Diego Amador

Diego Amador draws inspiration from flamenco guitar masters Tomatito and Paco de Lucia as well as jazz pianists Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans. This experimental acoustic pianist from Spain takes bold chances by merging traditional flamenco with jazz, concentrating chiefly on post-bop yet remaining fluent in fusion and avant-garde approaches. Far from limiting himself to flamenco orthodoxy, he has interpreted Jaco Pastorius’ “Continuum,” a work by the late electric bass virtuoso. His principal instrument, the acoustic piano, stands outside flamenco convention, where the guitar traditionally dominates and some purists reject the very notion of a flamenco pianist. Still, Amador commands forms such as the bulería and the solea, integrating them with deep regard for post-bop piano exemplified by Jarrett, Evans, and Corea, the latter having explored flamenco himself on several occasions. While his jazz roots lie mainly in post-bop, he values fusion—evident in Pastorius’ own work—and at moments incorporates free jazz or avant-garde elements; the iconoclastic Cecil Taylor’s influence occasionally surfaces. Although Amador’s output technically qualifies as Latin jazz, the label usually denotes Afro-Cuban rhythmic blends associated with Cal Tjader, Poncho Sanchez, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, Machito, and Dizzy Gillespie. His music is therefore more accurately termed flamenco jazz or Spanish jazz, a category that also encompasses Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain and portions of Corea’s catalog.

Born in Seville in 1973, Amador also performs on acoustic guitar. His older brothers Raimundo and Rafael Amador played guitar in the 1980s nuevo flamenco group Pata Negra, and his father nurtured his early interest by giving him a Hammond organ. Amador applied that instrument unconventionally to bulerías and later transferred his flamenco sensibility to the acoustic piano. In August 2002, while performing in Barcelona during a convention, he attracted the notice of Fantasy Records executives Ralph Kaffel and Bill Belmont. He soon joined the Fantasy-affiliated Milestone label and recorded his debut album, Piano Jondo, in Madrid in November 2002. Amador arranged and co-produced the sessions, which Milestone/Fantasy issued in the United States in July 2003.