Member Since: 26/01/2008
Band Members: FANNY ARA (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) began her dance studies at age three, studying ballet and Contemporary dance at the Irene Popard school located in St. Jean de Luz in the French Basque country. In 1991 she began training in Spanish classical dance with Catalina Gommes and for the next ten years she traveled regularly to Madrid to study with maestros Isabel Quintero and Antonio Najarro. In addition to her studies in dance, she studied piano at the Bayonne School of Art for 11 years. She attained a BA in literature with a specialty in music. After graduating from the Bayonne School of Art, she relocated to Sevilla and Madrid. Over the next two years there, she pursued intensive flamenco studies with Juana Amaya, El Torombo, Manolo Soler, Hiniesta Cortes. While in Spain, she was also accepted into the prestigious academy of Mario Maya, and worked in tablaos in Madrid ("Al Andalus" and "El Juglar"). Fanny has become an established and important performer in the Bay Area. As a company member of Caminos Flamencos, she has shared the theater stage with artists such as Antonio de la Malena, Manuel de la Malena, Juan Ogalla, and Domingo Ortega. Fanny has been recently nominated in the category of Most Outstanding Individual Dancer (2006) from the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards. In June, she presented her program "Magia Flamenca" in Washington DC with critical acclaim. =================================================MELISSA CRUZ As reviewed by Rachel Howard of the San Francisco Chronicle - "Any dancer could make pained faces. But [Melissa] Cruz is clearly possessed by the duende -- the spirit that drives this deeply introspective art." Melissa began pursuing dance under the guidance of Rosa Montoya, with whom she trained intensively in flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance. As a member of Ms. Montoya's professional company, Bailes Flamencos, she worked in the Bay Area's best venues with flamenco's premiere artists. Her continued studies took her to Spain, where trained under Manuela Rios, Pastora Galvan, Alegria Suarez, and Andres Marin. Upon returning to the US, she toured and performed with several companies including most notably Madrid's acclaimed Noche Flamenca, with whom she performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. As a company member of San Francisco-based Caminos Flamencos, Melissa has shared the theater stage with Domingo Ortega, Juan Ogalla, Manuel de la Malena, and Antonio de la Malena. In March 2007, she debuted her first company performance as a part of the series, "Flamenco en Vivo" at the Hobby Centre in Houston, Texas with a cast the best flamenco artists in the United States. =================================================JASON MCGUIRE Flamenco guitarist Jason McGuire El Rubio began playing at the age of nine. He received formal training in Dallas, Texas from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in high school he was given the prestigious "DEE-BEE" award from Down Beat magazine in the category of "Instrumental Jazz Soloist" and later was one of four finalists in the 1988 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Classic Guitar Competition. He began performing as a flamenco guitarist in New York playing alongside the legendary Pedro Cortes Jr. In 1995 Jason recorded with famed Gypsy guitarist Carlos Heredia on his CD "Gypsy Flamenco," and released a recording of his own composition "Distancias" in 2005, which has received unanimous critical praise. He has accompanied and collaborated with many great artists, including Savion Glover, Yaelisa, Alejandro Granados, Antonio El Pipa, Enrique El Extremeno, Carmela Greco, Manuel and Antonio Malena, among others. Jason has been awarded a California Arts Council Music Fellowship and has been nominated twice for an Isadora Duncan Dance Award. Jason currently serves as music director for both Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos and The New World Flamenco Festival. He is also an accomplished recording engineer and producer. He shares producer/engineer credits with David Schiffman (Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash etc.) on the latest Powerslave Records CD release "What's In Your Mind" from the band Zeromind. =================================================VICENTE GRIEGO "EL CARTUCHO from Embudo, New Mexico has devoted his life to the study of cante flamenco, the art of flamenco singing. In 1992, Vicente began touring the US, Canada and Latin America, with the Jose Greco II Flamenco Dance Company, where he was mentored by Caño Roto singer, Alfonso "Veneno" of Madrid, Spain. He also remains a pupil of acclaimed Granaino guitarist, Chuscales, with whom he performs weekly; both locally and nationally.Vicente Griego "El Cartucho" is striking for his deep, sonorous wails that seem to come from a cavern, someplace deep within his soul... ===================================================GONZALO GRAU…comes from a very strong musical legacy. He began his musical studies at the age of five in Caracas, developing skills in many instruments from the viola da gamba to the flamenco cajón and many keys in between. He has recorded over fifty CDs and on a diversity of styles and instruments, performing, producing, and composing, Gonzalo Grau bridges both classical and popular music worlds.In 1995, Gonzalo was awarded with a scholarship at Berklee College of Music, where he graduated in 1998 with the mention Summa Cum Laude as a Piano Performance Major. Since then he has collaborated with many projects and ensembles in traditional and contemporary Latin styles. But Gonzalo not only performs, he also produces and arranges for a variety of national and international artists such as Sally Potter Films, Mango Blue, Edwin Pabón, Brass Roots, SaxomanÃa, and leads his own band named La Clave Secreta (formerly known as "La Timba Loca").He has also been part of vanguard Venezuelan projects like Maroa, Aquiles Baez Group and the Gonzalo Grau Quintet as well as the US based Maria Schneider Orchestra (Grammy Winner 2005) and Timbalaye on the Latin jazz front.In the last ten years, Gonzalo made his way into flamenco as a multi-instrumentalist on percussion, cello and piano. He has worked with renowned artists from Spain and the US such as Antonio Granjero, La Tania, La Conja, Pedro Cortés, Jesus Montoya, Edwin Aparicio, Chuscales, Omayra Amaya, and Alejandro Granados. Wearing his classical hat Gonzalo has collaborated with Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov in the writing of "La Pasión Según San Marcos" (2001 Grammy Award nominee), the "Ainadamar" opera (2007 Grammy Award winner) and in 2005 he composed and orchestrated for the Albuquerque Symphonic Orchestra, commissioned by the National Institute of Flamenco.His contributions to film include an arrangement of “El Carretero†for Sally Potter’s 2004 Yes and in the theatrical realm he composed and musically directed "Landscapes and Impressions" by Craig Strong and Robert Castro and produced by the Santa Fe Opera.Speaker of many musical languages, translator of many styles and creator of new fusions-Gonzalo Grau, the secret is out. =================================================== JESUS MONTOYATODAY Jesus Montoya is a Gypsy Flamenco Singer and Composer from Seville, Spain. He is a man of overwhelming integrity who sets a paramount higher standard in self expectation and in others who work with him. He is artistic director of the most well repected flamenco performance company: Montoya Flamenco Dance and Music Company which is widely known for putting on the greatest and most exciting flamenco shows worldwide. This award winning 11 member company of distinguished flamenco artists are nothing less than brilliant and tantilizing. Most recent accomplishment is the releaase of his 8th CD recording with musical genius Osvaldo Golijov and Duetsche Grammophon which featured Jesus Montoya as the voice of Ruiz Alonzo and thee incredible staged production and recording of "AINADAMAR" "FOUNTAIN OF TEARS" which is a double winner of the 2007 Grammy Awards for "BEST CLASSICAL CONTEMPORARY COMPOSITION" and "BEST OPERA RECORDING." HOW I GOT MY START Jesus was born in Spain into one of the oldest gypsy families in 1966. He is steeped in flamenco purity and power leaving his audiences feeling enchanted, captivated and deeply loved. At the charismatic early age of seven, Jesus was known throughout his pueblo in Andalucia, Spain as "El Rey del Fandango" where he was received non-stop invitations for him to sing wherever he went. By age nine, Jesus discovered "his calling," quit elementary school and began a professional singing career. By age thirteen, touring had become second nature and he realized just where his singing could take him. Jesus came to the United States of America in 1990 at a focussed and driven age of 23, speaking absolutely no English and packed with a "killer smile" and on e great sense of humor. It was not long before Jesus began immediately touring with the most accomplished flamenco artists this side of Spain, capitivating enthusiastic American audiences and the media's attention. America had embraced Jesus as the best flamenco singer from Spain. Jesus, "El Genio Gitano" "the Gypsy Dynamo" (whose also an incredible knock-out dancer!!) beccame this high-powered flamecno legend very quicly, yet he still did not know any english. Continuing the flamenco tours, this commanding artist began to learn english from watching cartoons in-between rehearsals and performances. Creating greater media interest from city to city across the United States and in Canada, Jesus rose to the very top earning him a new media nick name as "The Pavarotti of Flamenco." Jesus has continued living in California, where he writes and records flamenco music and teaches dance and music at his studio. Now married, he is a proud father of two small children who are both passionately following in his footsteps. TELEVISION RECORDINGS- NIKE, WINDSTAR, COCA-COLA,EVERYDAY ENERGIZER, and others. FILM APPEARANCES & RECORDINGS- "SOMBRA DEL SOL," "SOLEDAD," and "GYPSY GIRL." ALSO "SCREEN ACTORS GUILD" "SAG"
Record Label: Unsigned