Vicente Amigo
Who is Vicente Amigo?
Vicente Amigo Girol was born in 1967 in Guadalcanal, Seville, though he grew up from the age of five in Córdoba, the city that would shape his development as an artist. A non-Roma player with an early flamenco calling, his interest in the guitar arose largely from his obsessive listening to Paco de Lucía, a reference point that would set the course for the rest of his career.
Career
He trained with Juan Muñoz “El Tomate” and Merengue de Córdoba before taking the decisive step into the teachings of Manolo Sanlúcar, with whom he deepened a more harmonic and orchestral conception of flamenco guitar. In parallel he forged a close artistic partnership with singer El Pele, a collaboration that let him refine his craft as an accompanist before turning fully to a career as a concert soloist.
His international profile shot up in 1992, when he took part in the legendary concert “Leyendas de guitarra” in Seville alongside Paco de Lucía, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan, a lineup that instantly placed him among the most respected guitarists of the moment. Even earlier, in 1989, he had left his mark on Camarón de la Isla’s “Soy Gitano”, and later composed and performed “Del Amanecer” for José Mercé.
Style and discography
His playing, nourished both by the Andalusian poetry of Rafael Alberti and Federico García Lorca and by hints of the eastern Mediterranean, has over the years opened up to fusion with pop and jazz without abandoning its flamenco roots. His solo albums include “Vivencias Imaginadas”, “Ciudad de las Ideas” and “Paseo de Gracia”, the last of these featuring collaborations with Alejandro Sanz, Enrique Morente and Niña Pastori.
Legacy
His youthful list of honors includes first prize at the Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Flamenca de Badajoz (1988), first prize for guitar at the Concurso Nacional del Cante de las Minas de La Unión (1988), the Premio Ramón Montoya de Guitarra Concierto de Córdoba (1989), the Castillete de Oro of the Festival del Cante de las Minas, and a Premio de la Música in the flamenco category, a set of honors that confirmed his arrival at the front rank of contemporary flamenco guitar.