Great Masters of Flamenco, Vol. 14

Sabicas was a Gypsy child prodigy who taught himself to play guitar and became a composer, despite never learning to read or write music. He was born Augustin Castellon Campos in 1912 at Pamplona, and was nicknamed for his love of eating raw broad-beans or ''habas''. He first played in public at the age of seven and just three years later, he gave a concert in Madrid! He immediately aroused the admiration of everyone who heard him; the legendary master of the flamenco guitar, Ramon Montoya, congratulated him, and the great cantaores like Nina de Los Peines, Pepe Pinto and Jose Cepero asked him to accompany them. His incredible agility, inventiveness and prodigious memory gave him the frequent title of virtuoso. Sabicas fans today in Paris copy down the notes from his recordings because he never did himself, and these scores are in great demand. Between 1936 and 1950 he accompanied Carmen Amaya on her international tours, and then he settled in New York. He frequently returned to Spain and gave triumphant concerts, receiving the most sought after awards (gold records, the Radio National de Espana Award, the Catedra of flamenco studies of Jerez Prize, etc.).