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Friday, July 09, 1999 2:50:46 PM EST

(CNN) -- Although flamenco today is the essence of southern Spain, its passionate and proud sounds trace their roots far to the east. Nomadic groups from India began moving westward five centuries ago, bringing their percussive, guitar-driven music along with them until they eventually reached Europe.

Flamenco is also a music of the street, and until his death, legendary singer Camaron de la Isla was perhaps its greatest modern exponent. He's been an inspiration to other Spanish greats.

"Camaron was one of the greatest artists this country has produced," says famed flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. "He made me learn from myself, my own life. With that voice of his, that incomparable style of singing, I had to make a tremendous effort so that the guitar wouldn't seem insignificant to his voice."

De Lucia is known for instigating the shift of the tradition-bound folk art of flamenco into a more vibrant, modern sound.

Yet even he's considered traditional when contrasted with Fernandes Torres "Tomatito" from Almería, in southern Spain, who's leading a younger generation of gypsy artists. And there's Canadian guitarist Jesse Cook, a top flamenco performer and advocate of the cross-pollination of flamenco and other genres. He recently covered Sting's "Fragile."

One of the most widely recognized artists working in the form today is guitarist, composer, orchestrator and vocalist working Ottmar Liebert. He makes the point that his "Flamenco Nouveau" (the title of his 1997 album) brings together a 5,000-year range of percussive influences.

Liebert and his ensemble Luna Negra have released a new album, "Innamorare: Summer Flamenco" (Sony). It merges cool fusion jazz with the flamenco idiom, positioning this lasting language of music squarely in a contemporary patois of global sound.