Born in Granada, Spain, on January 26, 1972, Miguel Angel Cortés is a gypsy guitarist who is comfortable playing traditional flamenco, as well as more modern nuevo flamenco. Cortés, like many flamenco guitarists, learned to play guitar from his gypsy relatives; he was born into a musical family that includes such flamenco artists as his father, Miguelón Cortés, and his brother Paco Cortés. The Granada native was only eight when his relatives starting teaching him flamenco guitar and by the time he was a teenager, Cortés was playing professionally. Cortés, who has accompanied such flamenco vocalists as Estrella Morente and José de la Tomasa, was 22 when he won the Paco de Lucía Guitar Award in 1994. The late '90s found Cortés touring with flamenco vocalist Carmen Linares and in 2000, his Patriarca album was released on Alula in the U.S. ~ Alex Henderson