Juan Orozco (14 April 1937 – February 15, 2020) was a Spanish

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

and guitar

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

who lived in New York from 1965 to 1995, where he had a famous

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

shop at 156, 56th Street in the 1970s to 1990s. He is the third in a family of guitar makers (his father, Juan Orozco, built guitars in Spain, Uruguay and Brazil). He was actively involved in the development of classic guitars in the mid-1970s (starting as early as 1969) together with great Japanese luthiers like Matsuoka, Tamura, Masaki Sakurai and Yairi, who then developed guitars for Tama,

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

and

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

(at that time the small workshop where they worked was in the company

Hoshino Gakki is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It is the owner of the Ibanez guitar and Tama Drums, Tama drum brand names. History The Hoshino company was founded in 1908 by Matsujiro Hoshino originally as the Hoshino Shoten bookstor ...

who own Tama and

). They also built guitars in the Kohno-Sakurai style (models #8, #10, #15) that were sold with the "Juan Orozco, Luthier" label. Later the Orozco guitars were equipped with a very characteristic

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the tuning pegs or other mechanism that holds the s ...

, different from the Fleta-style headstocks they had first. In the majority of user reviews, the majestic volume and sonorous bass sound of Juan Orozco guitars are emphasised. Juan Orozco III is still active in the guitar business, in particular with the "Aranjuez" strings that he developed, and guitar cases. He also organised guitar concerts and is well known by many great guitar players and luthiers.

Achievements

The granting of the cross of officer of the Order of Civil Merit on 24 June 1977.

Orozco guitar on record

* Spirits (album) -

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

1333/34, 1986.

References

External links

* 1937 births Guitar makers Living people {{Spain-bio-stub