Niño Miguel
Who is Niño Miguel?
Miguel Vega de la Cruz, “Niño Miguel,” was born in 1952 in Huelva, son of the guitarist Miguel el Tomate, of Almerían descent, alongside whom he learned to play from childhood. He was an uncle of the fellow guitarists Tomatito and Niño Josele, placing him within one of the most important flamenco dynasties of southeastern Spain. He began accompanying cante while still very young, and his playing drew attention within flamenco circles from an early age.
Career
In 1973, at just twenty-one, he won the honor prize at the Concurso Nacional de Guitarra held by the Peña Los Cernícalos in Jerez, and Televisión Española devoted a special to him within the program “Raíces.” It was Paco de Lucía who introduced him to the recording world, enabling him to record two albums for the Philips label between 1975 and 1976 that, as has been noted, revolutionized the guitar scene of the moment. In 1982 he accompanied Enrique Morente on the album “Sacromonte.”
His career, however, was cut short by personal instability that led him to spend long periods living on the streets of Huelva, playing on a worn-out guitar while struggling with addiction. Even so, he made occasional comebacks, such as his performance at the Sala Joaquín Turina in Seville in 2005, a massive charity tribute at the Palacio de Deportes in Huelva in 2009 before more than five thousand people, and a return to the stage at the Teatro Central in Seville in 2011.
Style and discography
Among his best-remembered compositions are the fandango “Brisas de Huelva” and the waltz “Lamento,” pieces that reflect a personal and highly influential style, with a command of compás and falsetas that left its mark on the generation of guitarists who followed him.
Legacy
Niño Miguel died on May 23, 2013 at the Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital in Huelva, at the age of 61. His influence was strongly felt among guitarists such as Tomatito, Rafael Riqueni and Paco de Lucía, and singers such as Enrique Morente and Camarón paid tribute to his work, recognizing in him one of the most singular and at the same time most tragic talents of flamenco guitar of his generation.