Antonio Carrión
Who is Antonio Carrión?
Antonio Carrión Jiménez, known in his early years as “Niño Carrión,” was born in 1964 in Mairena del Alcor (Seville), into a family with deep flamenco roots: he is the son of the cantaor Carrión de Mairena, who was his first teacher and taught him his earliest flamenco sounds and rhythms, and a distant descendant of the Mairena-born cantaor Cancuna, who performed alongside Antonio Mairena.
Career
He recorded for the first time at thirteen, a precocious debut that confirmed the talent he had shown since childhood. His playing bears the mark of the schools of Melchor de Marchena, Niño Ricardo and Manolo de Huelva, three of the most influential currents in 20th-century flamenco guitar, which Carrión absorbed and blended into a style of his own oriented above all toward accompanying classic cante.
Throughout his career he has accompanied cantaores such as José Menese, El Lebrijano, Manuel Mairena, Curro Malena, Chocolate, Chano Lobato, El Chozas, José Galán, Diego Clavel, Tina Pavón, La Macanita, Elu de Jerez, Carmen Jara and Carmen Linares, and has taken his guitar to international festivals in Mont de Marsan, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Rome, Geneva and Alexandria.
Style and discography
His recording career reached its most recognized moment in 2002, when he won the Latin Grammy for Best Flamenco Album, an award that confirmed his place among the leading guitarists of his generation within the most orthodox style of cante accompaniment.
Legacy
He has also received numerous gold insignias from flamenco peñas, the Golden Flag of Andalusia in Brussels, the First Gente Joven Prize from TVE, and the title of Adopted Son of the Town of La Rinconada, recognitions that reflect a career firmly established both in Spain and on the leading flamenco stages of Europe.