Jazz and flamenco first crossed paths not in Spain, but in the USA when Miles Davis and arranger/composer Gil Evans recorded “Sketches of Spain” in November 1959 and March 1960. It became one of the most successful jazz albums of all time. And the jazz musicians in Spain? They attempted to emulate – as did their colleagues world-wide – the American model. Jazz stood for open-mindedness; national folklore was thought of as too parochial. Spanish saxophonist Pedro Iturralde was the only musician who, under the influence of “Sketches of Spain”, added a couple of flamenco melodies to his repertoire as he toured Europe accompanied by two Germans and a Swiss. That’s why Joachim-Ernst Berendt sought him out to play at the 1967 Berlin Jazz Festival. With the festival’s motto “Jazz Meets the World”, Berendt was looking for a jazz-flamenco combination to fit the bill.
Some of Flamenco's most beloved compositions, performed by the genre's undisputed King, Carlos Montoya. Flamenco Magic is a set of recordings from 1980 containing many of Montoya’s best and most beloved works. The tracks featured are all performed unaccompanied, casting a rare undiluted spotlight on his virtuosity.
Almost overnight, the success of Ottmar Liebert's groundbreaking 1990 debut Nouveau Flamenco catapulted Higher Octave Music into one of the industry's top indie labels and introduced the instrumental world to a fresh, exotic sound unlike any other…
In 2003 Pianist Sergio Monroy releases his first album, ‘Monroy’, which reflects his musical restlessness with regards to flamenco and jazz. He has collaborations on the recording by musicians such as Javier Ruibal and Miguel Poveda. From then on he shapes a stable group to do the album’s live tour with. The official presentation took place at the Fine Arts Circle in Madrid on September 22nd. The record is showcased at forums such as the Vic Live Music Festival, Cádiz Spanish Music Festival, El Monte’s Flamenco Thursdays, at the University of Seville. Outside of Spain, at the Evernaar Theater in Rotterdam and La Línea Festival in London. Moreover, he collaborates with baile companies such as those of Javier Latorre, Andrés Marín and Ángeles Gabaldón, besides with groups influenced by flamenco such as El Barrio and Maíta Vende Cá.
Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez has made a jazz career in exploring its connections with the flamenco of his native Cadiz. On previous offerings, Dominguez has carved out a place where the various dance rhythms and sung cadences of flamenco find equal voice with jazz lyricism, exploration, and harmonic adventure. Flamenco Sketches began as a commission from the Barcelona Jazz Festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. The album is a re-visioned reading of the compositions on the iconic Davis album – in different order – as well as two other Davis compositions, "Nardis" (which he never recorded) and "Serpent's Tooth," from the trumpeter's Prestige years.
Alto and soprano saxophonist Perico Sambeat is considered today as one of the most important spanish jazz musicians, owning a tremendous prestige with an extraordinary musical career inside and out of Spain. With more than twenty recordings as a leader and near a hundred as a sideman, they´re specially remarkable his works with musicians as Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Tete Montoliu, Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny, and many others. Along his life, he´s received numerous awards, such as the "Bird Award" given by the North Sea Jazz Festival to the musician deserving wider recognition (2003), or the one given to the best recording of the year to "Flamenco Big Band" (2008 and 2009)
It is 40 years since the Andalusian guitarist Paco Peña played at Wigmore Hall and became a star. This recital betrays no weakening of his extraordinary powers, fiery imagination or rhythmic intensity.
The new album of Catalan drummer Marc Miralta, entitled 'Flamenco Reunion' (Contrabaix / Karonte) is simply very good, one of those albums worth hearing several times because all the music contained therein excellence rubs and it is always outstanding. Yes, jazz, flamenco and flamenco jazz, enjoys an enviable health. Fifteen years ago Miralta edited 'New York Flamenco Reunion', a great drummer disk where acknowledged his debt to flamenco music that (re) discovered while in the United States. Are those paradoxes of life: Miralta had to go outside to see the value of flamenco for your own music.
Pata Negra is a famous flamenco band in the history of Spanish music. Formed in 3000 Housing neighborhood of the city of Seville. Founded by brothers Raimundo Amador (singer and guitarist) and Rafael Amador (guitarist and singer) after separation of the band Poison (which was formed by the two brothers mentioned above and musician Kiko Veneno). His style drift rhythms based on flamenco and blues, which they christened "blueslería" trendsetter among other modern bands flamenco. Pata Negra has six recorded between 1981 and 1995.
Like it happens so often, catalan drummer Marc Miralta discovered that he was a flamenco aficionado while living outside of Spain. He gathered his favourite musicians from both sides of the Atlantic and projected this recording which is another proof of flamenco's influence in contemporany jazz.