Carlos Piñana is the youngest of the Piñana saga, a family of deep flamenco tradition that started with the patriarch, his grandfather Antonio Piñana, a cantaor (singer) who won the first Cante de las Minas contest at the beginning of the 1960s; that continued with Carlos’ father, Antonio Piñana, guitarist reputed in the world of orthodox flamenco; and that extends to the new generation, with three solid artists: Pepe Piñana, guitarist; Curro, a respected cantaor; and Carlos.
Carlos Piñana was born in Cartagena (Murcia, Spain) in 1976 and, in addition to the deep learning in flamenco that he assimilated since childhood, he studied classical guitar at the Conservatory of Music of Cartagena between 1988 and 1998. Since 1995 when he began his professional work with the flamenco guitar, a rising star of the new millennium: First Prize and Mining Staff at the Festival de las Minas of 1996; Ramón Montoya National Guitar Award of Córdoba, in 1998; First Sabicas Prize at the National Festival of Young Flamencos.
Whether accompanying his brother Curro, either alone or with his own group, Carlos Piñana has performed throughout Spain and a handful of cities abroad: Paris, London, Berlin, Oxford, Stockholm … even in the Islands Mauricio, at the Francois Miterrand International Music Festival.
In 1996 he published his first album, El cuidado de la esencia, a product firmly anchored in Flamenco orthodoxy. Later he collaborated in the album of his brother Curro De lo humano y lo divino [From the human and the divine] (RTVE, 1998) and in the compilations Con duende (Together with Camarón, Menese and Carmen Linares) and Strictly World 99, released by the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals .
Cal-Libir is not a tradtional flamenco record. Carlos Piñana uses flamenco to explore classical and Mediterranean guitar concepts, finding a musical crossbreeding with the Caribbean, African and Balkan traditions of his bandmates.
Discography:
Cal-Libiri (Big Bang, 1999)
Palosanto (Big Bang, 2001)
Mundos Flamencos (Big Bang, 2003)
Misa Flamenca (Karonte, 2007)
Manos Libres (Karonte, 2012)
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.