Rafa El Tachuela

by Adam Greenberg
An early learner on guitar, Rafa Tachuela began performing on the Berlin club circuits at the age of 15. Within the same basic time frame, he began digging deeper into the study of flamenco, forming the group Yamada for more performances. He also studied music performance, composition, and analysis at Berlin's University of the Arts. After graduation, he spent some time studying under Barcelona's Diego Cortes, concurrently and alternately, while teaching flamenco at the Leo Borchardt Music School for some ten years before beginning work with Manuel Morena and his group in the early to mid-'90s, and composing for them extensively. Soon after, he began a successful stint with the group Jaleo, recording four albums and touring throughout Europe. Since then, he's formed La Pasion Flamenca ensemble for further performances, and worked extensively on the world music market with Britain's ARC Records. His work focuses a good deal on the connections between flamenco and its Arabic and Indian roots.