External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
Oscar Lopez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 (age 71–72) Santiago, Chile |
| Origin | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Genres | New Flamenco, Instrumental, Latin, Jazz, Folk, World |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, guitarist, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Fantasy of Latin Strings, Jericho Beach Music, Narada, Centino Music, P.R.O. |
| Website | https://oscarlopezofficial.com/ |
Oscar Lopez (born 1953) is a Chilean-Canadian guitarist, [1] whose signature style blends Latin and jazz styles. [2]
Lopez was born in Santiago, Chile, studying music through the University of Chile's youth music program. [3] He moved to Canada in 1978, initially settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba before moving to Calgary, Alberta in 1981. [3] He began pursuing music as a career, initially as an electric guitarist in a rock cover band [4] before starting to perform as a Latin-style acoustic guitarist. [5]
He was a regional finalist for Western Canada in the Montreal International Jazz Festival's national Concours de Jazz in 1987. [6]
He released his debut album Hola in 1989. [7]
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. [8] The duo undertook a number of tours together, [9] and contributed as guest musicians on each other's solo albums [10] before recording two Juno Award-nominated albums, Compadres (1997) [11] and ¿Buddy Where You Been? (2007) as a duo. [8]
At the Juno Awards of 1995, Lopez garnered his first nomination for Best Global Recording, for the album Dancing on the Moon Contigo. [12]
He signed to Narada Records in 1997. [13]
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. [14]
At the Juno Awards of 2002, Lopez won his first award, in the Best Instrumental Album category for Armando's Fire. [15] He won a second Juno Award in the same category for Mi Destino/My Destiny at the Juno Awards of 2005. [16] Around this time, however, Lopez took a break from performing for two years to deal with depression. [17] 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; [17] the following year, he returned to the stage as the festival's headlining act. [18]
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). [19] Credited as P.R.O., the trio toured North America in support of the CD, [20] which was again a Juno Award nominee for Best Instrumental Album at the Juno Awards of 2010. [21]
Lopez released his latest recording Apasionado on October 21, 2014 as an independent artist. [22]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Dancing On The Moon Contigo | Best Global Recording | Nominated |
| 1998 | Compadres (James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez) | Best Roots & Traditional Album: Group | Nominated |
| Oscar Lopez | Instrumental Artist(s) of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Armando's Fire | Best Instrumental Album | Won |
| 2005 | Mi Destino/My Destiny | Instrumental Album of the Year | Won |
| 2008 | ¿Buddy, Where You Been? (Compadres – James Keelaghan & Oscar Lopez) | Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group | Nominated |
| 2010 | Trifecta (Pavlo, Rik Emmett, Oscar Lopez) | Instrumental Album of the Year | Nominated |
1999: Prairie Music Awards Winner Instrumentalist of the Year
2002: SOCAN Winner Hagood Hardy Jazz/Instrumental Award
| Title | Album details | Nominations/Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Hola |
| |
| Sueños |
| |
| Dancing on the Moon Contigo | Nominated for a Juno Award for Best Global Recording [23] | |
| Compadres (James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) |
| Nominated for a Juno Award for Best Roots & Traditional Album – Group [23] |
| Heat |
| |
| Seduction |
| |
| Armando's Fire |
| Won a Juno Award for Best Instrumental Album [23] |
| Flashback: The Best of Oscar Lopez |
| |
| My Destiny (Mi Destino) |
| Won a Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year [23] |
| ¿Buddy Where You Been? (Compadres – James Keelaghan, Oscar Lopez) |
| Nominated for a Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group [23] |
| Trifecta (Pavlo, Rik Emmett, Oscar Lopez) |
| Nominated for a Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year [23] |
| Apasionado |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
