Jesse Cook
August 16, 2014 @ 7:30 PM
Gerlach/Haack Outdoor Theater
First place competition winners will open the performance at 7:00pm.
Canadian rumba flamenco artist Jesse Cook blends the exotic Spanish music form with elements of new age, jazz, and easy listening. Spending the summer of 2011 cottage hopping with his family, Jesse Cook set about writing new material for The Blue Guitar Sessions, his eighth studio album released in September 2011. For the Toronto resident, who was born in Paris to John Cook, a film director, and his wife Heather, a former CBC television producer, this record is much different from the rumba flamenco for which he is best known. Indeed, he has been a leading proponent of the genre since bursting onto the world music scene with 1995’s Tempest. Among his many accolades, in 2008, he won the silver medal in Acoustic Guitar magazine’s prestigious Players’ Choice Awards behind the legendary Paco De Lucia.
Cook has steered clear of anything resembling flamenco on this record, producing a sound that allows listeners to appreciate each musician’s contribution. The result is a captivating 14-track album recorded on a pair of vintage microphones, which he had exhaustively searched for to replicate the mood of recordings from the Miles Davis era. Sound is of the utmost importance to him as a musician, producer, and engineer.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2014 WILSON CENTER GUITAR FESTIVAL SPONSORS!
