The flamenco world is mourning Pepe Habichuela, one of its most influential guitarists of the past half-century, who died in Madrid at 82. An illness had kept him offstage since the summer of 2024. The loss is felt in Madrid, where he lived, and in his native Granada, as musicians mourn an artist whose technical and creative innovations left a lasting mark on Spanish music.
Born José Antonio Carmona Carmona in Granada in 1944, Habichuela was the third generation of a renowned family of guitarists. He came of age amid the music of Sacromonte’s caves, developing a powerful style that carried the rhythms of dance and song. In 1964, he moved to Madrid, joined his brother Juan and established himself in the capital’s tablaos. He became a sought-after accompanist, recording with leading flamenco singers, including Juanito Valderrama, Fosforito, and Fernanda y Bernarda de Utrera. In the early years of his career, he completed more than 50 collaborations.
A basic partnership with fellow Granadan Enrique Morente helped expand flamenco’s possibilities. Their joint albums, Homenaje a Don Antonio Chacón and Despegando, were both released in 1977. Crediting the two artists equally, the recordings broke with established conventions and introduced bold musical departures. Despite his success as an accompanist, Habichuela did not release his first solo album, A Mandeli, until 1983, on the Nuevos Medios label. Later projects, including Habichuela en rama and Yerbagüena, made with his son Josemi Carmona, reflected his developing approach while staying rooted in flamenco.
Habichuela welcomed new influences without losing flamenco’s defining character. He worked with international musicians Don Cherry and Dave Holland, and performed with jazz drummer Max Roach. He described his approach as playing freely while staying true to the genre. In 2018, he received Spain’s Medalla al Mérito en las Bellas Artes; in 2024, he was awarded the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X El Sabio.
His final public appearances in 2024 included tributes at Noches del Botánico in Madrid and Festival Flamenco On Fire in Pamplona, along with the Castillete de Oro at the Festival de La Unión. His wife, Amparo Bengala, and son Josemi Carmona were basic to his creative life, collaborating with him onstage and in the studio.
Flamenco remains a defining part of Spain’s cultural identity, and Habichuela’s career reflected the tradition’s preservation and evolution. Younger generations, including Ketama, the group featuring his son and nephews, carry his influence forward. Recent events have also drawn attention to sudden losses in Spanish cultural life, such as the death of a 73-year-old man at a municipal pool in Catalonia, which prompted reflection on the legacies of people who shape their communities.
Habichuela’s legacy lives on in his recordings and performances, and in the way he bridged tradition with innovation. His distinctive guitar work and cross-genre collaborations, along with his role as a mentor, helped sustain his influence in Spanish music. The honors he received in his final years reflected the esteem in which cultural institutions and the public held him.
