Seville, Spain – Flamenco legend and Latin Grammy winner Antonio Núñez Montoya, ‘El Chocolate‘, died on July 19 at his home in Seville. The cantaor (Flamenco singer) was suffering from cancer.
‘El Chocolate’ was born in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) in May of 1940, but his artistic birth took place in Seville, at the Alameda de Hercules, his cradle and school of singing. The Pavones, Vallejo, El Sevillano, and many others were his teachers and from their living voices he learned the deepest secrets of flamenco music. He was the heir to the most classical of flamenco schools, where truths
were exposed with all crudeness and where elaborate excess was clearly
denounced. ‘El Chocolate’ did not understand half colors in Flamenco,
just like he did not understand relief and embellishments. Body and soul
had to join to find oneself in the gut, to find the feelings, undress
them and introduce them to the exterior as an expressive vehicle. As he
said: “The soul of flamenco doesn’t come, it is necessary to look for it.”
He won many awards. In 2002 he received a Latin Grammy. The following year he was given the medal of Andalucia for his “contribution to the classic form of Flamenco and his pure style of singing.” The latest was the medal of the city of Seville, which was handed to his wife due to his illness.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
