Niño de Cabra
Who is Niño de Cabra?
Cayetano Muriel Reyes, known as Niño de Cabra, was born in 1870 in Cabra (Córdoba) and died in 1947 in Benamejí, also in the province of Córdoba. He was payo, and before devoting himself to cante he worked as a miller, a trade he left at twenty to focus entirely on music.
Career
He learned by listening to masters of the caliber of Juan Breva, don Antonio Chacón and El Canario, and from those influences he built a style so personal that, over time, other cantaores came to adopt it as a reference. He traveled through Andalusia and the rest of Spain on numerous tours, winning the affection and admiration of audiences wherever he performed, at a time when flamenco was beginning to establish itself as entertainment in theaters and cafés cantantes.
Palos and discography
He is considered the finest cantaor of the fandangos de Lucena, a style in which he came to found his own school, in addition to excelling in cartageneras and soleá. Radio recordings survive, such as the one titled “Escuela del Cante Flamenco (Lección nº 8),” in which he performs several cantes accompanied on guitar by Enrique López, a sound record that helps document his way of singing.
Legacy
Since 1965 an annual flamenco competition bearing his name has been held in Cabra, and in 2008 the Ruta de los cantes abandolaos de Cayetano Muriel was launched, two initiatives that keep alive the memory of a cantaor who founded his own school within Córdoba’s fandango and whose influence is still recognized among specialists in cantes abandolaos.