A Gran Canaria timple player who expanded the language of the timple towards jazz, flamenco, Celtic music and other world-music languages.
José Antonio Ramos was one of the great renovators of the timple, bridging Canarian tradition, jazz, flamenco and world music.
Open biographyHe began studying timple with Totoyo Millares and later studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Las Palmas. After the 1989 National Folk Music Prize for Young Performers he formed Trío Timple and then developed a solo career centred on expanding the instrument’s possibilities.
His contribution lies in placing the timple in musical dialogues unusual for the instrument, from jazz and flamenco to Celtic music and international collaborations.
His style starts from island tradition but incorporates improvisation, jazz resources, flamenco, Celtic music and world music. This profile avoids attributing specific technical innovations not documented by the sources consulted.
The initially documented repertoire includes the Trío Timple albums Más que un sueño and Tanekra, and a solo period with works such as Los Cuatro Gigantes, Puntales, Jeito and Para timple y piano.
His legacy combines recordings, collaborations, teaching and a new ambition for the timple as an instrument for melody, rhythm, accompaniment and experimentation.
He was born and died in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, trained with Totoyo Millares and developed his musical renewal from the Canarian timple.
Grabación documentada por la Biblioteca Nacional de España dentro de su etapa de madurez como timplista.
Obra citada por las fuentes como parte de su exploración del timple en formatos de cámara y fusión.
Nace en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Obtiene el Premio Nacional de Música Folk para Jóvenes Intérpretes y forma Trío Timple.
Publica Más que un sueño con Trío Timple.
La Biblioteca Nacional de España documenta Puntales.
Fallece en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
