- country:Spain
- region:Madrid
- style(s):Flamenco
- label:Universal Music
- gender:male
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist contact:Morgan Britos, S.L.
Line up
- Carlos Carmona Gonzalez (2nd Spanish Guitar)
- Josemi Carmona (First Spanish guitar)
- Juan Carmona Reyes (Percussion)
- Santiago Cortiña (el Kiki) (Singer)
Links
Josemi Carmona has played a leading role in Spain’s recent music history, and in the way the country’s guitar music has developed over the last few years. Born into one of the great flamenco clans, the Habichuelas (his father is legendary guitarist Pepe Habichuela), he was also a long-time member of hit band Ketama. Las pequeñas cosas is Josemi’s first album as a solo artist.
As the CD shows, his tastes and talents cover a broad musical spectrum. There’s flamenco, past and present (with guest appearances from such luminaries as Paco de Lucía, Manuel Carrasco, el Bandolero and Piraña, among others). Then there are converts from the world of jazz – Dave Holland, no less, plays bass on one track. The album’s roster of international guest artists also includes pop singer-songwriters Jorge Drexler and Alex Cuba, and musicians from the worlds of electronica and hip-hop – Norway’s Bugge Wesseltoft provides string arrangements as well as playing piano/synths, and French rapper Oxmo Puccini brings his free-flowing style to the party too. All of them brought enthusiasm and commitment to a debut album that’s bound to get people talking.
A work of this scale and variety needs someone to bring it order and harmony – and it’s Josemi who creates the overall feel. His music, his guitar, his playing, his sound… Only someone with his incredible musical charisma could shape the melting-pot of different cultures and personalities on Las pequeñas cosas into a meaningful whole. This is the sound of Josemi Carmona – it’s as simple as that. It’s the sound of someone who understands both the traditional and the contemporary – just listen to his arrangement of an extract from Puccini’s Tosca then his version of Gran Torino. And it’s the sound of the freshest, most innovative and essential pop, jazz and flamenco around…
Josemi Carmona’s sound is unique. His music is unique. And his album of “little things” proves one very big thing: he may already have given us plenty to talk about, but the best is yet to come…