Miguel Angel Cortés was born in Granada (Spain) on January 26th, 1972. The Cortés family is well known for its fine guitarists so it is not surprising that Miguel Angel displayed an early enthusiasm for carrying on the family tradition. His unusual talent was discovered when he was given a guitar at the age of 8. He made his debut into the world of flamenco at the Zambra del Sacromonte club in the famous Gypsy caves of Granada.
By the time he was 14 years old Miguel Angel was already touring extensively throughout Europe, the United States, Turkey and Japan accompanying top Flamenco dancers such as Mariquilla, Manolote, Antonio Canales, Javier Barón and Juan Andrés Maya and flamenco singers José de la Tomasa, José Merce, Chano Lobato, Luis El Polaco Morenito de Illora and Estrella Morente.
In 1994, Miguel Angel won the Paco de Lucía Guitar Award. For the past several years he and his brother Paco Cortés have been working and touring with one of the leading flamenco singers in Spain, Carmen Linares. They also worked on a music project in collaboration with several other musicians and El Guito, formerly Paco de Lucia’s dancer.
Miguel Angel’s pride as a Gypsy musician compels him to continue composing and performing Flamenco music. He is traditional in his approach while still being an active participant in the exciting ongoing evolution of Spanish guitar music.
“To me it is more important to ‘feel the pain’ with sensibility when playing flamenco because anyone can achieve technical speed by rehearsing 12 hours a day.”
In 2006 he released his second solo CD: “Bordón de trapo”, produced by Gerardo Nuñez and with the guest appearances by Carmen Linares, Arcángel and Esperanza Fernandez.
In 2019, Miguel Ángel Cortés presented his work “Sonantas en tres movimientos” in Chicago. This project intertwines flamenco and classical music.
Discography:
Patriarca (Antequera Records/Alula Records, 1998)
Bordón De Trapo (Nuba Records KAR7714, 2006)
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.
Updated biography and added new photo