Juan Gómez “Chicuelo”(Little Kid) was born in Barcelona in 1968. He began studying the guitar as a boy in the flamenco peñas (clubs) of Barcelona. He was an outstanding student of Manolo Sanlucar and his brother Isidro Muñoz. In 1989, he received recognition as a guitarist from Sabicas in Carmen Amaya’s home in Begur (in the province of Gerona) as part of the first International Flamenco Seminar.
In his early years, he worked at the Tablao de Carmen nightclub in Barcelona with Mario Escudero, Angelita Vargas, La Tolea, Yerbabuena, Sara Varas, Adrián Galia, Belén Maya, Antonio El Pipa, Joaquín Grilo, etc. He worked as a studio musician on recordings by a variety of artists including Tomatito, Duquende, Mayte Martín, Ginesa Ortega, and Joan Manuel Serrat. He also worked as musical director on various recordings including “Siento”(HMI 987011) y “Oscuriá”(HMI 987016) by Ginesa Ortega, and “Suena Flamenco”(HMI 987019) by Miguel Poveda.
In 1992, he participated at the World Expo and in Seville’s Flamenco Biennial. Since then, he has toured through out Europe, Japan, and the United States he did the cover version of the music for Orson Welles’ latest film, “El Quijote” and he participated in Paris’ Flamenco Youth Festival with unprecedented success.
In 1996, he founded and led the group Cambalache. Chicuelo has accompanied outstanding cantaores such as Enrique Morente, Rancapino, Chano Lobato, José Mercé, Duquende, Mayte Martín, and Potito he is Miguel Poveda’s regular guitarist.
Translated by Rita Granda, rgranda@sympatico.ca
Discography:
Siento, with Ginesa Ortega (Harmonia Mundi, 1997)
Cómplices (Harmonia Mundi, 2000)
Diapasión (Flamenco Records, 2007)
Coplas Del Querer, with Miguel Poveda and Albert Amargos (Universal Music, 2009)
Cante I Orquestra (DiscMedi Blau, 2009)
Qawwali Flamenco (Accords Croisés, 2013)
Sintonías (Taller De Músics, 2016)
Conexión (Taller De Músics, 2017)
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.