Niño Miguel. Shunned Flamenco with three strings.

I do not know how to start with the description of Niño Miguel. If Paco de Lucía was a myth because of what he done, Niño Miguel is a myth because of what he could not do. When I was a child, my father had records of Niño Miguel, and then he disappeared Some years before, I discovered than he was missing in a terrific illness and in a terrific world of drugs. Tragedy and flamenco were again linked...

Miguel Vega de la Cruz, aka ‘Niño Miguel', was born in Huelva in a family with tradition in flamenco. In old videos, visually, the healthy and young Niño Miguel was impressive. He was a Guitarist that does not mark the beat with his body. He was something similar, by overcoming differences, to Joey Ramone singing. He only moved fingers and arms with a superhuman accuracy. It seems like flamenco had been inside Niño Miguel's body, waiting for a millenium, just to be set free at that moment. Paco the Lucía, remembered to play with him for overnights and he talked about Niño Miguel as a guitarist with an amazing skill of improvisation and an incredible source of falsetas. I read once that Paco says that Niño Miguel had been the best guitar player around World. But, possibly, it is only a legend.

Then schizophrenia and drugs try to finish him. People forgot him. And Niño Miguel wanderer in the streets of Huelva, with a guitar that sometimes had only three strings and sometimes two. I did not met Niño Miguel anytime. But people from Huelva, in flamenco forums, which say to have met him, tell that he had a great respect to Paco de Lucía, and he used to call him ' The Captain'. The guitarist José Luis Rodríguez says that he learnt very much from Niño Miguel, only listening to his guitar. He could play with this conditions much better that most of high-level amateurs. They said that he, the genius, usually improvised wonderful and incredible falsetas that nobody had heart before, now lost. It is controversial if his song ‘Entre dos ríos’, quite similar to ‘Entre dos aguas’ was originally from Paco de Lucía, from him or from both gitarists. But It does not matter. Paco plays it in is way and Niño Miguel too. Anaway, both ways were wonderful ways.

When I saw those videos of Niño Miguel, playing so wonderful with that really cheap guitars and three strings, I realized that I was one of these stupid people which aspired to play something thinking that guitar model is one of the most important thins to play flamenco: woods, craftwork quality, sound, etc. I realized that we were offering a bad definition of what is really flamenco from Spain to all these people in the world who feelt the 'duende'. Niño Miguel images and his sounds show clearly that thinks like the drag and quackery of obsession for the trademark of your guitar is an outrage and an abomination. The only thing that you need to play flamenco is rhythm, a tombola guitar, a fabolous technique and heart, and an actual wild heart. The  most humble guitar was the best in the world in his hands.

During his last years, he was recovered partially from his problems, he played some concerts and a documentary "The sadows of the strings", talking about him, was filmed. Buy destiny is cruel and some time after he died.

In a Youtube video he reflected that "(Professional) Flamenco is really complicate and we are too many people. They rule me out long time ago...That's all.". He demostrated that true flamenco essence is not only in stages, because flamenco roots are not creating in stages. But destiny deprive us of a new kind  of Mozart.

You can find Niño Miguel scores in old Laffeel editions.