Diego Amador, pianist and flamenco cantaor. Interview

“I’m ‘Camarón-style’ but I remember everybody, and I especially remember myself”

Silvia Calado. Mont de Marsan, July 2008

Although his concert last year was red-hot, this time Diego Amador wasn’t in Mont de Marsan to play. He came to the French festival this time to help his admired cantaora La Susi as musical director of her concert. And taking advantage of the coming and going behind the scenes, he spent a little while talking to Flamenco-world.com about ‘Río de los canasteros’, his latest album. His multi-faceted musical ability is known by all, but now “I want people to know that my thing is playing the piano and singing”. And that is what stands out most on this album; his openly ‘Camarón-style’ echo, but in harmony with his personal art to strum on the grand piano... and with his incredible humility.

Diego Amador (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

What is the concept of ‘Río de los canasteros’?

The idea is to do more of what I do live, which is playing the piano and singing. I play a lot of instruments on the albums, I’ve played other instruments with a lot of people, but I want people to know that my thing is playing the piano and singing.

For the time being?

No, no, I think it’s something now definite. When you’re at the studio things are recorded and, well, friends come and ask you to play the bass, this, that and the other. But my instrument is the piano… and singing.

How are those two so different facets combined?

The truth is that the piano is a classical instrument, from outside of flamenco. And then when you start singing… But I think it’s something nice because you start playing flamenco on an instrument which isn’t flamenco, but it sounds like flamenco, and then you start singing flamenco… which sounds like flamenco. I think it’s something new for people and they take it well; they’re like amazed at first when they listen to a soleá played on the piano and now you start singing like Juan Talega, but oh well.

Does it bother you to be called ‘Camarón-style’?

I’ve said it many times and I’ll always say it; that I’m ‘Camarón-style’ through and through, that I’m going to die being ‘Camarón-style’. But I remember everybody, and I especially remember myself. I’m creating a style little by little. You take stuff from one place, from another and another, but the important thing is that afterwards it sounds like you. Sometimes you might sound more like Camarón, but others you might just as easily sound more like Juan Talega. I really like singing por soleá and the lyrics of his. But my filter is Camarón. Where I end up sifting everything through is Camarón.

But besides the cante and the piano, there are basses of yours, mandolins…

	"Everything you compose is always valid; updating it is the drag"

All the arrangements. It’s an album I’ve scraped and scratched at entirely at home and the arrangements are all mine. I’ve worked on it little by little. It has some old stuff which I’ve turned around a bit. Time goes by, it gets old over the years, but you take it back up, turn it around a bit and rescue it. Everything you compose is always valid; updating it is the drag.

There are quite outstanding collaborators, aren’t there?

Magnificent. They’re my colleagues and my idols. Like, for example, Tomate is or my brother Raimundo is or Luis Salinas is. They’re all monsters I’ve grown up with and now they’re colleagues of mine, my brother’s my brother, I’ve spent many years playing with Tomate, learning a great deal. Luis Salinas is my Argentinean brother; I really love him and he loves us, Tomate and all my family. He’s an idol of mine because he’s one of the guitarists I like most from latin jazz and from other music. Like I have Birelli, Pat Metheny… Salinas is one of them; I love him.

	Diego Amador (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

Guitar is fundamental in the Amador family…

Guitar is the most important thing. I think that the first thing is guitar in my family. The concert at Mont de Marsan was really nice in which all of the Amadors could be seen with a guitar in their hands.

And Carles Benavent?

Well, Benavent is the most important one and not just to me. Although people within flamenco don’t realize it, Benavent is one of the most important contributions for flamenco to be able to be harmonized, for it to be able to have encounters with other types of music, for it to become further enriched. Benavent and Amargós are my two maestros. I started listening to their albums when I was nine years old. Imagine, a nine-year-old boy who listens to that music. Well, that’s the way it was. And I still listen to it. Benavent is my maestro and that of all young flamencos. He’s a really important person within flamenco, just like Jorge Pardo. He’s out of this world.

Next >>