Estrella Morente

Estrella Morente has emerged as one of Spain's most celebrated new flamenco voices. The daughter of legendary flamenco singer Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonell, Estrella has the music in her blood, and began performing at her father's side in neighborhood flamenco clubs in Granada's famed Gitano quarter when she was just four years old. At the age of seven she made her first recording: an impromptu accompaniment of flamenco guitarist Sabicas captured on the fly by an astute journalist. By the time she was a teenager, and made her official debut at the age of 17, Morente was already a seasoned flamenco performer and well-steeped in the lore and traditions of the music.

Morente made a splash in 2001, with her stunning debut album My Songs and a Poem was released internationally. Released internationally a year later, the album was a self-assured tour-de-force that revealed Morente to be an artist in possession of both a formidable artistic vision and even more formidable voice. Though the songs were largely drawn from the traditional flamenco repertoire (except for one, which Morente wrote herself), they were all produced and arranged by Morente's father, who helped give them a contemporary kick. In addition, some of flamenco's leading lights – including her cousins the Carmona brothers of Ketama fame – sat in on the sessions, making the record something of an event. The album was a smash both at home and abroad, garnering a prestigious Onda award and two Premios Amigo nominations in Spain, and a GRAMMY nomination in the United States.

Sine this auspicious debut, Morente has more than lived up to her early promise with her sophomore record, Calle del Aire -- also released in 2001, just months after her debut that same year – and sold-out solo and ensemble performances all over Spain (most notably with the Joaquín Cortés dance company). She's also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Sobreviviré and Buñuel y la mesa del Rey Salomón with stunning vocal performances that re-affirm her status as one of contemporary flamenco's most innovative standard-bearers. – Tom Pryor