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The flamenco guitar tradition is centered on two gypsy families, that of Miguel de Almería, also known as Miguel "El Tomate", and the "Josele" family. Niño Miguel and Antonio Fernandez "El Tomate", both professional guitarists, are the sons of Miguel "El Tomate", but the brightest star in the family firmament is Fernandez Torres "Tomatito", born in Almería in 1958, one of the best-known performers of the "toque gitano" today.  

 

He was born in the midst of many flamenco guitarists: his father, his grandfather Miguel Tomate and his uncle, the legendary tocaor (flamenco guitarist) Niño Miguel. He accompanied legendary flamenco vocalist Camarón de la Isla during the last eighteen years of his life, as well as other great cantaores like Enrique Morente, La Susi, Vicente Soto, José Menese, Pansequito and a great many more. Early in his career, he followed the tradition of Paco de Lucía, but as time passed he started to develop his own style and achieved a great success at an international level.

His musical career began in Málaga in tablaos like the Taberna Gitana, where Camarón de la Isla saw him playing and did not hesitate call on him when he split up, artistically speaking, from Ramón de Algeciras. Tomatito was twenty years old when they recorded La leyenda del tiempo, and he remained loyal to Camarón until his death, after which he began an illustrious career as a concert guitarist.

 

Since then he has branched out in his professional activities, and has performed alongside artists like Elton John and Frank Sinatra, he has given jazz-flamenco concerts with the accompaniment of the pianos of Chano Domínguez and Michel Camino, he recorded the Spanish version of the song Woman with the singer Neneh Cherry, he took part in films like The Devil's Advocate, featuring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, and Flamenco by Carlos Saura.

 

His style is rhythmic and elegant, and characterized above all by his absolute mastery of the compás. A guitarist without "compás" may play his own music which may have some flamenco characteristics, but it will never be genuine. Over and above his technical ability, his inspiration and imagination, a guitarist is of no interest to the "aficionados" if he loses control of the "compás". Tomatito not only has an innate sense of rhythm but the compás is engraved on his subconscious with the result that he plays it without having to think twice.