La Paquera

Biography

Francisca Méndez Garrido was born in Jerez de la Frontera in 1934 The height of song from Jerez in the last half of the century and even of flamenco of all this era She started singing as a child in her neighbourhood of San Miguel, but became a professional in the 'tablaos´ in Madrid In 1957 she recorded Maldigo tus ojos verdes, a piece with which she gained a lot of fame Performing on all the stages, participating in numerous travelling companies and in quite a few films until in 1971 she won the Niña de los Peines Prize in the Cordoba National Contest She is the master of 'bulerías´ in our times but Francisca has also demonstrated that she is able to dominate an ample spectrum of styles She recorded with Manuel Morao, Manolo Sanlúcar, Marote and in recent times with Parrilla de Jerez, her usual guitarist Recently she travelled to Japan to participate in a Japanese dancing show Yoko Komatsubara, which has meant a unique experience for this singer if you take into account her orthodox formation along under the wing of maestro´s of the size of Manolo Caracol Definitively, La Paquera, with her tremendous capabilities which she still conserves as though she were still an adolescent, is one of the giants, still alive, of flamenco song