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Information About

Carlos Montoya





EARLY LIFE AND CAREER


He was born in Madrid , Spain the nephew of Ramón Montoya and started accompanying dancers and singers. At the age of 14, Montoya played in concert halls across the world.

In the 1920s and 1930s he performed extensively in Europe , North America , and Asia . The outbreak of World War II brought him to the United States where he toured with the dancer La Argentina . Settling
in New York City , he began touring on his own, bringing his fiery style to concert halls, universities, and Orchestra s.


PLAYING STYLE


Montoya's playing style was idiosyncratic. He once said, according to Brook Zern,

''"I do not play the way I do to please the public, though it certainly does, on five continents so far, and no other flamenco guitarist will ever fill the Houston Astrodome as I have. No, I play the way I do because to me, that is exactly the way the flamenco guitar should sound. It seems strange to me that the unknowing public should agree, while the real flamenco aficionados clearly do not...but that's the case."''

It was not particularly appreciated by serious flamenco students, who considered it less brilliant than many others, including Montoya's uncle Ramon. Montoya's own favorite flamenco guitarist, it was reported by Zern, was the obscure Currito de la Geroma.

Other modern guitar virtuosos such as Stevie Ray Vaughan have used Montoya-like legatos, as seen on his "Live at the el Mocambo" DVD.


DEATH


Montoya died in Wainscott, New York in 1993, at the age of 89.