The joy on the face of Pepe Habichuela infected everyone who came near the Assembly Hall of the House of the Piñón of La Unión. I arrived at the Cante de las Minas some forty years after his last visit, but he remembered this land as if only a few days had passed. “The La Unión Festival has been going for more than half a century and many figures have emerged from here,” he said, highlighting the importance of this event. That is why receiving the Castillete de Oro, the highest distinction of the Cante de las Minas, not only made him “very happy”, but he also sees it as an award that has “completed” his career.
The encounter with Jose Antonio Carmona, his real name, during the Cultural Agenda was a connection with a humble, approachable, and charismatic person, one of those who can only inspire admiration. He shared his story through the book presentation. now or never, the biography in which Jose Manuel Gamboa Not only has he captured his entire life, but he also includes the voices of his son Josemi Carmona and his wife, Amparo Bengala, who has been accompanying him during this important moment for the guitarist. The work, "the result of many years of love, friendship, and admiration," indicated the producer flamenco, is titled with a phrase that the award-winning artist has been repeating for years, and which serves as a reflection of the ambition and desire to grow that have characterized his career. Proof of this was when he left the tablao where he worked, with a fixed salary, and embarked on the adventure of becoming something more alongside the great Enrique Morente"I was fed up with the tablao and wanted to move on, and I wanted to get out of there to make a living so we wouldn't suffer," he recalled. "We did a lot of concerts around the world, very interesting jobs, and now I feel happy because I wasn't stuck in a tablao," he said gratefully.
«Pepe Habichuela's guitar has been present in the entire flamenco avant-garde of the last fifty years, because he is one of the geniuses of our time and of the history of flamenco. flamenco» (Joaquín Zapata)
His wife supported his decision from the very beginning: “He has struggled little by little in life until he reached the point where people would recognize his worth. I stayed at the tablao and I am proud that he has grown, because the moment he 'broke' was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to me in my life,” he recalls. In addition to the tribute album Antonio Chacon together with Morente, he launched solo in 1983 To Mandeli, and in 1997 Bean on the branch, but in his discography there are five more along with other artists such as Dave Holland o The Bollywood Strings"I've always enjoyed getting involved in these things, because you learn a lot and have fun there," he commented on his ability to make his playing connect with other styles.
Among his distinctions are the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (2019), the highest award for a lifetime achievement in Spanish culture, and his appointment as an honorary professor at the University of Alcalá de Henares and the Berklee School of Music (Boston), among many other recognitions to which the Castillete de Oro has now been added. “This award is a blessed glory, because receiving something like this here is exciting,” he added.
"This award is an act of justice," argued the president of the Foundation. Cante of the Mines, Joaquin Zapata, defining his guitar as “the pinnacle of accompaniment” for “its unique sound and extraordinary way of accompanying”, which has led him to be at the side of four generations of singers: from Pepe Marchena to Rocío Márquez or Silvia Pérez Cruz, passing through Juanito Valderrama and Enrique Morente. “Pepe Habichuela’s guitar has been present in all the flamenco avant-garde of the last fifty years, because he is one of the geniuses of our time and of the history of flamenco”, he said. flamenco"He concluded.
