Sometimes I get my fingers in the waters of the Pacific Ocean waters, here in Seattle, and I feel that I’m connected to the warm coasts of Spain, my homeland. I like to think that one of my beloved people is right at the same time doing just the same at the other side of the world. The water connect us. The sea lends its hand.

Leaving your homeland and your people to travel so far for a long time, it’s a tough dream to live. I often think of flamenco artists who, like me, left their roots in – for example – Cádiz to take their art to then far shores in New York. At the rhythm of the clapping, the words of Estrella Morente’s song come to my mind: “My life was leap. Recolonization. Permanent wreckage… Madrid, America, Madrid… There in América, New York“. I have dreamed of Estrella singing this moaning. By my side, Paco “el de Lucía” drives me to tears with his now eternal guitar.

This cover is a tribute to all artists who know this feeling of needing to experience their art in distant lands, despite the deep pain that entails. It could be Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia … It could be Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Tokyo… In the absence, all distances are the same as Cadiz-New York.