: New Flamenco (1998) (Narada) Stories (1998) (Narada) (Track 3 – Looking Back) Narada Film and Television Music Sampler (1998) (Narada) Narada Guitar: 15 Years of Collected Works (1998) (Narada) Obsession: New Flamenco Romance (1999) (Narada) Latino Christmas (1999) (Narada) (Track 2 – Happy Christmas, Track 6 – White Christmas, Track 9 – Little Town of Bethlehem) Nuevo Flamenco (1999) (Virgin France) Gypsy Fire (2000) (Narada) Global Transmissions (A World Music Sampler) (2000) (Narada) Narada Guitar 2: The Best of Two Decades (2000) (Narada) Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume I (2000) (Baja/TSR Records) Tabu: Mondo Flamenco (2001) (Narada) Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume II (2002) (Baja/TSR Records) Best of Narada New Flamenco Guitar (2003) (Narada) The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Latin Christmas (2005) (EMI Music/Metropolitan Museum of Art) (Track 1 – Happy Christmas, Track 13 – White Christmas) The World of the Spanish Guitar Vol. 1 (2011) (Higher Octave Music) Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume III (2013) (Baja/TSR Records)
References
External links Oscar Lopez