By Adrian Lysenko
Nuevo-flamenco guitarist Jesse Cook is returning to Thunder Bay. His stop in the city is part of his One World Tour, which is promoting his new album of the same name. The album features influences from South America to the Middle East, Spain, and beyond. “That has always been part of what I do and what I love doing, travelling and incorporating new types of music or new to me anyway, different types of music into what I’m doing,” he says.
When recording a new album, Cook says the process of deciding what type of style will be featured is by trial and error. “I write, record, I explore. I kind of treat music like it’s a sandbox, you go in there and you start making things and you wait for the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck,” he says.
With his return to Thunder Bay, Cook recalled a concert five years ago where local guitarist Matt Sellick accompanied him during his performance. “I invited him on stage the one year and he hit it out of the park,” says Cook. “We’ve kept in touch over the years… every time I go back to Thunder Bay I wonder if he’s going to be here.”
For his May 26 show at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Cook says the audience can look forward to a rumba party. “People often expect it to be a serious night of music almost like I’m some sort of ethnomusicologist or something and here I am presenting music from around the world,” says Cook. “Yes the music from the different parts of the world is really what I draw on and you know it’s what my music is about… but I hope people will come and be ready to dance and go a little crazy.”
Jesse Cook
