Mayte Martín (born in

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 ...

, Spain, April 19, 1965) is a

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 ...

cantaora (singer),

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

singer, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. She is widely recognized as one of the most important flamenco voices of her generation. She has also devoted part of her career to other genres such as Spanish American music, especially

Biography

Martín started singing as a small

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

, and, at the age of 10, she won an amateur singing contest organized by a

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

. After this, she started performing regularly as an amateur at the peñas flamencas in Barcelona and its outskirts, and became a professional at the age of 16. In the meantime, she acquired a solid knowledge of flamenco styles, mainly by listening intensively to recordings of flamenco cantaores like Juan Valderrama,

Manolo Caracol Manuel Ortega Juárez (9 July 1909 – 24 February 1973) was a Spanish flamenco cantaor (singer). Life and family Born in Seville, Spain, he was descended from a long line of flamenco artists including Enrique Ortega (father and son) and Cur ...

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 ...

, Lole Montoya and most of all, Pastora Pavón, also known as

La Niña de los Peines Pastora Pavón Cruz, known as La Niña de los Peines (10 February 1890 – 26 November 1969), is considered the most important woman flamenco singer of the 20th century. She was a sister of singers Arturo Pavón and Tomás Pavón, also an importan ...

. She also received some formal musical training, and practiced her skills as a "cantaora de atrás" (singer for flamenco dance). In 1987, she won the first prize or Lámpara Minera at the Concurso Nacional de La Unión (also known as Festival de las Minas). Two years later, she won the

Antonio Chacón Antonio Chacón (1869–1929) was a Spanish flamenco singer antaor Chacón was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz Province. He began earning a living by performing flamenco around 1884. He toured Andalucia with his two friends, the Molin ...

Prize (bestowed on the best malagueña at the ''Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba''). At the same time, she started an international career after being chosen by

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to perform at Womad Festivals. In 1994, she recorded her first album, ''Muy Frágil'', with guitarist Chicuelo and arrangements by

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 ...

(the later a regular contributor to other well-known flamenco musicians like

Paco de Lucía Francisco Sánchez Gómez (21 December 194725 February 2014), known as Paco de Lucía (;), was a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist, composer, and record producer. A leading proponent of the new flamenco style, he was one of the first flame ...

and

). In 2000, she published her second flamenco recording, 'Querencia', which was nominated for the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

to the Best Flamenco Album in 2001. Although already well-established as a solo cantaora, she resumed her work as a singer for dance when she met bailaora

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. ...

in 1996, with whom she has toured the world with the works ''Mayte Martín + Belén Maya'' (since 1996) and ''Flamenco de Cámara'' (since 2003), winning international critical acclaim. In 1997, she received the Barcelona City Award, granted by the City Council, and the National Music Award in the category of "Best Flamenco Composer". In 1993, she started touring with jazz pianist

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, a professional relationship that lasted until Montoliu's death in 1997. Together, they offered a personal view on

s in their live recording 'Free Boleros', recorded in 1996. In her second bolero recording, 'Tiempo de Amar', (2002),

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appeared as a guest artist in some of the tracks. In 2005, she celebrated her 30 years as a performing artist at the

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, en, Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan '' modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for O ...

, with a entitled 'Mis 30 años de amor al Arte', with which she is now touring Spain and other European countries. In June 2006, she takes part in an homage tour for Leonard Cohen together with Martiriio,

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, Javier Colis and

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, with a Spanish version of "Hey, That's no Way to Say Goodbye". The tour was later recorded in a CD called "According to Leonard Cohen". In 2007, she was requested by classical

pianists A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, j ...

duo Katia and Marielle Labeque for a project involving Spanish and classical music, which toured for several years. Other musicians like Joan Albert Amargos and Lluis Vidal who composed the arrangements for two pianos. The recording included traditional songs as well as compositions by

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...

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Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the ''Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical gui ...

, and by Mayte Martín herself. In 2009, she was requested by poet José Luis Ortiz Nuevo to compose music for the poems of Malaga-born poet Manuel Alcantara, for the flamenco festival of Málaga, which later became the CD ''Al cantar a Manuel'', recorded with guitarists José Luis Montón and Juan Ramón Caro, percussionist Chico Fargas, among other musicians. In 2012, after breaking all ties with the recording industry, she decides to make a new recording with the help of

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

, through the crowd financing portal Verkami. On this occasion, she records her live performances of bolero and other Latin American music in the Barcelona Venue Luz de Gas. The recording is issued with the title ''Cosas de dos''. In 2013, with guitarists Jose Luis Montón and Juan Ramón Caro and percussionist Chico Fargas, she creates a new project for the Barcelona flamenco festival, "Por los muertos del cante", an heterodox reading of traditional flamenco songs. Her 2018 album ''Tempo Rubato'', is a collaboration with a string quartet.

Critics' reviews

"A born artist. ..An important number of cantaores of the younger generation have been influence by her. Her image is closer to that of Camarón or

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- ...

than that of a typical woman cantaora, and she sings flamenco with moving sweetness and deep knowledge of the essence." (José Miguel Gamboa and Pedro Calvo, ''Guía libre del flamenco'', 2001) "The best female flamenco voice of her generation, undoubtedly; the most complete 'cantaora'. She sings everything, and she sings everything well. At this rate, this 'cantaora' ..will add her name to the great ones in history." (Ángel Álvarez Caballero, ''La discografía ideal del flamenco'', 1995)

Recordings

*''Muy Frágil'', K-Industria Cultural, 1994 *''Free Boleros'', K-Industria Cultural, 1996 *''Querencia'', Virgin, 2000 *''Tiempo de Amar'', Virgin, 2002 *''De fuego y de agua'', KLM, 2008, with the sisters

Katia and Marielle Labèque The Labèque sisters, Katia (born 11 March 1950) and Marielle (born 6 March 1952), are an internationally known French piano duo. Biography Education and first performances Katia and Marielle were both born in Bayonne, on the southwest coast ...

*''Al cantar a Manuel'', Nuevos Medios S.A 2009 *''Cosas de dos'', 2012 *''Tempo Rubato'', 2018

References

External links

Mayte Martin's official Web (in Spanish)

Mayte Martin's link info on Flamenco World
Contains some audio clips. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Mayte 1965 births Living people Flamenco singers Spanish women singers Singers from Barcelona Women in Latin music