The lure of flamenco has attracted musicians and dancers across the globe. Here, we review two North American acts influenced by Flamenco.
Canadian band Tamar Ilana & Ventanas has released ‘Mistral.’ The Toronto-based group is led by Canadian singer and flamenco dancer Tamar Ilana. Although Tamar lived and studied in Seville (Spain) and the album includes passionate flamenco and lyrics in Spanish, Tamar goes way beyond flamenco. She incorporates fascinating songs and musical influences from the Sephardic diaspora in Greece and Morocco as well as Arabic music from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She sings in Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino, Bulgarian, French, Roma and Arabic.
The lineup on Mistral includes Tamar Ilana on vocals, palmas (flamenco handclap percussion), and footwork; Demetrios Petsalakis on ud, vocals, lyra and saz; Jessica Hana Deutsch on violin, viola and vocals; Benjamin Barrile on flamenco guitar, vocals and palmas; Derek Gray on Tibetan singing bowls, cymbals, drums, darbuka, jembe, cajón and vocals; and Justin Gray on fretless electric bass, double bass and vocals.
Further south and west, In the Denver area (Colorado, USA), guitarist Miguel Espinoza and his band play a fabulous mix of modern flamenco, chamber music, jazz and various world music influences. Miguel also lived and studied flamenco in Spain and is way more talented than some of the so-called American flamenco guitarists who only play light flamenco rumba.
Miguel Espinoza Flamenco Fusion has a new album called ‘Veneta.’ The ensemble delivers a fantastic amalgam of flamenco guitar intertwined with exquisite cello. Although the cello has been rare in flamenco, there is an in increasing number of cellists attracted by flamenco, such as Espinoza’s cello player Dianne Betkoswki and Spain-based French cellist Matthieu Saglio.
The ensemble on ‘Veneta’ includes Miguel Espinoza on guitar; Dianne Betkoswki on cello; Randy Hoepker on bass; Lynn Baker on saxophone; and Andy Skellenger on tabla and cajón. Guest: Mario Moreno on percussion.
Buy the digital version of Mistral from amazon; and the digital edition of Veneta from amazon.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.