María Vargas Fernández was born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz, Spain) in 1947. The gypsy artist started to sing at an early age showing her great talent singing saetas, a sacred Flamenco style performed during Holy Week (Easter).
At the age of 12 she performed at the Teatro Villamarta in Jerez de la Frontera, one of the cradles of Flamenco, in a tribute to Manuel Torres. Since then, she has performed at numerous Flamenco festivals across Andalusia. María Vargas won many prestigious awards like the La Copa de Jerez al Cante por Bulerías, Placa Columbia in Mairena de Alcor and the National Award in Córdoba entre otros. A few years later she moved to Madrid, hired by Manolo Caracol for the flamenco nightclub (tablao) “Los Canasteros” and she recorded her first LP.
In the following years, María Vargas worked at other well-known Flamenco tablaos in Madrid, including “Las Brujas”, “Café de Chinitas” and “El Portal de la Morería.” She also performed regularly at most summer festivals in Andalusia and several European countries.
María Vargas’ discography encompasses several albums, accompanied by some of the most famous guitarists in the flamenco world: Paco de Lucia, Manolo Sanlucar, Paco Cepero, Manuel Morao and the Habichuelas.
In 1999 the Flamencology College (Cátedra de Flamencología) in Jerez de la Frontera gave her the National Flamenco vocalist Award.
In 2009, Sanlúcar de Barrameda named a city square Plaza Cantaora María Vargas.
In 2019, Maria Vargas received the 8th Galardón Leyenda del Flamenco 2019 award.
Partial discography:
Reina Del Canto Gitano (CBS S-64238, 1970)
Copa Jerez De Cante Flamenco (CBS S-64788, 1971)
Maria Vargas (Olympo L-46, 1972)
Rios De Primaveras (Virgin I-210 619, 1990)
Juerga Flamenca (Dial, 1994)
Maria Vargas y La Guitarra De Paco De Lucia (Polydor, 1999)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.