Be drawn into flamenco Remember to visit Shootin’ the Breeze online for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Juan Martin and his flamenco dancers. The draw for tickets will be made Nov. 9 at 4:30 p.m., so don’t miss out on your chance to win! Enter your name in the contest at www.mountainsidenews.ca . Celebrated virtuoso of the flamenco guitar Juan Martín, twice voted into the top three guitarists in the world by the prestigious U.S. magazine Guitar Player, performs with his dance ensemble at the Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod, Nov. 10. Originally from Spain and now based out of London, Juan has played the great concert halls of the world, and has collaborated with the likes of Paco de Lucia, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and the Royal Philharmon-
ic Orchestra. He also had the honour to be asked to play for Picasso’s 90th birthday celebrations, on which he based his album Picasso Portraits. Juan performs with a highly distinctive and creative compositional style of flamenco, with some outrageously spunky chords that are real surprises in this genre. His interest in the Moorish roots of flamenco have led him to rediscover Andalusí and Sephardic music from the 12th and 13th centuries, no longer performed in Spain. He has recorded 20 albums, mostly as a composer. The most recent are Serenade with the Royal Philharmonic and Solo. “In Martín’s hands flamenco is not so much a musical style as an entire culture compressed into a quivering
box of air,” says The Guardian (U.K.). His recent Barbican appearance was filmed in preparation for a TV program about his life. Juan has literally written the book on Spanish guitar styles – his El Arte Flamenco de la Guitarra is a worldwide bestseller. In its 10th printing, the book has opened the complex art of flamenco guitar and is studied around the world. While the heart of flamenco lies in the songs (cantes), the music is accompanied by the heel clicks of show-stopping dances (bailes). This performance serves up a dynamic union of Juan and his dance ensemble. Photos and press release contributed by the Empress Theatre