Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio Featuring Brad Barrett & Tupac Mantilla

BOSTON - Feb. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Cambridge, MA--Valentine's Day Weekend alert! The Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio will perform in concert on Saturday, February 15 at 8 PM at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge in celebration of their new, self-titled CD.  Reserved seat tickets are available now at $36 and $26 [$5 off for students & seniors]. Go to https://www.boxoffice.harvard.edu/Online/ or call 617-496-2222.  Premium seat VIP tickets are also available at $125, or 2 tickets for $192; the VIP ticket package includes a pre-concert reception from 6:30 - 7:30 PM featuring an elegant Spanish wine, chocolates and a gift bag with a copy of the new album.

The Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio features Juanito Pascual on guitar, Brad Barrett on bass and Tupac Mantilla on percussion.  The February 15 concert will also be highlighted by performances by the beautiful flamenco dancer Auxi Fernández and flamenco singer Alfonso Cid.

Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio is also the title of the band's hot new CD that takes listeners on a magical journey between the lands of flamenco, the jungle and even India--speculated as a source of some of the rhythms and tonalities of early flamenco.  Some of the tracks go so far as to mix soul with flamenco sounds--rhythms from other parts of the world morph inside the rhythms and the haunting scales of the flamenco tradition and here and there the harmonies go wild.  Clapping, singing, whispering dreams meld together with the passion, the throbbing voice of anguish and lust all in one amazing musical celebration.

Juanito Pascual is a Boston favorite who has been called "one of the hottest flamenco guitarists in recent years" by National Public Radio.  Born in Minneapolis in 1973, Pascual has gradually become a new voice in this most Spanish of musical genres; his signature virtuosity and warm, evocative playing, along with his original compositional style, have won him praise and admiration around the globe.  He moved to Spain after high school and lived "on the streets" in order to get to study with the flamenco masters he idolized.  Now, a graduate of New England Conservatory, he regularly tours the U.S., Europe and has released three highly regarded CDs.

Bassist Brad Barrett is a highly skilled musician who has performed virtually all genres of music. His musical stylings and high-level improvisational skills have landed him academic scholarships, tours and unique performance opportunities in many states as well as Europe and Asia. Brad has recorded with Ran Blake, Bob Moses, Jerry Leake and Hankus Netsky. He has also performed at the Panama Jazz Festival, Idlywild Jazz Festival and performed with a USO Tour of Asia as well as with a variety of Boston bands over the past 10 years. Brad is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Jazz Improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

Internationally acclaimed Grammy®-nominee percussionist/drummer Tupac Mantilla is one of the most versatile and creative upcoming artists of his generation.His work as a performer, educator, producer and clinician has been highly recognized worldwide and includes appearances at major jazz festivals including The Montreal Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, the Perugia Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, the Gent and Nice festivals and the renowned Newport Jazz Festival.  He has appeared at Carnegie Hall and at Lincoln Center and presented programs at Harvard University and Stanford University. Mantilla has also presented percussion oriented workshops and conferences for prestigious multi-national companies around the world.

Flamenco dancer and actress Auxi Fernández was born and raised in the port city of Cádiz, Spain and she began performing at the tender age of 5.  By the time she was in her teens she began a period of years of invaluable professional experience dancing in the best known 'tablaos' in Barcelona and Madrid. Tablaos are traditional flamenco nightclubs--intimate settings where many of the greatest artists in flamenco have traditionally honed their skills, while learning and exchanging material with mentors and peers alike.  As a soloist, Auxi has created extraordinary works fusing flamenco and jazz with legendary pianist Chick Corea in addition to collaborations with some of the most innovative names in flamenco such as Concha Buika, La Tana and Carles Benavent.  She has also performed in a project with Tim Ries.

Flamenco singer, flutist and composer Alfonso Cid was born and raised in Seville, Spain, the heartland of flamenco music. His mother, an amateur singer from Triana, a flamenco enclave within Seville, and his grandfather, an aficionado of flamenco, were his earliest influences. Beginning in 1987, he also began attending the shows at one of the most significant flamenco clubs in Andalusia, The Peña Flamenca Torres-Macarena.  Now living in New York City and having studied in Spain at the Seville Conservatory, Cid performs around the globe and produces "La Música FLamenca" at Lincoln Center Institute.  Cid also has released two CDs.