del Zorro Summer 2012 Newsletter
Hola amigos!
Summer is almost here and there’s a ton of exciting stuff on the horizon in Zorroland. First off, I’m presenting my new guitar duo, playing alongside my esteemed friend and colleague Firo Rodriguez every Thursday night atThe CuBan on Washington Street in Hoboken. This new format is perfect for the intimate lounge-type space, which boasts a tempting Cuban-themed menu and $5 drink specials all night. It’s a perfect place to spend a sultry summer evening – you can enjoy the music from either the elegant indoor bar and lounge or the cozy sidewalk seating area.
Speaking of guitar, some of you may have noticed that recently I’ve been switching between playing guitar and tres at my shows. This is a nod to expanding the versatility of the group and regaining a bit of lost technique (since the tres is played primarily with a pick and thus does not develop right-hand fingerstyle technique). The result has been a much fuller and more varied sound which has been appreciated and favorably commented upon by audience and band members alike. My deep thanks to everyone for their continued encouragement – you can expect to see more of this versatility in the future.
I’m also excited to have been invited to perform at the ArtsQuest ¡Sabor! Latin Fest in Bethlehem, PA this Friday, June 22. The festival takes place at the SteelStacks campus, a 4.5 acre former Bethlehem Steel plant which has been re-purposed into a state-of-the-art performance and arts exhibition space. I’ll be playing with my quartet, del Zorro, which will include Firo Rodriguez on bass, Geovanni Arencibia on congas and Papo De Leon on percussion. The festival will also host the likes of classical guitarist Francisco Roldan, NYC-based charanga orquesta Cubanoson and the Grammy-award winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, so I’m honored to have been included among such a distinguished lineup.
For those of you who didn’t find out via my posts on Facebook, producer and ukulele enthusiast David Barratt has undertaken the massively cool project of re-recording the Beatles’ entire catalog using arrangements which in some way feature the increasingly popular uke. The Beatles have been a formational influence on me since I first started taking guitar lessons when I was 7, so it felt particularly meaningful for me to have the opportunity to contribute my own take on a Beatles tune, a Latinesque, tres-based version of one of my favorites, “I Will.” The song, along with all the other Beatles tunes recorded by a slew of talented and passionate musicians, is available for download FREE on iTunes (and be sure to check out my friend Dave Sandoval and his band, Delexilio’s saucy cover of “Anytime At All“). You should also make it a point to visit David’s project page,TheBeatlesCompleteOnUkulele, for more information about the contributing artists and their interpretations of the Beatles’ inimitable songwriting.
You can still catch del Zorro playing at Havana Central all around the NYC metro area. Check out the Havana Central music calendar for del Zorro’s latest dates at the Times Square, West End and Ridge Hill locations (where we usually play in trio format), or visitdelzorro.com for my full performance schedule, fan info and links to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And if you have a few minutes, stop by my page on SoundCloud, where you can find new songs, works in progress, live recordings and other miscellaneous bits of audio.
As always my gratitude goes out to all of you who continue to follow what I do and support independent music. My debut CD, “Uno,” continues to be available at CD Baby, on iTunes, in the Amazon MP3 Store and at live shows.
Hope you can make it out to a show sometime soon!