Alfonso was born and raised in Seville, the heartland of Flamenco music. His mother, an amateur singer from Triana, a Flamenco enclave in Seville, and his grandfather, an aficionado of Flamenco were his earliest influences.  He also had the opportunity of attending the activities of one the most significant Flamenco clubs in Andalusia, the Peña Flamenca Torres-Macarena since 1987.

Alfonso enrolled at the Seville Conservatory in 1990 to study flute and music theory.  For the following 5 years he received a classical training.

He also attended the classes at the Cristina Heeren Foundation for Flamenco Art in 2007 and 2008 in Sevilla, Spain, where he studied with maestro Paco Taranto and the new talent of Rocío Márquez and Elena Morales. 

In 1997 Alfonso moved to the United States, since then he is based in New York City.  He has made many guest appearances at important venues including Madison Square Garden, American Airlines Arena (Miami), Amway Center (Orlando) and Staples Center (Los Angeles) with the popular Latin artist Romeo Santos.  He had the honor of recording backing vocals in the song titled “Mi Santa” by Santos in which the great flamenco guitarist Tomatito was a featured guest artist. 

He also performed at the 92 Y with singer songwriter and peace activist David Broza; Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Town Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Sala Covarrubias in Mexico City to name a few. 

He has worked with all of the significant artists in the flamenco ambiance through out the USA, performing and touring in the Tri-State area, Washington DC, San Francisco, Portland, OR; Chicago, Detroit, Kentucky, Toronto, Ottawa, British Columbia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Since February of 2008 he has been teaching flamenco “cante” (flamenco song) at Flamenco Latino Studios and has given several flamenco “cante” for dance workshops at Lotus Music and Dance Studios.  That includes a series of lecture/demonstrations in 2010, 2011 and 2012 titled “El Baile Flamenco” in which he shares the structure of flamenco singing, guitar playing and choreography. 

In partnership with Carlota Santa’s Flamenco Vivo Alfonso produced in 2010 “La Música Flamenca” (The Flamenco Music) for the Lincoln Center Institute.  This is a show in which different aspects of flamenco song are introduced to audiences such as school teachers in professional development programs as well as kids in school performances.  This is an ongoing show. 

He released his first CD titled “Flamenco de vuelta e ida” on 2006 with is own Flamenco fusion project “Gazpacho Andalú” with guitarist Arturo Martínez.

He has also released the debut album of his Spanish Indie Rock project “Dientes de Caramelo” titled “Pulpo” (Octopus) in March of 2012.  For more info log on www.dientesdecaramelo.com

Jose Velazquez is a BBC-trained documentary maker and new broadcast technologist. His expertise extends across the technical, editorial, journalistic and curatorial spectrums. Jose holds an MA in Documentary Research for Film and Television (London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London) He is skilled in media acquisition, transport, storage, compression, management, metadata enrichment and video delivery, and is very passionate about #AVArchives, #Digitisation, #Accessibility, #Preservation and #AI.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvelazquez/

Jose Luis de la Paz, 1967 

Jose Luis is an award-winning guitarist, recognized in all the disciplines of the Flamenco Art. He is a composer, virtuoso and performer whose original compositions range from the most traditional up to the most experimental forms in flamenco music. 

Following the oral traditions, at 15 years of age, he was fortunate to become the prized pupil of the legendary Mario Escudero. 

In 1995 he appeared in Felix Grande's book "Agenda Flamenca" as one of the best guitarists in Spain. 

He was the musical director for the Ballet Cristina Hoyos for ten years (the star of Carlos Saura films) and has accompanied numerous famous Flamenco singers and dancers such as, Carmen Linares, Jose Mercé, Arcángel, El Pele, Argentina, Manolo Marin, Pastora Galván, Isabel Bayón, Antonio Canales, Farruquito, Buika and Belen Maya among others. 

Additionally, he recently collaborated with the LA Philharmonic and Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, under the artistic direction of Siudy Garrido Company in El Amor Brujo. 

In 2015, Jose Luis debuted a piece of musical history at the Miami Dade Auditorium entitled "Avalon" - Suite for Flamenco Guitar and Orchestra, in collaboration with Alex Conde (arrangements/orchestration). This composition is the first of its kind composed in the US by Spanish artists with a national and international cast.

He is also the co-founder of Nu Flamenco Collaborative, an organization that aims to introduce US audiences to the cultural heritage of flamenco and its emerging artistic expressions. 

Jose Luis is currently working on the Soundtrack for the movie "Finding Compás" by Kathy Douglas and was nominated for the US Artist Fellowship.


DISCOGRAPHY
•    Andalusí (1987)
•    Compilation Select (2002)
•    Memoria Andaluzí (2005)
•    10X1 (Grammy Awards Finalist 2011)
•    Escenas de Yerma (2016)


ALFONSO CID is following