The Madrid guitarist blends flamenco, jazz, and world music alongside Chano Domínguez, Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent, and Duquende on his new album.
By Susan Villa
Agustín Carbonell, artistically known as El Bola, belongs to one of Madrid’s most important flamenco dynasties. A guitarist, composer, and profound connoisseur of accompaniment for singing and dancing, he has built an extensive artistic career that has taken him across all five continents and led him to share the stage with major figures from flamenco and music.
The Madrid artist has just released Dueño de la nada, a recording born from maturity, experience, and a creative search developed over decades. Its twelve compositions create a dialogue between flamenco tradition, jazz, and world music, incorporating the colors and languages he discovered during his stays in Brazil, Andalusia, Tunisia, and India.
In this interview with Susan Villa, Agustín Carbonell recalls his first steps within a family closely connected to flamenco, explains the spiritual and personal meaning of his new album, and speaks about the mark Paco de Lucía left on him. He also discusses his numerous collaborations and the projects through which he hopes to continue expanding a career defined by freedom and musical curiosity.
Question. You were born into one of Madrid’s most important flamenco dynasties. When did you realize that music would be the central focus of your life?
Answer. Yes, I was truly born into a very flamenco family. My grandfather was already a professional musician in the 1920s, and all his children, including my father, worked alongside all the major figures of that time, during the golden age of flamenco in Madrid. My father took me to the tablaos, and my circle has always been this. I began accompanying my father when I was very young, but I felt something special musically from the moment I was born, and I began composing my own things when I was very young.
Question. Your new album, Dueño de la nada, is presented as a work of maturity in which you open your soul. What personal and artistic moment does the title reflect?
Answer. I really still have a lot to do, but this album is the consequence of many stories throughout my life. It has a spiritual concept and an intimate perspective…
Question. Some of the compositions began taking shape in 1997, during your stay in Brazil, and evolved through your travels across Andalusia, Tunisia, and India. How have these places transformed your way of composing and understanding flamenco?
Answer. I have been composing since 1997; I had just finished the album Vuelo flamenco. I began creating many things in Brazil with a different perspective. Then I returned to Spain eight years later and settled in Tunisia. I studied some Arabic music and the oud. I am truly very interested in the concept of composition from a sonic and historical perspective, more than in the compositions themselves. That is why my music has the colors of classical jazz and, of course, flamenco, with my own perspective…
Question. In this work, flamenco tradition engages in a dialogue with jazz and world music. How do you manage to respect your roots without giving up experimentation and creative freedom?
Answer. You can have creative freedom when you have come to know flamenco accompaniment for singing and dancing. All of this gives you a very unique range of possibilities, but you also have to have knowledge of jazz and other types of music in order to try to create a common language. Ultimately, it comes from the personal universe that one creates.
Question. Among the album’s tracks is “A Paco,” dedicated to your mentor and friend Paco de Lucía. What does his figure represent in your career?
Answer. Paco de Lucía has been the pillar of our generation. I was fortunate enough to know him personally and develop a small friendship with him. I have enormous respect for his art and for him as a person. This piece came from the soul and is an intimate tribute, using his music; it is a musical collage that was born from a profound feeling.
Question. The album brings together musicians such as Marc Miralta, Manel Fortià, Chano Domínguez, Jorge Pardo, Carles Benavent, Duquende, and other great artists. What have these collaborations contributed to the character and sound of Dueño de la nada?
Answer. I think we all know who they are artistically. All of these great artists are also my friends, and having them on this album is a source of pride for me; it means something very special.
Question. After traveling across all five continents and developing an extensive career as a guitarist, composer, and songwriter, what are your next projects?
Answer. The idea I have for my next project is to record a solo guitar album and produce other artists…
Dueño de la nada represents much more than a new chapter in Agustín Carbonell’s discography: it is the synthesis of a life devoted to the guitar, of the lessons acquired throughout his travels, and of a deeply intimate way of understanding flamenco.
His words reveal a creator who respects the heritage he received while continuing to look toward new horizons, with the intention of recording a solo guitar project and producing other artists. It has been a pleasure to speak with El Bola and to come closer to the sensitivity, memory, and creative freedom that pulse behind his music.
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