The 25 albums flamenco21st century

Here is a selection of the 25 albums from flamenco published in the last 25 years, in the period covered between the year 2000 and 2025, carried out through the votes of the 25 experts who make up the editorial team of ExpoFlamencoA list in which, inevitably, many readers will find debatable inclusions and notable absences, as is always the case. Nothing is more subjective than art, and nothing is more difficult than choosing in such a rich, varied, and complex field.
However, without intending to establish any standard, the obligation of a publication like ours is to contribute to clarifying this period from the multiple perspectives of its contributors. The sum of their choices ultimately shapes a demanding and broad-spectrum discographic panorama, where a wide range of artists are represented. very diverse figures, aesthetics and trends.

The first quarter of this new century has witnessed a complete revolution of the recording industryThis applies to both recording methods and distribution and enjoyment. We are perhaps witnessing the end of one way of understanding musical products and the beginning of another, marked by the democratization of technology, immediacy, and the hegemony of digital platforms.

As for the list itself, it is not surprising that in first place, with a great advantage over the rest, Paco de Lucía and his album good thingsThe artist who revolutionized the last 25 years of the 20th century continues to illuminate the first 25 years of the 21st. It's also no surprise that the following positions are held by two other guitarists: Vicente Friend y Manolo Sanlucar They also embody the transition between two golden ages for the guitar, a majestic tradition and a splendid future, whose horizon is already being opened by young talents such as Dani de Morón, Moraíto o Alejandro Hurtado.

In the selection of ExpoFlamenco Also noteworthy are albums that marked a turning point in the popularization of jondoas the Air, Jose Merce, Craftsman de Miguel PovedaLikewise, the authority and strength of female voices, represented by teachers such as Carmen Linares, Mayte Martín, Estrella Morente or the singers from the memorable album Womanhood, without forgetting cutting-edge proposals such as those of Rocio Marquez o Angeles Toledano.

In short, a fascinating journey through this fertile yet dizzying time, which we invite you to enjoy, share, and discuss. Have a happy trip.

✍🏻 Alejandro Luque

 

→ A selection made by Carmen Arjona, Tyler Barbour, José María Castaño, Guillermo Castro, José Cenizo, Antonio Conde, Álvaro de la Fuente, Lourdes Gálvez del Postigo, Juan Garrido, Rocío Hellín, Jafelín Helten, Alejandro Luque, Patricia Manes, Manuel Martín Martín, Jesús Naranjo, Faustino Núñez, Alejandra Pachón, Vicente Pachón, María Isabel Palop, Eduardo J. Pastor, Kotoha Setoguchi, Ramón Soler, Irra E. Torres, Kiko Valle and Estela Zatania.

 

1. Paco de Lucía → good things (2004)

Five years later Luziaand ten before Andalusian song, his masterful posthumous work, the Big Chief Paco He returned to the studio, sharing production with Javier Limon, who in those years had been carrying out work of enormous impact, with The crayfish and with Enrique Morente.

This album marks the first time his revamped group has participated, after more than twenty years with the Sextet. Composed between Spain and Mexico, which would eventually become his permanent home, Paco's proposal was a new twist on his revolutionary vision of flamenco Contemporary. In the rhythm, the harmony, in his conception of melody, in the form, his eternal commitment to the music of his life is evident. The brilliant composer and performer was always source and flow of flamenco musicFrom which generations of artists have drawn inspiration, and, aware of its responsibility, it strove at every step to create new proposals, to open paths to walk, firm and solid, rooted in tradition while suggesting a language for the 21st century, projecting the flamenco to the future.

Three bulerías, two rumbas, some tientos, tangos, and bulerías por soleá. Eight pieces that have marked the passage of contemporary flamenco guitar. He wanted to recover the voice of Camarón including it in the bulerías Let the dawn come backed on guitar by TomatitoWho else? He dedicated the bulerías por soleá to his daughter Antonia, a clear example of the most current flamenco music. He had Diego El Cigala in the trials, Alejandro Sanz to the Cuban three and Jerry Gonzalez the trumpet envelops him in the rumba Bernardo House.

Paco has been the guiding light of the guitar and in these good things We found the essence of what came next. And, just as happened with Source and flow of 1973 and with Sirocco for 1987, This penultimate album by the giant from Algeciras became a benchmark of flamenco of VanguardAnd there are many young guitarists who study it patiently, like someone studying music. Bach of the flamenco.

The album won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Album of Flamenco in 2004 and, beyond virtuosity, it conveys truth and beauty, honoring the past and leaving an indelible mark for posterity, the future of flamenco.

✍🏻 Faustino Núñez

 

 

2. Vicente Amigo → City of ideas (2000)

Which Vicente Friend achieved with his City of ideas a Latin Grammy in 2001 for best album flamenco This is no small feat, as it was followed by the Ondas Award and his being named an Adopted Son of Córdoba. Furthermore, on this album he collaborates with artists such as Montse Cortés, Diego el Cigala, Tino di Geraldo, Cheb Khaled o Joan Albert AmargosAmong others. An album dedicated to Córdoba and paying tribute to the poet Constantine Cavafy, from which he takes one of its verses to give the album its title.

City of ideas It is a fundamental and innovative album, not only in Vicente Amigo's career but also in the evolution of flamenco guitar in the 21st century. The album is seen as a perfect balance between... flamenco more deeply rooted and experimentation. Explore new sounds without losing your essence. Highlight the impeccable technique in your volcanic hands. His ability to convey tenderness and feeling, through a melodic manipulation that suits his taste. It's an album that expands the boundaries of... flamenco with great sensitivity and virtuosity.

A complete catalog of flamenco and musicality. It highlights the four-note rhythm in the romanticism of Three notes to say I love you, in the depths of Compare Manuel, in the flamenco explosion of tata or in some Eyes of the Alhambra Between fusion, mysticism, and truth. While the soul trembles when The afternoon is caramelAnd Amigo's guitar neck overflows with modulations between the rhythm of bulerías with the City of IdeasVicente transports you with the elegance of his Vicente's Bolero even the flamenco chair of Cordoba.

✍🏻 Irra Torres

 

 

3. Manolo Sanlúcar → Madness of breeze and trill (2000)

I met him on two occasions Manolo SanlucarIn both conversations, the topic of what it meant came up. flamenco For him. It was clear to those of us present that, besides being his life, he considered this art as something more: the flamenco Above all, it is music. Said with the same depth and conviction with which the maestro expressed himself.

Madness of breeze and trillAs indicated in the libretto of the work, it is a composition that escapes from the usual music, the one that Manolo Sanlúcar could reason and understand, he could only feel and communicate with it, as well as discover the mystery of how the voice could be resolved through it.

Edited in 2000, Madness of breeze and trill It is one of those indispensable works of Flemish culture; it will endure throughout the present century and, surely, in those to come. The shadow of Isidro Munoz is lengthened in this work and the voice of Carmen Linares It becomes an instrument. The percussion of... is incomparable. Tino DiGeraldo and the lyrics – which are always music and feeling – of Federicowhich take us through a constant landscape and its people, from the poet's inner world to Cuba in the first third of the 20th century, and then to the heart of Andalusia during the same period. All of this with the magic, the flavor, the mastery of the last great Master of the guitar and of culture. flamenco, Don Manuel Muñoz, Master Sanlúcar.

✍🏻 Jesús Naranjo

 

 

4. Juana la del Pipa, Dolores Agujetas and Tomasa La Macanita → Womanhood (2009)

For many fans, it is one of the most accomplished recordings in the world of women and the cantePerhaps the secret lay in combining three enormous and expressive vocal timbres, along with the ineffable spirit of MoraitoIt all began with a get-together where the guitarist himself acted as cook to create a natural and intimate atmosphere.

The camaraderie arose similarly to that found in those Gypsy houses of Santiago or San Miguel in Jerez, until the microphones were forgotten. In this way, an extraordinary flamenco atmosphere was created, where the duende (the spirit of flamenco) manifested itself freely in the words of these remarkable performers. Dieguito Agujetas, Chicharito y The Bo They completed the singing ritual of Juana, Dolores and Tomasa for this album.

✍🏻 José María Castaño

 

 

5. Miguel Poveda → Craftsman (2012)

It was back in March 2012 when we first learned about the work Craftsman, Miguel PovedaAn album of flamenco without artifice that houses thirteen cantewith a common denominator, truthfulness, and contextualized by an instrumentation in which, among others, the following stand out: Paco de Lucía for joy with the tap dancing of Joaquin Grilo, Manolo Sanlucar in the Malaga region of La PeñarandaWith this, the singer was already indicating that, in addition to exploring other territories, he was deserving the title of anthologist.

Authenticity in form and sincerity in substance are the hallmarks of this album in which the Badalona-born artist frankly tackles, quite simply, the trials of Pastora Pavón, fandangos of Josefa la del Tollo, tangos from Triana to Rafael the Black, soleares apolás, minera a Pencho CrosSevillanas, seguiriyas, coplas por bulerías, nana and two bulerías, one of them limited to the Cadiz area, canteall of which led us to the conclusion that if what weighs most in the flamenco It is the stylistic spirit; Miguel Poveda was already in 2012 the best portraitist of the soul of cante of his generation.

✍🏻 Manuel Martín Martín

 

 

6. José Mercé → Air (2000)

In the year 2000 the flamenco singer Jose Merce He ventures to mix tradition and avant-garde with his well-known album AirIn doing so, he managed to reach a wider audience without abandoning his most personal style: his emotional depth and his characteristic Jerez-style flamenco. The singer leaves behind a classic for both his devoted fans and his devoted followers. jondo as well as those who find a crack to connect to flamenco in an almost unconscious way.

Air It's an album that comes marked by a moment of momentum for the flamenco for its international recognition. And indeed, this very year it was awarded to Camarón and Tomatito a Latin Grammy for the album Paris 1987 And this opens the door for the recognition of many others in the years to come, such as Diego el Cigala o Juan HabichuelaThus, Mercé shapes this album through production, versions, and collaborations that invite one to break free from that network that appeals to the strictest flamenco orthodox.

At the time, there was some disagreement and disparity, because some fans saw this new work as a commercial endeavor that strayed from flamenco roots. But where a large number of connoisseurs of flamenco They saw this album as a surrender to commercialism, but it also felt like a form of communicative openness in which a wider audience was drawn to the flamenco with curiosity and enthusiasm.

Air It is enjoyable, approachable and familiar, as it uses well-known versions of singer-songwriters such as Luis Eduardo Aute, Víctor Jara, Kiko Veneno o Manuel Molina.

To this day, this album remains a classic, both for fans of the band and for fans of the band. jondo as well as for those who were not initially so deeply rooted, but find in it arguments to become linked to it flamenco in an almost unconscious way. Flamenco without dogmas, which contributes to broadening its scope and expanding its margins with an honest and spontaneous naturalness.

✍🏻 Alejandra Pachón

 

 

7. Estrella Morente → Mi cante and a poem (2001)

It was an open secret: Enrique Morente She dreamed of the perfect album for her daughter's debut. Estrella, who from childhood seemed touched by a magic wand. The time had come to go out into the world and make herself known. A meticulous production, the collaboration of musicians such as Alfredo Lagos, Manolo Sanlúcar, Antonio Carmona, Pepe and Juan Habichuela or Tino Di Geraldo, all resources were put at the service of what was destined to be a masterpiece of flamenco contemporary.

And so it was: a bouquet of 14 canteAnthological works – tangos, soleás, bulerías, sevillanas, malagueñas, taranta… – exquisitely edited and elevated to the category of contemporary classic from the very moment of their release. The master thus handed the torch to his rightful heir. The dream had come true.

✍🏻 Alejandro Luque

 

 

8. Mayte Martín → Haunt (2000)

They say cante It really hurts and it can't be pretty. Mayte Martín She has one of those voices that dismantles these pronouncements circulating among true aficionados. Catalan—it goes without saying—and non-Catalan—even less so—her work slips through the net. Haunt among the ten albums of flamenco the most important of this quarter of a century, according to the experts or those in the know flamenco From our portal. There must be a reason. It's fallen to me to deal with this. And it's because there are those who complain by digging their nails into you, and those who raise the hairs on your left side and shake the membranes of your left side, caressing you with the plaintive melismas of their syrupy throat. That's Mayte, whose scepter in the Olympus of... no one can take it from her now. jondoYes, from what jondo.

Back in 2000, he delivered gentle pinches of the kind that are pleasing, with the silks of his throat, opening with couplets asking Be carefulweaving them together with a classic vidalita in which it sways with exquisite sweetness. The rhythmic knuckle-tapping introduced the fandangos of Huelva. ConqueroAnd he called the night watchman –Serenoke– through malagueña, curling the phrases of the convent bells. It shone through seguiriya with a finale by El Pena and rode, adorning it with garlands to the rhythm of the alegrías of Cai with Get out of here paying tribute to Utrera and Pinini's cantiñas. Then he paid homage to The Girl with the Combs glossing it masterfully with peteneras and the party ended with the bulerías acancionás Try to find itTwenty-five years later, it continues to evoke feelings, surfacing in our memories. And here it is.

✍🏻 Kiko Valle

 

 

9. Antonio Reyes and Diego del Morao → Live on the Circle Flamenco Madrid (2015)

There is no greater truth in the flamenco What is performed and interpreted before an audience. There, in that precise moment, those on stage are not subject to filters or corrections. They face the opinion of those who have decided to dedicate their time to the firm purpose of being moved.

Antonio Reyes y Diego del Morao They achieve in a performance, in the Circle Flamenco MadridTo design a powerful and well-rounded performance. Exciting, remarkably profound, deeply rooted, and born of knowledge… All of this comes together in this 2015 album, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy and features the palmas always necessary of Chicharito y Diego Montoya.

That authenticity that is so valued, is felt in every style, in every commotion, in every applause, in every verse, in every strum, in every tear that, although we do not see it, we can imagine falling from some eyes that allow themselves to be hurt by such extreme depth.

✍🏻 Juan Garrido

 

 

10. Rafael Riqueni → Inheritance (2021)

The virtuosity of the incomparable guitarist Rafael Riqueni It transforms into admirable humility on his album InheritanceTo be as grateful as the great guitarists flamencoThe seeds sown in his fertile contribution to flamenco concert guitar are the result that this incredible composer leaves imprinted in this work where he venerates the masters in the profession who left an influence on the music of this composer, who clearly feels like an eternal apprentice.

Only when the author is aware that he is nothing but after having drunk from and understood the great masters who came before in the history of Flamenco is it possible to produce a work of such flamenco sensitivity as this Inheritance, respectful of the patterns of the palos classic and full of originality and musicality. Inheritance It harbors admiration, respect, wisdom, generosity and contributes to the flamenco discography a work of singular flamenco personality.

✍🏻 Carmen Arjona

 

 

11.⁠ ⁠El Pele & Vicente Amigo → Canto (2003)

Rarely does the chemistry between a flamenco singer and a guitarist produce such spectacular results as in this album, where both artists bring out the best in each other based on a meticulously crafted production.

 

 

12. José Valencia → Live (2015)

The flamenco singer with roots in Lebrija tests his strength on stage in a recording where he displays, in addition to encyclopedic knowledge, the power and depth that have made him one of the essential names in flamenco. cante figure.

 

 

13.⁠ ⁠Alejandro Hurtado → Masters of classical art flamenco (2022)

Those who criticize young people for not looking to their elders for inspiration had to tip their hats to the debut of the young man from Alicante, in which he paid homage to two absolute masters like Ramón Montoya and Manolo de Huelva, and in passing positioned himself as a golden promise of the guitar.

 

 

14. Enrique El Extremeño → 50 years cante (2023)

Not everyone can boast of celebrating their golden anniversary on stage. El Extremeño, after a lifetime as a flamenco singer, sought after by the greats, is accompanied by eleven great guitarists – no less – to capture his legacy in a captivating album.

 

 

15. Dani from Morón → U-turn (2012)

After accompanying all sorts of singers and dancers, and even the maestro Paco de Lucía, the guitarist from Morón produced a formidable self-presentation, full of talent and daring, which continues to stimulate taste and thought so many years later.

 

 

16. Manuel Cástulo → The heart through the mouth (2014)

Co-produced by Chemi López and Pedro Madroñal, this album by the singer from Mairena del Alcor marked his definitive consecration, while also being an explicit tribute to the golden generation of Fosforito, Calixto Sánchez, Miguel Vargas, Menese, Morente or Camarón.

 

 

17. Ezequiel Benítez → Chimeras of time (2000)

There is no step forward without a look at the past, and that is something that this young flamenco singer from Jerez understood very well with a trilogy that pays homage to forgotten flamenco singers and condenses the soundtrack of his formative years with exquisite taste.

 

 

18. Gerardo Nuñez → In time (2000)

Coming from flamenco More orthodox, the Jerez-born guitarist, who had already been involved in such stimulating projects as Jazzpaña, gave a lesson in playing open to jazz and Latin influences on a record in which tradition joyfully interacts with modernity.

 

 

19. Dorantes → The Wind Wheel (2020)

The 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation of the world inspired this magnificent work by the pianist from Lebrija, who undertook the direction, composition, and arrangements for orchestra and flamenco choir to narrate Magellan's feat as if the listener were part of the crew. A marvelous voyage.

 

 

20. Rocío Márquez → Firmament (2017)

The restlessness and curiosity that characterize the work of the singer from Huelva reach their maximum expression in this album, in which the inspiration of Federico García Lorca, Pío Baroja or Miguel Hernández overflows with Refree's production in experimental sounds that expand the limits of flamenco.

 

 

21. Carmen Linares → Reminiscences (2011)

The teacher from Jaén of cante He had just released several memorable albums when he dazzled everyone with this new work of Lorca-inspired inspiration, in which he surrounds himself with illustrious collaborators such as Miguel Poveda, Javier Barón and Ortiz Nuevo, among others.

 

 

22. Paco Cepero → Heart and staff (2004)

The guitarist from San Miguel, who marked an era in the 20th century, continues to lavish his mastery in the 21st with a more than remarkable discography, in which this work stands out, an unusual mix of virtuosity and maturity with that almost supernatural sense of rhythm that is his hallmark.

 

 

23. Enrique Morente → Morente dreams of the Alhambra (2005)

While the best of his discography may belong to previous decades, there's no doubt that he recorded some truly outstanding albums in the new century. This is one example. Morente dreams of the Alhambrawhere popular and high culture intertwine with exotic traveling companions like Pat Metheny or Cheb Khaled.

 

 

24. Argentina → A trip through cante (2012)

On her third album, produced by José Quevedo 'Bolita', the singer from Huelva once again displayed her best qualities, with an expressive range that includes abandolaos, garrotín and cantes del Piyayo, malagueñas de Baldomero Pacheco, fandangos, caña y polo, cantiñas… A wise voice for a new time.

 

 

25. Ángeles Toledano → Dirty blood (2024)

This unique flamenco singer, produced by Harto, recently arrived on the music scene from Villanueva de la Reina. Deeply rooted in flamenco tradition yet avant-garde in style, she possesses a hypnotic image, delivers courageous lyrics, and is endowed with irresistible sensitivity. ♦