Jose Feliciano

Jose Monserrate Feliciano is one of the most famous singers and guitarists in the world of pop music. He, who is of Latin origin, was born in Puerto Rico in 1945 and was a victim of black water disease since birth and soon lost his sight as a baby. He, who was one of the twelve children of the family, immigrated with his family to the Hispanic neighborhood of Harlem in New York at the age of 5. First, he started learning to play the accordion and after a while he chose the guitar as his main instrument. He made his first serious music performance at the age of 9 and started working at the age of 17 to help with living expenses. After some time playing in various clubs, he started his cooperation with RCA company and in 1964 he officially participated in the Newport Jazz Festival, because his style and way of playing the guitar was a mixture of flamenco guitar with jazz improvisations.