The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley will present legendary flamenco guitarist Juan Manuel Cañizares for two nights, February 26 – 27, 2008. Cañizares is touring in support of his new release Suite Iberia. Band members are Juan Cañizares (guitar) and Juan Carlos Gómez (second guitar). Set times Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm on Tuesday and 5:30pm on Wednesday.
 
 Cañizares is currently one of the most important figures in flamenco guitar in Spain. His musical career stands out for the quality of his compositions and for his original and personal sound, forging new paths for Spanish guitar. Over the last ten years he has worked with Paco de Lucía and collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Al DiMeola, Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Leo Brower, Peter Erskine and some of the biggest flamenco artists (Camarón, Enrique Morente...); he has composed music for cinema and ballet; he has performed on stage across the world, from New York (Carnegie Hall) to Tokyo (Sumida Triphony Hall)...

Cañizares is one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of all time, and his latest album, Suite Iberia, is released in January 2008 in the United States, having already been released in the United Kingdom, Italy, Holland, Greece and soon to be released in Germany and the rest of Europe.

Suite Iberia  is Cañizares’s version of Iberia, the celebrated work by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). For the first time, Iberia, originally conceived for piano, is arranged for two guitars, both recorded by Cañizares. The result is a surprising and exciting union of Cañizares’s guitar and the flamenco expression inherent in Albéniz’s work. With Suite Iberia, Cañizares completes the task he began in his time with Paco de Lucía in 1991, when he arranged Triana, El Albaicín and El puerto for Spanish guitar, all of which are compositions written for piano by Albéniz.

According to Josep Pons, Director of the Spanish National Orchestra, “the very best of Spanish piano composition has been given a new flavor in this version for duetting guitars, which, without losing any lyricism, showcases the great rhythmic force of the work, enhancing all manner of articulations and emphasis”.

The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley
2033 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98121
COST: $26.50

Buy Suite Iberia.

Photo by Amancio Guillén