Tomatito Biography

His real name is Jose Ferdandez Torres. He is the son of guitarist Tomate and nephew of Miguel Tomate. Because of his shy and somewhat introverted personality, he was given the name Tomatito, which means a dometee.

Born in Almeria, Tomatito was surrounded by many guitarists due to the traditions of the city, mainly his father and grandfather, who were flamenco guitar masters. He was also the nephew of legendary guitarist Nino Miguel. At the age of twelve, he settled in Malaga, where he started his musical career by playing in flamenco nightclubs called “Tablao”.

He was an unknown young guitarist until Camarón de la Isla noticed him and made him his partner. After that, he became a loyal protective shield for Tomatito for about fifteen years until the death of his idol, and together they became one of the couples who shined in Flamenco. Tomatito has always respected Camaron;

“I was born in Almería, it’s like above the clouds and even though there are guitarists in Seville, Madrid and Cadiz, he put my feet on the ground. I don’t know how you discovered me. He picked me up from the clouds and gently laid me on the ground. I was always happy to work with him. And when I listened to him, I dropped my guitar and got lost in his goosebumps music. ”

After Camarón’s death, he played mostly in concerts. He acted in several movies. A nightclub where he started playing made him meet the flamenco legend, guitarist Paco de Lucia and singer Camaron de La Isla (island shrimp) at the age of 15.

Camaron liked Tomatito’s guitar playing style and asked him to accompany him. However, Tomatito was still very young, and besides that, Camaron’s concerts took place around the world, so they were constantly traveling abroad.

The young guitarist had to get permission from his family to accompany Camaron. After finally getting permission from his father, Tomatito and Camaron formed a very successful and popular duo around the world when Paco de Lucia and Camaron stopped working together a few years later. They were inseparable from each other until Camaron’s death.
Camaron’s tragic death in 1992 was a great sadness for Tomatito. They had worked together for many years, and in a sense, Tomatito’s career was born directly from his association with this legendary artist.

Tomatito first thought of quitting music and starting marketing like other gypsies. Because he thought that flamenco fans would not be as interested in him as they used to be and that no one would listen to him anymore. It was only a matter of time before he quit music.

But just around this time, he received an interesting offer with an unexpected phone call. He was hesitant to play or not because he had not yet gotten over the pain of Camaron’s death and had not appeared on stage as a soloist before.

Then he decided to work. Succeeding in this land, Tomatito has performed as a guest artist on numerous flamenco albums, and he has released three solo albums in the meantime.

He won the love of everyone in a short time with his power of interpretation and musical spirit. He made music for some of Carlos Saura’s films. Tomatito, who has a unique technique, is among those who use the ‘rasgue’ technique quite well. Especially their bulerias are remarkable.