“The Morente Family wants to make public, through the current press release, that according to the latest medical reports, Enrique Morente is currently in a state of brain death,” says the press release. “At the same time, the family would also like to reveal that until last Saturday, December 11th, it was not aware that Enrique Morente was in a state of deep coma, as a direct consequence of the urgent surgery carried out in the morning of December 6th by Dr. Enrique Moreno and anesthetist Dr. Rubio and his medical team, at Clínica La Luz in Madrid, in which Intensive Care Unit (ICU), he’s been admitted for the last days.
Lastly, the family wants to reiterate its sincere gratitude towards all the people that have transmitted their affection and love toward Enrique Morente during these difficult times.
Any change in the evolution of the patient will be notified accordingly. The family trusts fully in God’s plans.”
The Spanish Minister of Culture, Ángeles González-Sinde has stated that she is “shaken” by this “terrible event.” “It is a great loss to the nation,” she said to the Spanish media this morning at a conference. [Morente] “is such an important figure in our country’s culture, in the evolution and transformation of flamenco, in conquering new audiences; a maestro, a person with an impeccable vocal technique.”
Enrique Morente would be turning 68 on December 25. He was born in the Albaicín district of Granada (Spain). At the age of eighteen, he moved to Madrid, where he was known as Enrique El Granaíno (Enrique, from Granada).
In the Spanish capital he would hang out both on and off stage with the biggest flamenco names of the time: Pepe de la Matrona, Bernardo el de los Lobitos, Manolo de Huelva and others. Very soon, he surprised the critics and the experts by his curiosity about and interest in assimilating and performing the most difficult flamenco cantes and styles, and also by his commitment to becoming a broad-based cantaor, without distinction of schools or geographical divisions.
He married dancer Aurora Carbonell and has three children, including Flamenco singer Estrella Morente, who is one of the leading vocalists of her generation; Enrique Morente Carbonell and Maria Soleá Morente.
Before his surgery, Morente had been working on a new album titled ‘El barbero de Picasso’ (Picasso’s barber), which is a tribute to the great Spanish painter born in Malaga. The album is scheduled for release in the next weeks.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
