Flamenco Soul Tour

The Flamenco Soul tour—in New York, Washington, Baltimore, and Boston—offers an up-close look at the flamenco and Latin sounds coming from Spain and the Americas.
June 6, 2012

The Flamenco Soul tour offers an up-close look at the flamenco and Latin sounds coming from Spain and the Americas. This project is under the artistic direction of Javier Limón, seven-time Latin Grammy Award winner and artistic director of the Mediterranean Music Institute of Berklee in Valencia. Flamenco Soul presents a sample of the best flamenco in the world, risqué but at the same time pure, by the hands and soul of a talented, young group of Berklee students, alumni, and flamenco artists that sets the tempo of the sound of today.

Each show will be a journey: first, a glimpse of flamenco's oldest and most original styles; then an overview of its distinct paths of evolution; finally arriving at the experimental modes of today, offering a preview to flamenco's future.

This event is part of Young Flamenco Project, an initiative of SPAIN Arts & Culture and the Mediterranean Music Institute of Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain, to foster the musical creativity of young Spanish and Latin-American artists in the United States.

June 22 - New York
B.B. King Blues Club
237 W 42 Street
New York, NY 10036

June 23 - Washington, D.C.
Howard Theatre
620 T Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

June 24 - Baltimore
Baltimore Soundstage
124 Market Place
Baltimore, MD 21202

June 25 - Boston
Arsenal Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal  Street
Watertown, MA 02472

Javier Limón, Artistic Director
The young producer, musician, and composer Javier Limón is already a legend of Latin American culture. The seven-time Latin Grammy Award winner and artistic director of  the Mediterranean Music Institute of  Berklee College of Music in Valencia is also a 2012 artist-in-residence at Berklee in Boston. His many composition and production credits include major albums by renowned artists such as Paco de Lucía, Bebo Valdés, El Cigala, Enrique Morente, Wynton Marsalis, and the acclaimed Spanish singer Concha Buika.

Ariadna Castellanos '11, Piano
Pianist and composer Ariadna Castellanos is the first Spanish musician to achieve the prestigious presidential scholarship from Berklee College of Music. Castellanos has performed all over the world. She has recorded for Alejandro Sanz and José Mercé and worked with renowned flamenco artists such as Niño Josele and Jorge Pardo.

Nino de Los Reyes, Dance
Born in Boston in 1985, Nino de los Reyes made his professional debut in 1991 at the age of 6, at the Opera House in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Inspired by great flamenco dancers like Carmen Amaya, he has performed all over the world.

Jeremy de Jesus, Flute (Berklee student)
Young Puerto Rican native Jeremy de Jesus has performed professionally with legends such as Chucho Valdés, Larry Harlow, Jerry Rivera, and Terri Lyne Carrington. He has just released his debut album as bandleader and composer, Semi Formal.

Tamir Shmerling '11, Acoustic Bass
A double and electric bass player form Tel Aviv, Israel, Tamir Shmerling has studied at Berklee with Terri Lyne Carington, Greg Osby, and Ed Tomassi and performed with artists such as Kevin Eubanks and Ignacio Berroa.

José Andrés Márquez '12, Drums
Having graduated from the Music Conservatory of Monterrey in the symphonic percussion specialty, José Andrés Márquez has been on tour several times as a dancer and musician with the Mexican folkloric ballet Pueblo Mestizo. Drummer for the Mexican folkloric/jazz project Amaro and member of the Tamborero lab project under the direction of Mexican jazz drummer Emilio Tamez, he is a recipient of the well-known presidential scholarship at Berklee College of Music and is part of Berklee in Valencia's first class.

José Antonio Alvarez Montaña, Percussion
Born in Madrid in 1984, José Antonio Alvarez Montaña has studied his flamenco roots in a traditional flamenco school, as well as Afro-Cuban and African percussion. His music is influenced by the great bassist Alain Perez, who plays in Paco de Lucía's Band and is also his teacher. He began performing  with rhythmically virtuoso flamenco dancers like Alfonso Losa, Nino de los Reyes, Juan de Juan, Manuel Reyes, Antonio Canales, among many others.

For more information, visit spainculture.us or  berkleevalencia.org