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Latin Grammy winner
Vicente Amigo is among the most influential flamenco musicians of his generation. He has been called "the natural continuation of
Paco de Lucía," a comparison that, while flattering, is somewhat inaccurate, especially given his long, close relationship with the late guitarist (though it was a
de Lucía television appearance that provided
Amigo with his earliest inspiration). If he can be defined at all, the evidence of his myriad skills can be found on his well-rounded, Grammy-winning 2001 album,
Ciudad de las Ideas.
Amigo is classically trained in composition, improvisation, and technique. His fleet and fluid style bridges classical and nuevo flamenco, and is particularly suited to singers. He has collaborated with many vocalists, including
El Pele,
Luis de Cordoba,
Niña Pastori,
Carmen Linares, Arcangel, and
Diego el Cigala. What's more,
Amigo's talents are so diverse, he has successfully collaborated on stages and recordings with a host of pop vocalists, including
Miguel Bose,
Sting, and
Alejandro Sanz. As a guitarist,
Amigo was also deeply influenced by jazz and fusion players such as
Stanley Jordan,
Al Di Meola, and
John McLaughlin -- he has shared stages with the latter two.
Born in Guadalcanal outside Seville in 1967,
Amigo was a child prodigy. At the age of three, he saw
de Lucía performing on television, and only a year later he took up guitar and began formal studies with influential flamenco guitarist Merengue de Cordoba, continuing subsequently with
Juan Muñoz Expósito (aka "El Tomate").
Amigo downplays the "prodigy" notion. In a 1998 interview he said, "I believe that flamenco has always been something for adults, not just for children. To understand flamenco, you need maturity. You can learn to play the guitar as a child, you understand the technique. But, the essence of flamenco is something that requires maturity." In his mid-teens,
Amigo was already attracting attention as a protégé of
Paco Peña. At 16, he began a decade-long collaborative apprenticeship with innovative guitarist and composer
Manolo Sanlúcar in a band that lasted well into
Amigo's twenties. In the 1980s
Amigo decided he wanted to be a live performer exclusively. Singer
El Pele (
Manuel Moreno Maya) changed his mind toward the end of the decade, and after making his debut on
Camarón de la Isla's album
Soy Gitano in 1989,
Amigo worked with
El Pele on a pair of dual-billed dates in 1990 and 1991, Poetas de Esquinas Blandas and La Fuente de lo Jondo, both on Pasion Discos.
During this period,
Amigo also began composing in earnest, developing a skill that others would come to envy in the future. He signed to Sony in 1991 and released his label debut,
De Mi Corazón al Aire, which featured a pair of vocal performances from
Jose Merce and Charo Manzano and contributions from Argentine pop/rocker
Pedro Aznar and Algerian rai star
Khaled.
Amigo began touring Spain, France, and Latin America, remaining on the road for three years and winning several flamenco prizes during the era. In 1992 he took part in Leyendas de la Guitarra, held in Seville as a foretaste of the Expo '92 exhibition. He played in the company of guitarists including
de Lucía,
Keith Richards,
Steve Vai,
Joe Satriani,
Phil Manzanera, and
Richard Thompson. (
Bob Dylan and
Joe Cocker were also on the bill.) That same year he contributed to
Wagner Tiso's score and soundtrack for the film
The Baobab.
In 1995, he released the instrumental collection
Vivencias Imaginadas, featuring a kaleidoscopic variety of bulerias, rhumbas, fandangos, and other tunes including the nine-and-half-minute "Querido Metheny," a tribute to jazz guitarist
Pat Metheny. Two years later,
Amigo released one of his most acclaimed and provocative recordings in
Poeta, wherein he delivered an homage to the poetry of
Rafael Alberti with a work for guitar and orchestra that also featured Cuban guitarist, composer, and conductor
Leo Brower and Latin pop star
Miguel Bosé, who collaborated on the texts. He toured and performed live -- including performances with
de Lucía, who became a close friend -- the pair became so close they actually served as godparents to one another's children. The following year he was both the featured soloist and producer of
Jose Merce's
Del Amanecer, and the pair toured together and played major European festivals.
Amigo did not record under his own name again until 2001's
Ciudad de las Ideas, an album that topped the contemporary flamenco charts and featured three hit vocal numbers with
Aznar,
Khaled, and
El Cigala. The record was certified gold and ultimately platinum before winning the 2001 Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Album. In 2003, he reprised his partnership with
El Pele on Canto; all but one of the collection's ten songs were composed by
Amigo. Critically acclaimed, it prompted a tour by the pair before
Amigo went off on his own global road trip. For 2005's
Un Momento en el Sonido, the guitarist employed his working band and a vocal chorus that included Antonio Villar, Blas Córdoba,
Potito (guitarist and vocalist Antonio Vargas Cortés), and
Ángela Bautista in a series of formally structured flamenco that displayed his fusion of modern (nuevo) and classic styles.
Pastori and
Sanz were among the singers who appeared on 2009's pop-centric
Paseo de Gracia. The album featured solo pieces as well as orchestral and folk-inspired tracks influenced by
Metheny's large-ensemble work, with production details and arrangements inspired by
Mike Oldfield. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- its origins on the edges of flamenco, the album was a best-seller.
Throughout the first decade of the new millennium,
Amigo played on various recordings by other artists, including
Pepe de Lucía's El Corazón de Mi Gente (2002),
Sting's Send Your Love (2003),
David Bisbal's
Premonición (2006), and
Pastori's
Caprichos de Mujer and
Esperando Verte (both 2009). Given his touring, producing, and playing commitments,
Amigo began experimenting, issuing a fusion of flamenco and Celtic folk on 2013's
Tierra. Completely written by the guitarist and arranged with keyboardist
Guy Fletcher, he was backed by
Mark Knopfler's group as well as the Scottish folk group
Capercaillie, with some vocal assistance by
Lya. Given the thorough and painstaking manner in which the guitarist researched the way various sounds and folk styles came together, and the passion involved in the performances, the record was greeted with commercial and critical enthusiasm. He was awarded a Gold Medal of the Fine Arts by the Spanish government to commemorate the release. After more global touring,
Amigo returned to the studio in late 2016, emerging with
Memoria de los Sentidos the following year. The set was a collection of flamenco songs with an enviable cast of singers and musicians, including
Potito, Farruquito,
Miguel Poveda, Pepe De Pura,
Pastori,
El Pele, and Arcangel. The album hit the Spanish Top Ten upon release and was certified gold before year's end. ~ Craig Harris