José Antonio Carmona has a “Yerbagüena” [sprig of mint] in his lapel. From the darkness of the caves of Sacromonte there still remains a thin shaft of light which leads directly to India, the land from whence come the spices that flavor the flamenco Habichuelas. Pepe has just released a major record together with The Bollywood Strings, led by the Hindu violinist Chandru. Nuevos Medios is responsible for this new look at ‘historia jonda’. Pepe Habichuela is the author of this six-stringed journey on Marco Polo’s old sailing ship.

Pepe, let’s start with a conclusion: Does flamenco come from India?

Flamenco comes from Spain, it’s an Andalusian art, but I think it has a connection with Hindu music.

So where did the idea of making this record come from, where you dialogue with oriental music?

Nitin Sawhney called me to participate on his record. As a result of that experience I met Chandru who directs the Bollywood Strings Orchestra, and then the idea came up of doing something together.

For being a casual encounter, the communication is incredible, don’t you think?

It’s total. This record is my baby, I put everything into it because I liked the idea very much. It’s very clean and frankly, very flamenco, which is the music I live and die for in spite of my relationship with other kinds of music. Bear in mind that here I’m doing many things reminiscent of my first work, “A mandeli”.

Do you think the public at large will understand the concept?

The idea is to distribute the record worldwide because guitar in Spain is hardly popular at all.

Your style of playing can be spotted a mile away. What’s the secret?

I’m a very classical guitarist, but at the same time, I’m also modern and current. I think the thing is that I weave the falsetas in such a way that you don’t have time to notice that I’m playing traditional chords.

Getting back to the record, Gualberto must be very proud of what you’ve done, he’s not alone any more...

Exactly, I’ve listened to him a lot and I think he’s a genius, so now I’ve tried to follow that same path and refresh it with my contribution.

At long last Enrique Morente is on a record of yours, and he means business. Is it because of your friendship that he went all out?

I told him to sing whatever he wanted and that I’d accompany him. Without a doubt I’m completely crazy about his cante. I like Enrique even when he sings badly, and I have the happy sensation that on my record he gave much more of himself than on his own records.... Hey, I’ve got to run, but we’ll get together for a drink, okay?

Translation: Estela Zatania