Quotes

I love the sea. Swimming, fishing, going out in my boat - that gives me tranquility. Nowadays, I love to read as well. Historical fiction is what I discovered for myself.

As a young man, my greatest inspiration was [flamenco singer] Camaron de la Isla, no doubt. That was the best time of my life I would say. I learned so much and matured in this period. Later, my collaboration with Chick Corea, John [McLaughlin] and Al [Di Meola] in the guitar trio was something very special. I was very afraid in the beginning how to play with these fine musicians. But I found my way and I'm sure their playing also changed my music a lot.

I have to confess that I still do not read music at all. When I look at all the artists today I think they are doing the right thing to learn as much as possible about music. When I was young I simply had no choice but to learn by ear. Some people say that this might be a reason why my music comes more from inspiration than from intellect.

I grew up with my family in a gypsy neighborhood. There was music all day long until late in the night. My father was a guitar player and composer, my two brothers Ramon and Pepe became musicians. When you hear music every day it becomes like milk that you drink and that you need every day. And even before I started to play an instrument, I knew all the rhythms and was able to distinguish the falsettas' in the compositions.