Antonio
Jiménez Maya "EL
Salvaje" was born
in Granada in 1981, the son of the flamenco singer Maite
Maya and grand son on his maternal
side of the dancer Bienvenido
Maya and the dancer/singer María
la Coneja, and of Juan Cantero
the singer from Extremadura, on his paternal side. He comes
from a long line of distinguished flamenco artists, his great
grandfather won the Premio de París de la Soleá
de Arcas (La Chata la Jampona) in 1800.
He
was brought up within a flamenco atmosphere and began playing
the cajón at the early age of 4. He made his debut
at the age of 15 in a flamenco show with the Nuevo Ballet
Español.
He
has worked with an extensive list of flamenco figures such
as Juan Andrés Maya,
Rafael
Amargo, Antonio Canales, Gerónimo Maya, Estrella Morente,
Tomatito and he was first percussionist
in Cristóbal Reyes production “Pura Pasión”.
He has also worked with María
Pagés and Jorge Pardo.
He
is founder member of the percussion group Gypsy Latin Percussion
and he has worked in Casa Patas
accompanying various artists and at Café de Chinitas
accompanying soloists such as Paco del
Pozo, Montse Cortés, the Nino brothers, Isaac de
los Reyes and a long etcetera.
He
currently performs in galas with Juan
Andrés Maya
