Juan Ignacio Gómez Gorjón, better known as Juan Gómez "Chicuelo", (born 1968) is a Spanish

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

guitarist from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, composer and director. Although he worked with a wide range of artists, Chicuelo is usually accompanied by the singer

Miguel Poveda Miguel Ángel Poveda León (born 13 February 1973) is a Spanish flamenco singer known by his stage name Miguel Poveda. Biography Born in Barcelona, Spain, his father is from Lorca in Murcia and his mother from Puertollano ( Castilla-La Mancha) ...

and singer

Duquende Juan Rafael Cortés Santiago, known as Duquende (born 1965 in Sabadell, Spain), is a Spanish Romani flamenco singer (cantaor). He is considered one of the successors to influential Flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla. Since 1997, Duquende has been ...

, with whom he has toured extensively in Europe, Japan and the US and made many recordings with. He has also been musical director of Compagnie de Danse Japonaise Shohi Kojima ("Japanese Dance Company Shohi Kojima") since 1992, and musical director of the Somorrostro Dansa Flamenca with choreographer Javier Latorre since 2003.

Early years

Chicuelo was born in

Cornellà de Llobregat Cornellà de Llobregat (; es, Cornellá de Llobregat) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the left bank of the Llobregat River. It is in the south-western part of the Barcelona metr ...

near

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He grew up in a gypsy family, with brothers who sang and played guitar; his brother Manel (Manuel Gómez), is a

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

. Chicuelo was a student of

Manolo Sanlúcar Manolo Sanlúcar (born Manuel Muñoz Alcón, 24 November 1943 – 27 August 2022) was a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist. He was considered one of the most important Spanish composers of recent times, and together with Paco de Lucía, T ...

, and his brother, Isidro.

Career

In his early career, he worked at the Tablao de Carmen with

Mario Escudero Mario Escudero (October 11, 1928 – November 19, 2004), was one of a handful of Spanish flamenco guitar virtuosos who, following on the footsteps of Ramon Montoya, helped spread flamenco beyond their Spanish homeland when they migrated to the Un ...

, Angelita Vargas, Miguel de la Tolea,

Eva Yerbabuena Eva María Garrido García, known professionally as Eva Yerbabuena, is a Spanish flamenco dancer. She formed her own dance company in 1998Sanjoy Roy"Step-by-step guide to dance: Eva Yerbabuena. By injecting traditional moves with bold theatrical ...

Sara Baras Sara Pereyra Baras (born April 25, 1971) is a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer born in San Fernando (Cádiz) who has established her own dance company. Biography Sara was born in San Fernando, in the province of Cádiz, in 1971, wher ...

, Adrián Galia,

Belén Maya Belén Maya (born 1966) is a Spanish flamenco dancer, choreographer and educator. She is the daughter of Mario Maya, a Romani man considered one of the most innovative flamenco dancers in Spanish history and Carmen Mora, also a flamenco dancer. ...

, Antonio ‘El Pipa’ and Joaquín Grilo. He has accompanied singers such as

Enrique Morente Enrique Morente Cotelo (25 December 1942 – 13 December 2010), known as Enrique Morente, was a flamenco singer (in Spanish, cantaor) and a celebrated figure within the world of contemporary flamenco. After his orthodox beginnings, he plunged in ...

, Rancapino,

Chano Lobato Chano Lobato (December 1927 in Cadiz – 5 April 2009 in Seville) was a Spanish flamenco singer. Born in the Santa María neighborhood of Cadiz, he began performing at nightclubs in his hometown and later moved to Madrid, where he joined Al ...

José Mercé José Mercé (born José Soto Soto in 1955 in Jerez de la Frontera) is a Spanish flamenco singer. As a 12-year-old he performed at flamenco festivals. Later he moved to Madrid where he recorded his first album in 1968. Family He is the great- ...

Mayte Martín Mayte Martín (born in Barcelona, Spain, April 19, 1965) is a Flamenco cantaora (singer), bolero singer, and composer. She is widely recognized as one of the most important flamenco voices of her generation. She has also devoted part of her care ...

, Diego El Cigala,

Carmen Linares Carmen Pacheco Rodríguez (Born in 1951 in Linares, Jaén), better known by her stage name Carmen Linares, is one of the finest flamenco singers in Spain. She belongs to the best generation of flamenco artists with Paco de Lucía, Camarón ...

and Potito; has shared the stage with musicians such as

Chano Domínguez Chano Domínguez (born Sebastián Domínguez Lozano; 29 March 1960, Cádiz) is a Spanish Latin jazz, post bop and flamenco pianist. Dominguez has released over 20 albums as a bandleader, and collaborated extensively with other jazz artists incl ...

Carles Benavent Carles Benavent (born 1 March 1954) is a Spanish flamenco and jazz bass player. Biography Benavent was born in the Poble Sec neighborhood in Barcelona. He started playing the bass when he was thirteen years old, attracted by blues and rock, J ...

Jorge Pardo Jorge Pardo may refer to: *Jorge Pardo (artist) *Jorge Pardo (musician) (born 1955), Spanish musician *J. D. Pardo Jorge Daniel Pardo (born September 7, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Jack Toretto in '' F9'' (2021), as ...

, and Jordi Bonell; and has collaborated with the pianist

Maria João Pires Maria João Alexandre Barbosa Pires (; born 23 July 1944) is a Portuguese classical pianist, widely regarded as one of the leading interpreters of Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. Early life and education Pires was born in Lisbon, Portugal, a posthu ...

. Chicuelo participated in recordings with

Tomatito José Fernández Torres, known as Tomatito (born Fondón, 1958), is a Spanish roma flamenco guitarist and composer. Having started his career accompanying famed flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla (with Paco de Lucía), he has made a number of ...

, Ginesa Ortega,

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

, La Vargas Blues Band,

Antonio Carmona Antonio Carmona Amaya (born 21 May 1965) is a Spanish gypsy singer of flamenco. He also has French nationality. From the early 1980s, he was a member of the Spanish flamenco-fusion group Ketama.Guitarras Mestizas with whom he recorded two albums. In the same year, he was one of several artists who participated in the Encuentro Productions' release of method books and DVDs which defined the individual artist's approach to composition. He also added guitar pieces to the unfinished film of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, ''Don Quixote''. Since 1993 he has been the music director of Shōji Kojima and since 2003 he has also been the director of the Somorrostro Dansa Flamenca, produced by Taller de Músics. He was the musical director of ''Tarantos'', and the composer of '' Inconnexus XXI'', performed by Compañia Somorrostro, including the dancer Frederic Gómez. After producing his first solo CD, ''Cómplices'', under the

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...

label, he toured across the country; it was awarded "Best solo guitar album" by ''Flamenco Hoy'' magazine. In 2001, the same magazine awarded Chicuelo for "Best rhythm guitar" on the Poveda recording of ''Zaguán''. In 2003, Chicuelo participated in the

Qawwali Qawwali ( Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontinent ...

production of ''Jondo'' with Duquende, Poveda and

Faiz Ali Faiz Faiz Ali Faiz (Urdu: فیض علی فیض; born in 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is a well-known Pakistani qawwali singer. Faiz was born into a family of seven generations of qawwals. He studied classical music with ''Ustad Ghulam Shabir Khan'' a ...

; the CD and DVD edition came out in 2006. Chicuelo worked with Duquende on ''My Way of Living'' in 2005. He participated in the production ''Un momento y la Eternidad'' with Galván, and with Poveda as a performer and composer in the 2005 '' Desglaç'' including the subsequent tours between 2005 and 2007. ''Live in Paris Cirque d'Hiver'', a Duquende CD released in 2007, was recorded in 2005, and pays homage to legendary flamenco singer

Camarón de la Isla José Monje Cruz (5 December 1950 – 2 July 1992), better known by his stage name Camarón de la Isla (), was a Spanish Romani flamenco singer. Considered one of the all-time greatest flamenco singers, he was noted for his collaborations ...

. In 2007, he worked on "Els treballs i els dies" with Poveda and

Maria del Mar Bonet Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer (Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma, Majorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca. Early life and career Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself to ...

. In November 2007, they released their second album, ''Diapasión'' on the K Industria Cultural label, which featured flamenco pieces by musicians in the

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

jazz scene, such as

, Raynald Colom, Roger Blavia, and Elizabeth Gex. He was also actively involved in the writing and recording of the album ''Cante y Orquesta'' with Poveda and

Joan Albert Amargós Joan Albert Amargós is a Spanish composer and conductor born in Barcelona in 1950. Amargós is an instrumentalist on piano and clarinet, and has composed a number of chamber and symphonic works. He is also a great connoisseur of Flamenco, which ha ...

at the Festival de Peralada in August 2007; it was released in February 2009, based on a project which had been in development since 2000. In 2009, Chicuelo worked on arranging and recording the double album, ''Coplas del querer'' with Poveda, as well as touring with Duquende, Rafaela Carrasco and Silvia Perez Cruz.

Festivals

In 1992, Chicuelo participated in the Seville Expo and the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla, at the Lope de Vega Theatre. He participated in the Festival de Jóvenes Flamencos held in Paris with overwhelming success. He worked with flamenco artists Antonio Canales,

Joaquín Cortés Joaquín Pedraja Reyes (known professionally as Joaquín Cortés; born 22 February 1969) is a Spanish classically trained ballet and flamenco dancer. Biography Joaquin Cortés is a Spanish flamenco dancer. A native of Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba, ...

, and

Israel Galván Israel Galván Reyes (born 1973 in Seville) is a Spanish flamenco dancer (''bailaor'') and choreographer. He grew up learning and dancing with his father, the dancer José Galván, and his mother, Eugenia Reyes. He became a celebrity in flamenc ...

, who commissioned the musical direction of the show presented at the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla in 2000. He participated in the Poveda show of ''Historias de viva voz'' which opened the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla in 2010.

Discography

*''Conexión'', with pianist Marco Mezquida 2017

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicuelo Musicians from Catalonia Spanish flamenco guitarists Spanish male guitarists 1968 births Living people Musicians from Barcelona Flamenco guitarists Romani guitarists Spanish Romani people