Willie & Lobo was a musical duo composed of William Robert "Willie" Royal, Jr. (violin) and Wolfgang Hubert "Lobo" Fink (guitar). Their music, characterized as

New Flamenco New flamenco (or ''nuevo flamenco'') or flamenco fusion is a musical genre that was born in Spain, starting in the 1980s. It combines flamenco guitar virtuosity and traditional flamenco music with musical fusion (with genres like jazz, blues, roc ...

and World Music, is a blend of Gypsy, Latin, Celtic, Flamenco, Middle Eastern, Rock, Jazz, Cuban Swing, Tango and Salsa. The duo produced 11 albums, mainly on the Narada label. They have also been included in at least three compilations of Guitar and Flamenco music. Their album, ''Gypsy Boogaloo'', spent 17 weeks on the Billboard's World Music Chart in 1993, 10 weeks in the number two position . Their album ''Zambra'' spent 3 weeks Billboard's New Age Album chart in 2006, peaking at number 4. Their music has been called the Flamenco equivalent of smooth jazz by Chris Nickson, a reviewer on allmusic.com. Tom Phalen of the Seattle Times found it fiery and frantic: "Although the basis is flamenco, it can go in a half-dozen directions at any time. Mostly it's about strong, involving instrumental melodies and having fun." Gypsy Boogaloo, their best charting album, was called one of the best exotic musical dishes of the early '90s by Jonathan Widran of the All Music Guide.

History

Willie Royal, Jr. was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of an Air Force lieutenant colonel. His father's job took young Royal over the world including Turkey, Germany and France. At the age of eight he began classical violin lessons, quickly becoming proficient enough to become the concertmaster of his high school orchestra. Inspired by the music of Jean-Luc Ponty, Stephane Grappelli and

It's A Beautiful Day It's a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. David LaFlamme, who as a youth had once p ...

, as well as sitting in with

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

and Dickey Betts, Willie traveled the world, absorbing numerous musical styles before moving to Mexico in the '80s.Willie and Lobo's Biography http://www.willieandlobo.com/redesign/biography.htm Wolfgang "Lobo" Fink was born in the Bavarian town of

Teisendorf Teisendorf (Central Bavarian: ''Deisndorf'') is a municipality in the district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria in Germany. People * Tobias Regner Tobias Regner (born 5 August 1982) is a German singer and guitarist who has enjoyed succes ...

. At 18, while in the German navy, he picked up his first guitar. Listening to an album by gypsy guitarist Manitas de Plata drew him to the music. Upon leaving the navy, he found de Plata in a gypsy camp in Southern France and spent a while with him and his people. Returning to Germany, Lobo formed a flamenco group named Lailo, touring Europe for three years and helping to popularize the modern gypsy sound. His searches led him to Granada, Spain, living with gypsies in the caves of

Sacromonte Sacromonte, sometimes also called Sacramonte, is a traditional neighbourhood in the eastern area of the city of Granada in Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the six neighbourhoods that make up the urban district of Albayzín and borders the ne ...

and studying their ways. He traveled to Mexico in 1980 as a solo act. The pair first met in San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico, where they were both working at Mama Mia's restaurant. Willie on fiddle and Lobo on flamenco guitar jammed on occasion, searching for an individual sound. The owner of a local bar they were both playing at suggested they perform together.Willie & Lobo World Music Night http://www.goldstar.com/events/agoura-hills-ca/willie-and-lobo-world-music-night.html?expired=true

Virtually one listen or one concert was all it took for many fans to become lost in their sound, which Royal described as somehow sounding like it was made by four musicians instead of two.Willie and Lobo return to town http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100121/COLUMNISTS/1211012?p=2&tc=pg

Royal died following complications from Alzheimer's in 2016.

In popular culture

Characters in novel

In 1996 the novel Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, by

Robert James Waller Robert James Waller (August 1, 1939 – March 10, 2017) was an American author best known for '' The Bridges of Madison County'', an enormously successful book in 1993. He was also a photographer and musician. Life Robert James Waller Jr. was ...

, was released. Waller, a fan of the duo's music, wrote Willie and Lobo into the story. The Willie and Lobo CD, ''The Music of Puerto Vallarta Squeeze'' was released at the same time and includes tracks from their albums ''Gypsy Boogaloo'', ''Fandango Nights'' and ''Between the Waters''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Gypsy Boogaloo'' (1993) * ''Fandango Nights'' (1994) * ''Between the Waters'' (1995) * ''Caliente'' (1997) * ''Wild Heart'' (1999) * ''Siete'' (2000) * ''Mañana'' (2003) * ''Zambra'' (2006) * ''Willie and the Locos'' (2010) * ''Playing Hard: The Original'' (2011) * ''Lobo 1985'' (2013) * ''Huapangos Toreros'' (Wolfgang "Lobo" Fink, Gil Felipe Gutierrez, Tyler Mitchell) (2013)

Live albums

* ''Live In Concert'' (2001)

Compilations

Solo compilations

* ''The Music Of Puerto Vallarta Squeeze'' (1996) * ''Gypsy Romance: Exotic Flamenco Guitar and Violin'' (2005)

With other artists

* ''Guitar Music For Small Rooms'' (1997) (WEA) * ''Gypsy Passion: New Flamenco'' (1997) (Narada) * ''Gypsy Fire'' (2000) (Narada) * ''Discover Narada'' (2000) (Narada) * ''Narada Guitar 2: The Best of Two Decades'' (2000) (Narada) * ''Best of Narada New Flamenco Guitar'' (2003) (Narada)

Notes

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Video of Willie Royal and the Locos at Future Studios, June 2008

Narada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willie and Lobo American folk musical groups American world music groups Musical groups disestablished in 2016