The famous Black Tears

Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar is better known as Diego El Cigala.

He was given the nickname by two guitar-playing brothers; it can mean scampi. One of Spain’s leading flamenco singers, he gained international fame with an album that was released in 2003 - ‘Lágrimas negras’ (Black Tears). This teamed him up with Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés and was a fusion of flamenco vocals and Cuban rhythms; it won a Grammy.

His fourth studio album at the time, he now has eleven to his name. But ‘Lágrimas negras’ remains what he is best known for, and he has been touring “twenty years” of this famous recording. The tour started in Dallas last October. There were ten other concerts in the US, and he is now on the Spanish leg.