José Mercé & Pepe Habichuela

Two living legends of contemporary flamenco: the singer José Mercé and the guitarist Pepe Habichuela are great admirers of each other, rarely have they performed together. This is a unique and exceptional opportunity to see them together on stage. José Mercé (°1955) was born in Jerez. He is the nephew of Manuel Soto, the patriarch of the local Flamenco scene. Mercé was only a boy when Manuel Morao and the poet Manuel Rios Ruiz took him under their auspices, bringing him into contact with such personalities as Manolo Sanlúcar, Pepe de Utrera and Juan Vilar. Mercé started to accompany flamenco dance and was for a time permanent singer of Antonio Gades. As a solo artist with his own style and his own timbre of voice, he today sells many CDs in Spain. Pepe Habichuela (°1944, Granada) was next to Paco de Lucía, Camarón, Enrique Morente and Manolo Sanlúcar part of a broad revival movement in the Seventies. His reputation as an accompanying artist is unequalled: Marchena, Valderrama, Camarón, Morente, ... just about every singer of renown has called on him. He is a truly versatile guitarist who mixes tradition with his own family style, without being oblivious to new developments in flamenco music.