"Wherever you find gipsies, we're doing flamenco," says Emilio Maya. "It's how we express ourselves, how we communicate with the world."

Sharing more than a surname with Juan Maya, the great Granada guitarist of the Sixties, the surly faced yet spritely fingered Emilio Maya has been hailed as the defining flamenco guitarist of his generation.

Born into a gipsy family in Molvizar, a coastal village just outside Granada, Maya began playing at the age of eight to accompany his sisters and cousins. He was obsessed with the music of Paco de Lucia, the first real flamenco guitar soloist, and remembers, "buying his record three times because the grooves got worn out - it drove my mother crazy!"

But for Maya, who had 12 brothers and sisters, flamenco was not just about the relationship between a guitar, a voice and the body of a dancer - it was also a financial necessity.

"We made some money door-to-door, selling cologne by the liquid measure and little bars of soap," he says. "But for me, the thought of eating a banana was like a dream come true. I started playing guitar because I had no choice if I wanted to get by."

Having won his first competition at the age of 12, Maya began playing flamenco clubs all over Andalusia, accompanying singers and dancers. Excited by "living culture" as well as "the old maestros who are there in the recordings", he has often collaborated across styles of music and contributed to Manfred Wafender's BBC film about the music of Miles Davis.

Released last year, his debut album, Temple, takes its name from a bullfighting term describing the rhythm of the matador's movements and has been praised for combining a purity of sound with rare eclecticism.

"A good guitarist has to know how to play everything in flamenco," says Maya. "Young guitarists have lots of technique - they devour the guitar but there's no depth, no definition.

"When a guitarist connects with his guitar, he's looking for himself and, finally, you say, 'now he and the instrument are one'. I've reached that point."

At these two Komedia dates, which follow his triumphant appearance at last year's Lewes Guitar Festival, Maya's group will include leading contemporary dancer Anan Cali and cajon player El Moreno.

Starts 8.30pm, Tickets £14/£12, Tel 01273 647100