Internationally-renowned flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook

Performing at the Community Concert Hall Mar. 26

Durango, CO – With a gypsy-African sound unique on the World Music scene, internationally-revered flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook comes to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
A native Canadian, Cook is noted for his exciting and invigorating live shows as he performs a blend of percussion and flamenco guitar. Cook’s guitar playing is considered precise in its execution and called a wonder to experience, with unorthodox stylings that lead to a soulful and spirited performance. He is said to sing through his guitar, telling narratives through melody. Live, he offers a magic show led by a guitar magician.

Drawn to flamenco at age 3, Cooke began his classical training at the Eli Kassner Academy at age 6. By 13 he’d left the academy, but while visiting his father in Arles, France, he chanced to meet the next door neighbor, Gipsy Kings vocalist Nicolas Reyes. The band had yet to shine on the international stage, but Cook began soaking in the music. He was also enthralled by the sounds of gypsy kids on the street and in the cafés. How they played the guitar and treated it more like a percussion instrument rather than a melodic one proved inspirational for Cook.

As Cook noted, “Flamenco is the blues of the gypsies of Europe. There’s a very raw and passionate quality about that type of music. It’s rhythmic, and it’s either profoundly sad or extremely happy. There’s nothing grey about flamenco. That’s what I connected to.”

Cook’s CDs have all charted on Billboard magazine’s Top 10, and his awards include a Juno and three Canadian Smooth Jazz “Guitarist of the Year” honors. His music has been featured on several episodes of “Sex in the City,” on the Buddha Bar compilations and at all of the Olympic Games since Tempest, his first CD, made its debut in 1995.
Cook is currently touring in support of his eighth studio album, The Blue Guitar Sessions, released Sept. 2012. National Public Radio’s show “Echoes” lists The Blue Guitar Sessions at #6 for the top albums of February.

Get a feel for Cook’s skill and spirited performances at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIa_WTcZeFQ.
Tickets for Jesse Cook – $24/$34 – are available by calling 970.247.7657, on the web at www.durangoconcerts.com, or visit the ticket office inside the Welcome Center at 8th St. and Main Ave. in Downtown Durango.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6:30 p.m.

On show day, the box office at the Concert Hall will be open one hour prior to curtain, and remain open through intermission. When no intermission is scheduled, ticket sales will continue one hour past curtain. Purchase tickets to three or more Concert Hall productions in one sales transaction and receive 10 percent off each ticket. Discounts cannot be combined, and all sales final.

The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, and through financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.