Top 5 Artists You Never Knew Were from Granada

Opposite one of the best tapas bars in central Granada, three simple words are scrawled on a battered old wall in spray paint: “Vive Morente,” or “Long live Morente.” It is a subtle reminder of the huge influence Enrique Morente, a Granada-born flamenco singer and innovator, had on the constantly-evolving art he practiced.

Morente’s flamenco credentials were impeccable. He was born in Albaicín, Granda’s old Arabic quarter and an area steeped in flamenco. Encouraged by musical family members and saturated in the flamenco culture of Albaicín, he started to sing at a very early age and, when still only in his teens, headed to Madrid to pursue a career as a professional musician.

His first recordings, made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, adhered to the traditional forms and rythms of flamenco and were widely praised by purists. But Morente eventually tired of these and became more experimental, much to the dismay of those who had lauded his early works. A 1996 record, Omega, made in collaboration with the Spanish alternative rock group Lagartija Nick, was a step too far for many. Like him or not, though, Morente was one of the most challenging and inventive figures in flamenco’s recent history.

Enrique Morente’s contribution to the flamenco tradition didn’t stop with his death. His daughter Estrella Morente, now 36, has also established herself as a respected and successful flamenco singer, avoiding the fate of simply being “that famous singer’s daughter.”

Although, as she was growing up in Sacromonte – the achingly romantic gypsy flamenco neighborhood of Granada – there were certain perks of being the great Morente’s little girl. When Estrella was seven, she performed with the legendary flamenco guitarist Sabicas; at 14, she sang with her father in a rock-flamenco fusion concert. In 2001, she came to the world’s attention with the release of her first album, Mi cante y un poema (My Songs and a Poem), as well as a high-profile wedding in Granada to bullfighter Javier Conde.

Estrella has released five records since then and was Penélope Cruz’s singing voice in the 2006 film Volver. Elements of the tradional flamenco forms that characterized her father’s early work are present in her singing, but so too is a new, fresh voice that is bringing flamenco to a younger audience.