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	Diego el Cigala (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Working with each guitarist must've been amazing, wasn't it, especially with Paco de Lucía?

With Paco, I was shaking all over. I called him and he was tired of the tour, so he didn't want to leave without doing a great bulería for me. We went into the studio and what touched me the most was that he took me in his arms. He made me partners with his guitar; it wasn't about being myself anymore. He made me partners with his guitar, his flamencura, and he guided me when I'd sing. He did the voice; he told me where I had to sing. And me, ‘aloha’. He'd tell me: “Take it easy; have a drink. Start singing for your voice to open up, for you to start getting some color”. Let's say the exact word is patience. He showed patience with me and a lot of love. “Sing, sing”. And when he heard what he wanted from me, he called me. Go play some more. And then he'd grab you outside, he'd do a couple of things for you on the guitar and I'd say “oh, how nice”. Boy, was I happy.

And with Tomatito?

I went to Almería with Tomate; a memorable odyssey. Because I went there to record with him and we didn't record. But I did bring back all the lyrics and then as soon as he felt loose with his work, we grabbed a studio at Musigrama. What Tomate wanted was to do a bulería but with everyone live; not first the guitar, then the clapping, then the cante… No, the whole big bunch. That isn't done anymore; it's been lost with ‘ProTools’ and I don't know what all. I called Guadiana, Juañares, Bandolero, Tomate and that's it; live. And I enjoyed it because recordings are no longer done like that; nothing sounds like that anymore. What that bulería has going for it is that it's fresh; it's a live bulería. If it got off track it was OK; it kept on going and later I corrected the lyrics. What was important to us was for the rhythm to be kept up the whole time so that Tomate could keep up that shattering speed he has. To me, Tomate's a Bengal. One's a lion and the other's a tiger.

And then, the next generation…

That kid Diego del Morao… It was really nice with him because it was a piece of cake. Really clear-cut. A guitarist even maestro Paco's had to talk about. He's got momentum and scope few guitarists have at that age. His brains, rhythm, the way of laying things down are brilliant. Josemi Carmona, with his harmony and his musicality which are his trademark, came and gave me the tune ‘La paloma’. Superb. A different kind of tale. I started to listen to it from the outside and I relished thinking about singing there. A smile and happiness came over me … I'm gloating.

Diego el Cigala (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Then Jerry González and Raimundo Amador. It was really funny watching those two fighters. It got to be nine in the morning. When we finished recording, we went home. Unbelievable. I've never seen anybody who likes music more than those two. Drums big and small, electric guitars … And I nodded, as the audience, happy because it was a fruitful night. Do you know what Raimundo's guitar sounds like in ‘Apenao’? Like the Pata Negra albums. The old verses have really come back to him.

Paquete's role has been two-fold: guitarist and producer.

Paquete was awesome on the guitar in ‘Guernika’ and produced the record with me; it was a production by Cigala Music with him. He held his own. We killed each other with opinions and what all … but everything was for the good of the album. He racked his brains. I told him what ‘Picasso en mis ojos’ had to be like and he understood. I don't know if it was hard for him or not, but he got the message of what I wanted. I had him chew it over and he played the role. Juan Antonio Salazar was awesome in the lyrics. He grabbed some lyrics and changed them in a jiffy, in no time; he has that gift. The arguments between Paquete and me were for the better; there couldn't be anything left I was unsatisfied with because it's my album. Not even because it's my album; if there's something that's no good, it's no good. Self-criticism always led us in the right direction. Sometimes it's bad for two people to be alone together in a studio. If you're there with five or six musicians with opinions of people in the know, who don't talk, but with a single gesture tell you all you need to know. We all ended up at home on the last day doing up ‘Apenao’; we were wiped out, and everyone was giving an opinion to pull it through safely. Everybody knew where we had to go. So much so that Morao sacrificed his guitar in ‘Apenao’ in order to leave Raimundo's guitar. There was no doubt about it; the song had grown out of it and end of story. That's why I agree with the album, apart from the fact that the playing and singing are really well-done. Each musician's opinion has helped make it ‘Picasso en mis ojos’.

Do you think those who discovered you with ‘Lágrimas negras’ are going to stay hooked on your music?

	"We know the flamenco audience is a minority, but that's starting to change. Flamenco is more and more universal"

That's my aim with this record. Whether it sells or not, I already feel more than rewarded. I want everyone to know that. There isn't enough money in the world to pay the musicians who are there. Then if it works (commercially), by the grace of God, it'll have to work. We know the flamenco audience is a minority, but that's starting to change. Flamenco is more and more universal. It depends on the artist's charisma, the music he does and how he's backed. And in that case I've got all the odds in my favor. ‘Lágrimas negras’ has to be taken advantage of positively. It's useful, now that I have to go to Latin America in October, to be able to present ‘Picasso en mis ojos’ at all the theaters I was at last year with ‘Lágrimas negras’: the National Auditorium of Mexico, the Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, Maracai's Opera House... Then, it's true that I do delight the crowd with three boleros; instead of with piano, with guitar... And you drive them crazy with that. But always upholding who I am. All those theaters have to be filled up to see ‘Picasso en mis ojos’. A really big door has been opened.

Moreover, it's thrown a bridge for you with Latin American music which now materializes in the Cuban rumba ‘Apenao’…

We could call it Catalan-Cuban. Yumitu's there, with that pure, wild Catalan piano, with a Catalan rumba as good as any. And then there's that Cuban chorus which makes you cry, which reminds me of Ibrahim Ferrer and all those people. I did that rumba because I wanted to give it to the ‘Lágrimas negras’ audience; they deserve it. That rumba is very appreciative on this record. ‘Apenao’ is like a breath of fresh air for them. You listen to the entire album, and at first, that rumba comes on and you say “oh, my shoulders are moving, oh, my feet are moving”. A good thing about this record is the order the songs have been arranged in.

You're absolutely positive it's going to be listened to.

Of course I know it's going to be listened to. Besides, I made it for the whole thing to be listened to. It's thirty-eight minutes long so that you don't have to skip any songs. You've got no choice but to take in the entire album. And it's really necessary. We're fed up with making a record with just three worthwhile songs on it: the ones OK to play on the radio, the ones for the promotion... No, sir. You've got to put this on and play it till the end and say: “Man, is the record over already? I'm gonna play it again”. That's the thing. Do you know what I went through with Paquete because of that? I insisted that the album couldn't even run to forty-two minutes, that I was getting bored with it. And he agreed with me. If you reach forty-five minutes, even stones get bored with it. Listen to my friend Bebo's album; see if you finish the whole thing. You don't finish it. It's a seventy-minute record, twenty tracks. I did ten with ‘Apenao’. There are thirty-eight tasty minutes. We can't overdo it and have people get fed up with the album.

There'll be plenty of time to enjoy yourself live, won't there?

As I went along making the album, so as not to get bored, I started presenting the new songs live. You have to start embellishing them with nice stuff and that's done up on stage.

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