Editing Carlos Montoya

{{Short description|Spanish flamenco musician (1903–1993)}}
{{for|the Peruvian footballer|Carlos Montoya (footballer)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Carlos Montoya
| image           = Carlos Montoya-portrait.jpg
| landscape       =
| caption         = Montoya circa 1950s
| birth_name      = Carlos García Montoya
| alias           =
| birth_date      = {{birth-date|13 December 1903}}
| birth_place     = [[Madrid]], [[Spain]]
| origin          =
| death_date      = {{death-date and age|3 March 1993|13 December 1903}}
| death_place     = [[Wainscott, New York]], U.S.
| instrument      = [[Guitar]]
| genre           = [[Flamenco music]]
| occupation      = {{flatlist|
*[[Composer]]
*[[Guitarist]]
}}
| years_active    =
| label           =
| associated_acts = 
}}

'''Carlos García Montoya''' (13 December 1903{{snds}}3 March 1993) born in [[Madrid]], [[Spain]], was a prominent [[flamenco]] guitarist and a founder of the modern-day popular flamenco style of music.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/carlos-montoya-p28905/biography|title=Carlos Montoya|author=Kim Summers|date=|work=AllMusic|accessdate=8 November 2015|archive-date=10 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310073219/http://allmusic.com/artist/carlos-montoya-p28905/biography|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life==

He was the nephew of renowned flamenco guitarist [[Ramón Montoya]]. He first learned from his mother, "la Tula", and then from a neighboring barber, Pepe el Barbero, i.e. Pepe the Barber. After one year Montoya had completed what Pepe was able to teach him. Carlos left to learn what he could from other flamenco guitarists of the time. At fourteen he was playing in the "cafes cantantes," in the heyday of flamenco singing and dancing, for such artists as Antonio de Bilbao, Juan el Estampío, La Macarrona and La Camisona in Madrid, Spain.

==Career==

In the 1920s and 1930s he performed extensively in [[Europe]], [[North America]], and [[Asia]] with the likes of La Teresina. The outbreak of [[World War II]] brought him to the [[United States]] where he began his most successful days as a musician,<ref name=Wilkins /> bringing his fiery style to concert halls and universities. He also accompanied orchestras.<ref name=Wilkins /><ref>video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmOQs0MHX7o Carolos Montoya accompanies dancer and singer Tere Maya performing "Buleria" and Tientos Gitanos"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408185759/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmOQs0MHX7o |date=2022-04-08 }}</ref> During this period he made a few recordings for several major and independent labels including [[RCA Victor]], [[Everest Records|Everest]] and [[Folkways Records|Folkways]],<ref name=Wilkins>Wilkins, Jack. ''The Everything Guitar Book'', Everything Books (2007) pp. 160-161</ref> performing traditional flamenco music such as ''[[Farruca]]''.,<ref>video: [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x276hi0_farruca-flamenco-guitar-with-carlos-montoya_music Carlos Montoya performing Farruca] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085237/http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x276hi0_farruca-flamenco-guitar-with-carlos-montoya_music |date=2016-03-04 }}</ref> ''Malaga'' and ''Hokie''.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/rMXQtOl8sM0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160316142835/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMXQtOl8sM0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMXQtOl8sM0|title=Carlos Montoya (Flamenco guitarist) - "Malaga" (1959)|author=|date=21 November 2013|work=YouTube|accessdate=8 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

When World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, he was on tour in the United States, and decided to settle in New York City, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen.<ref name=Wilkins /> By the end of the war in 1945, his repertoire had broadened to include blues, jazz and folk music.<ref name=Wilkins /> He again toured internationally, and was the first flamenco guitarist to tour the world with symphonies and orchestras,<ref name=Wilkins /> and dominated the field of flamenco in the U.S.<ref>Coelho, Victor. ''[[Cambridge Companions to Music|The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar]]'', Cambridge Univ. Press (2003) p. 22</ref> During his career he also performed on television and recorded over forty albums, including ''Suite Flamenco'', a concerto he performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1966.<ref name=Wilkins /> His performances helped popularize flamenco guitar music worldwide.<ref>Noad, Frederick M. ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar'', Penguin (2002) p. 162</ref>

Montoya is credited with having transformed flamenco guitar music into a separate music style, beyond being a traditional dance accompaniment.<ref name=Wilkins /> He adapted flamenco to other genres of music to create his own recognizable style, becoming an international star.<ref name=Wilkins /> However, his style was not particularly appreciated by some serious flamenco students, who considered it less traditional than many others. That he was unpopular among aficionados was possibly because he abandoned the ''[[compás]]'' that had evolved within flamenco over hundreds of years. Many of his works do not even keep perfect tempo, increasing and decreasing in speed almost whimsically. He was admired for the speed of his [[picados]] and found popularity on the international stage as a result of this technically impressive pace.

==Death and legacy==

Montoya died on 3 March 1993 at the age of 89 of heart failure in [[Wainscott, New York]], on [[Long Island, New York|Long Island]]. His niece, Rosa Montoya, is noted for introducing flamenco dance to most of California with her studio based in San Francisco.<ref>video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j41VjuM3Ams "KQED Spark – Rosa Montoya"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611130743/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j41VjuM3Ams |date=2023-06-11 }}, KQED TV, February 2005</ref>

==Discography==

[[File:Carlos Montoya NYWTS.jpg|thumb]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Album Title
|-
| 1950 || ''Spanish Guitar Solos ''<br />
|-
| 1957 || ''Flamenco Guitar''<br />
|-
| 1958 || ''Carlos Montoya and His Flamenco Guitar''<br />
|-
| 1958 || ''Flamenco Fire''<br />
|-
| 1959 || ''From St. Louis to Seville''<br />
|-
| 1961 || ''Malagueña''<br />
|-
| 1963 || ''Flamenco Antiguo''<br />
|-
| 1964 || ''Flamenco Concert''<br />
|-
| 1967 || ''The Artistry Of Carlos Montoya''
|-
| 1996 || ''Flamenco!''<br />
|-
| 2004 || ''Guitar & Flamenco''<br />
|}

==Filmography==

* ''[[Carmen, la de Triana]]'' (1938)

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

{{commons}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081206134116/http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=%2FIGRAdiscography&CISOBOX1=Montoya%2C+Carlos+Garc%C3%ADa Some photos of LP covers] http://library.csun.edu/SCA/Peek-in-the-Stacks/Tanno (Oviatt Library Digital Collections)
*[https://www.wnyc.org/story/carlos-montoya-wqxr-recital-studioCarlos Carlos Montoya in the WQXR Recital Studio, May 12, 1951.]

{{Portal bar|Biography|Spain}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montoya, Carlos}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Musicians from Madrid]]
[[Category:Romani guitarists]]
[[Category:Spanish flamenco guitarists]]
[[Category:Spanish male guitarists]]
[[Category:Spanish Romani people]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish male musicians]]
[[Category:Spanish emigrants to the United States]]