I spend a lot of time at Fronteras U (aka Borders...hehe) cuz I just love books, mostly to fill-up the gaps in my higher education. Despite all those years in college, I find that I don't really know anything except how to cram for finals.
Cool thing is that now that I've graduated and am in working in the field of music full-time, I'm not under any time constraints so I just take it slowly.
Currently I'm reading up on art history and appreciation to help me enjoy even more another one of my interests: art museums. Pictured above is Raphael's version of "Madonna and Child" which is in one of the world's best art museums, right here in DC: the National Gallery. I love Italian Renaissance art and although I've been to the Gallery numerous times, I still get lost trying to find this particular painting!
Flamenco dancers, flamenco guitarists, flamenco singers, flamenco aficionados and open-minded people who can appreciate the performing arts without asking us full-time artists, So, what do you really do for a living?View All Friends | View Blog | Add Comment
Obviously I love flamenco from the old style to the cutting edge. As long as it's done with feeling, it's good enough for me.
However, just to keep myself sane I take occasional breaks from flamenco: I'm working my way through different musical genres. For example, when I work on my website, I like techno and trance. It's soothing enough without putting me to sleep plus it makes me more productive. Don't ask me why, just works!
Some of my flamenco gigs are close to record stores where I often like to hang out at the CD listening stations and sample a variety of music. Lots of beautiful stuff out there. It's good to keep yourself open to new things.
The album pictured here is by my friend Greg Reiter , actually a former DC resident. What's cool about him is that he took the time to learn a bit about flamenco accompaniment by coming to dance classes for a while and sitting in with me to learn the ropes. I have very much respect for him as a flamenco fusion artist because he has first-hand experience in what flamenco specialists like myself actually do. Just for fun, here's an old article I wrote about him five years ago.
Here's a video of singer Duquende with one of my favorite guitarists, Chicuelo, performing a soleá...
Love science fiction and am workin' my way through the cyberpunk genre especially William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.
I'm easily sidetracked though, and now after reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (a birthday present from Cynthia), I have this sudden fascination with stories set in the culturally rich land of India. Since then I've read Life of Pi by Yann Martel and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. ....
OK, just finished taking a side trip to Afghanistan having read Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This book and the previously mentioned Namesake touch upon the assimilation and alienation perspectives of the immigrant experience which I can personally relate to. Besides that, they're just beautiful stories.
Currently, I'm reading "Maximum City: Bombay Lost" by Suketu Mehta, "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield and "The Rise of the Creative Class" by Richard Florida.