Exciting news, Ventanas is celebrating the release of “Arrelumbre” at the Aga Khan Museum this Friday, June 5th! Lead by Tamar Ilana, Ventanas unites Flamenco with the music of Morocco, Macedonia, Greek, and the Middle East. I joined the band for a cross-country tour last summer (Vancouver Folk Festival, Festival des traditions du monde de Sherbrooke, Summerfolk) – we recorded Arrelumbre ("Shine" in Spanish ) in the Fall. Justin joined us for that recording session, and he'll be with the band again for the CD Release concert (along with special guests percussionist Waleed Abdulhamid and Flamenco dancer Ilse Gudiño)! We're all very proud of “Arrelumbre” – can’t wait to celebrate this Friday! If you’re looking for something fun for Friday, invite a friend to the “Arrelumbre” CD Release (use the special promo code "Darbouka" for 10% off) – and then join us for the after-party :)
Tickets: https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/performing-arts/event/ventanas
Website: www.ventanasmusic.com
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1407387406251293/
Watch “Primavera”: https://youtu.be/GuNsSSuNNck
Featuring:
Tamar Ilana (Lead Vocals), Demetrios Petsalakis (Oud/Baglamas/Rik), Jessica Deutsch (Violin/Viola), Ben Barille (Guitar), Dennis Duffin (Guitar), Justin Gray (Acoustic/Electric Bass), Derek Gray (Cajon/Doumbek) with special guests: Ilse Gudiño (Flamenco Dance) & Waleed Abdulhamid (Percussion)
Also, Justin and I are please to announce - our first combined effort, Footsteps, is now available on iTunes! If you haven’t yet grabbed a copy – you can download the full album online! Footsteps is also available on Bandcamp. Or if you'd prefer a hardcopy, please shoot Justin or I an email and we’ll put one in the mail for you.
Footsteps has been getting rave reviews (Ottawa Citizen, New Canadian Music) and steady radio play (Jazz FM 91.1, 11 weeks on the Earshot National Jazz Charts). We’d like to thank everyone who helped make Gray Matter's CD Release Tour a huge success! The musicians: Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Eli Bennett (sax), Todd Pentney (organ), Jill Harris (vocals), Lalo (rap), Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes (spoken word), Luis Orbegoso (congas), Kelly Lefaive (violin), Eli Bender (cello), Thomas Francis (string arrangement), and Patrick O'Reilly (vocal sampling) – as well as the incredible production team: Jeremy Darby (recording & mixing), David Travers-Smith (mastering), Scott McLean (album artwork), and Mike Fisher (video/photos). Info about the music: www.graymattermusic.ca
The Crooked House Road album is also available all over the internet. Buy it on iTunes; Bandcamp or, better yet, directly from the band: www.crookedhouseroad.com!
Shaina Silver-Baird (vocals), Mirian Kay (vocals, guitar), Tom Mifflin (guitar), Joshua Skye Engel (additional guitar), Gram Whitty (bass), Yours Truly (drums) with producer Ken Whiteley.
Derek Gray
