Niño Miguel

Miguel Vega de la Cruz , better known as, (El) Niño Miguel (* 27. January 1952 in Huelva ; † 23. May 2013 ibid), was a Spanish flamenco - guitarist . Miguel is one of the most influential and masterful flamenco guitarists of his generation, despite only two studio albums released in the 1970s.

Life

Niño Miguel learned to play the guitar from his father, Miguel Fernández Cortés, known as Miguel "El Tomate", who is also a well-known folklore and flamenco guitarist. Another son Miguel "El Tomates" and a half-brother Niño Miguel is the musician José Fernández Castro, whose son Tomatito is one of the most internationally renowned flamenco guitarists. In exchange with the lively flamenco scene in his hometown, which mainly took place on the streets of the barrios , the young Niño Miguel refined his skills autodidactically to accompany traditional flamenco chants as a guitarist at public appearances at the age of 12. In 1973 he was awarded the "Premio de Honor del Concurso Nacional de Guitarra flamenca", which brought him a wide public interest and a documentary in the series "Raíces" of Spanish television.
1975 Niño Miguel recorded his first studio album , La Guitarra De El Niño Miguel , for Philips - Label on. The possibility of a professional studio recording went back to the commitment of Paco de Lucías , who was an admirer of Miguel for the realization of the recordings. In 1976 the second album followed, Diferente . Both albums were produced together again in 2008 as a double album under the title El Niño Miguel . A novelty of his time was the use of string arrangements in Niño Miguel's compositions, for example in the piece Vals Flamenco , where a total of 15 strings are used. José Torregrossa, the arranger and co-author of Paco de Lucía's works, was also involved in the recordings of Miguel. In the years after the recording of his two albums, Niño Miguel fell ill with schizophrenia and suffered from heroin addiction , which had a significant negative impact on his playing skills. Despite the positive feedback from the critics on his debut albums, he only returned to the stage in 2007 for the documentary La Sombra De Las Cuerdas on a small scale. 2011 concerted Miguel during two concerts in Huelva and the Biennial of Seville , both cities to line up in his honor, to sold-out stands. In 2013 Niño Miguel died of complications from pneumonia.

useful information

• Tomatito dedicates the piece A Mi Tío El Niño Miguel on his album El Barrio Negro to his uncle Niño Miguel.
• The name "El Niño" ( Spanish for "the boy, the child") can be traced back to the first appearance of Miguel at the age of 5 together with his father in the taverns of Huelva.

Discography

• 1975: La Guitarra De El Niño Miguel
• 1976: Diferente
• 1983: Enrique Morente : Sacromonte (guest performance)
• 2008: El Niño Miguel (newly released double album, consisting of La Guitarra De El Niño Miguel and Diferente )

Documentation

• 1973: Raíces
• 2007: Huelva Flamenca
• 2009: La Sombra De Las Cuerdas
• 2012: El Niño Miguel En Concierto

Web links

• Obituary written by Estela Zatania at www.deflamenco.com (English)
• Trailer for the documentary La Sombra De Las Cuerdas

Individual evidence

1. ↑ El Niño Miguel - Official Tourism Website of Andalucía
2. ^ Tomatito - Latin Grammy for Flamenco Masters - News
3. ↑ Flamenco great guitarrist - Cardamomo, Tablao Flamenco en Madrid  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ NDR info radio report: "Arte Flamenco" , June 30, 2013, 8:15 pm ( Memento from July 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Guitarra Gitana ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20130524/fallece-huelva-nino-miguel-guitarrista-flamenco-61-anos/670880.shtml
7. ^ Niño Miguel - Guitarristas - El Arte de Vivir el Flamenco