Philip John Lee (6 May 1944 – 6 March 2010) was an English virtuoso flamenco guitarist born in Norwich. He taught himself the mandolin while in school and began classical guitar lesson at age 14. A year later, after first hearing flamenco, he committed to becoming a flamenco guitarist and dedicated the next four years to its study. At age 15, he also built his own classical guitar., Interview with Philip John Lee, at La Guitarra Flamenca website.
Early career In the early 1960s he went to Spain, initially to Seville, where musicians were still hired unconventionally, paid according to how much they pleased the guests, but they were normally all Spanish. In an interview,La Guitarra Flamenca: Philip John Lee My Flamenco Diary he described how the gitano (Romani) musicians let him sit in on such occasions, astonished that he never asked for payment, yet he often did most of the playing. He describes his influences as the more orthodox flamenco guitarists, such as Ramón Montoya and Sabicas. He was the first English guitarist to win such acceptance.
Career in the UK He gave many recitals in Britain, including the Wigmore HallFlamenco in the UK Southend Flamenco and the Purcell Room, as well as performances on radio and television. In 1969 he released an album, "Flamenco Guitar", on the now defunct Music for Pleasure label, recorded with engineer John Boyden in Conway Hall using a pair of AKG microphones and a Revox tape recorded at 15ips.See comment by John Boyden on YouTube under the Alegria and Soleares tracks from the album. It was a best seller, selling over a quarter of a million copies.Philip John Lee at the Ealing Guitar Society
Later career Over the following years he went on to record several other albums. In 1989 he moved to the United States where he lived and performed in Los Angeles for ten years. In 1999 he published an album entitled The LA Concert and returned to England the same year, settling in West London, where he taught many students. Many other modern guitarists have given renderings of his pieces, and he is now being discovered by younger players. Lee died on 3 March 2010 at the age of 64. After his passing, Classical Guitar magazine published a six-page compilation of tributes to his career, including a long memoir by Paco Peña. A Tribute to Philip John Lee, Classical Guitar Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 8, pp. 22-27, April 2011, London.
Discography
Album title Label Cat# Year Flamenco Guitar Music For Pleasure MFP 1291 1969 Guitar Kaleidoscope Chapter 1 GHS 5003 1971 Flamenco Virtuoso Rediffusion 1972 Five Swords Run River Records RR A002 1987 The LA Concert (Live album) 1999
References
External links Discography at Discogs Philip John Lee at the Ealing Guitar Society