Nicolas Hernandez

Bio:

With 25 years of experience under his fingers, Nicolás’ style has evolved into a distinctive, modern “voice” — a fascinating fusion of his flamenco training and his explorative work outside this traditional form. World music tones weave through his composition Raga por Bulerias, an innovative piece based on a scale from the Indian Raga Jhinjhotti. “I like working with other music genres and learning about them. It always feels like I'm learning from scratch again, and I like that feeling of being outside the box,” says Nicolás. In 1996 Nicolás had become the Music Director for the Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company. Today, not only is he an integral musician in their performances, he composes original works for the group, all the while continuing to blend flamenco with other ethnic music styles he discovers in multicultural Toronto. For example, his versatile guitar work added a flamenco flavor to the Toronto Tabla Ensemble on the Juno-nominated CD entitled Firedance, which was released in 1999. A much sought-after flamenco guitarist, Nicolás is often invited to perform live in concert and to teach master workshops throughout Canada and the United States. He has even written flamenco music for a television commercial! Nicolás’ career has granted him remarkable opportunities to accompany top world music artists such as Juno award winners Kiran Ahluwalia, Sonia Collymore and Jesse Cook. He is currently a touring member of Jesse Cook's band. Nicolás can be heard on Cook's live CD entitled Montreal, as well as on Sonia Collymore's Juno award-winning album WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). He has also accompanied famous international flamenco dancers including Manolete, La Tati, Francisco Mesa "Nano", Antonio Granjero, and Ramon Martinez to name a few. The title track of his debut album Buscando mi voz is Nicolás’ first full composition. The piece was strongly influenced and inspired by the teachings of renowned master flamenco guitarist Manolo Sanlucar, who supported Nicolás in his quest to “find his voice”. ..

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Member Since:

May 21, 2008

Members:

Nicolas Hernandez

Influences:

First came Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Eagles, ACDC and others I forget. Then it was all flamenco guys for many years: Paco de Lucia, Camaron, Gerardo Nuñez, Vicente Amigo, Pepe y Juan Habichuela, Fosforito, Tomatito, Ramon el Portugues, Rafael Riqueni, Moraito, Manolo Sanlucar, Jose Menese, El Lebrijano, Enrique Morente, Chuscales, Pedro Bacan, Paco del Gastor, Fernanda y Bernarda de Utrera, Juan Talega... Last few years have been mostly Diego del Morao, Montse Cortes, Daniel Mendez (quite recently), El Viejin, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Potito, Diego el Cigala, Arcangel, Miguel Poveda, Mayte Martin, Jose Merce, Jorge Pardo, Remedios Amaya, Tomasa la Macanita, Dorantes, Paco de Lucia (still), Chicuelo, Niña Pastori... and non-flamencos like Oliver Jones, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Buena Vista Social Club, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Piazzolla, Ennio Morricone, Zakir Hussein, Anouar Brahem, Susana Baca, Bach, Agustin Barrios Mangore...

Sounds Like:

Check out the full version of some of my tunes on this site. For information on where to get my CD "Buscando mi voz" check out my web-site (for a hard copy) or look in cdbaby.com (for downloads and/or hard copy) and/or itunes (for downloads).

Record Label:

Independant