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One of the earliest flamenco virtuosos was Ramon Montoya. He was born on November 2,1880. Though born in Madrid faraway from Andalucia, he grasped the ability to play flamenco so that by the time he was 14 he was employed in a Madrid cafe to accompany cantantes. His virtuosity grew as fast as his fame. His recording profile begins at about 1910 more or less. He was active until about 10 years before his death in l949.

 

 

Ramón Montoya is one of the timeless masters of the flamenco guitar. He has been an authentic teacher for guitarists like Paco de Lucía, Niño Ricardo and Sabicas, and he continues to serve that function for young tocaores of the present generation. All of the palos (forms) that he played still bear his imprint and the numerous features that he introduced and were unknown before him are still in use today, fifty years after his death.

He showed his skill at accompanying dancing and singing very precociously, a skill that allowed him to work with Juan Breva, Niño de Marchena, Salud Rodríguez, Antonio de Bilbao, La Macarrona and La Niña de los Peines in the café cantantes in Madrid, where he played for many years. Nonetheless, the person with whom he formed the best artistic partnership was Antonio Chacón, “the master of all the flamenco cantes”, in the words of Montoya himself, who he performed with for fifteen years.

Another great contribution made by Ramón Montoya to the flamenco guitar was that of introducing guitar concerts. Until that moment, guitarists had only made few and not very significant attempts to play the guitar as an instrument for solo concerts, without accompanying singing or dancing. It was in this facet that Montoya travelled around Europe and America, as a solo artist.