Any flamenco guitarist, when studying flamenco guitar, sooner or later, will be learning the works of Diego del Gastor.
This humble guitar maestro was born on Sunday March 15th 1908 in Arriate near Ronda in southern Spain, humble since he had few personal possessions. His only wealth was his personality and his music. At a very young age his family moved to El Gastor in Cádiz, the village from which he received his stage name. Here in El Gastor a monument is dedicated to the flamenco guitarist Diego del Gastor. When Diego was six years old, they moved again to Morón de la Frontera where he is remembered by and rewarded with a statue. Diego del Gastor is considered as one of the great masters of his era.
Diego is known and remembered as the founder of the "toque" school of Morón (Seville). Diego had a very expressive 'cuerda pelá' style, monodic flamenco guitar playing using the thumb and picado technique. Diego developed a completely different manner of playing the guitar, he improvised when accompanying flamenco singing in such a way he not only reached the audience, but also the cantaores (flamenco singers) themselves, whom he motivated with the strong emotions that he was able to transmit. The Morón gitanos were affectionate, humorous, but never sentimental. They would rather express themselves than talk about themselves. They were theatrical and natural actors in the way they talked and performed Flamenco. Diego del Gastor died on July 7th in 1973.