First night in India!! Very exciting – we are invited to meet the booker from the new and trendy venue, The Blue Frog in Mumbai. Arriving early, guitar in hand, we come across a huge crowd. They are waiting for the group to arrive – and as the concert is free – and high profile – they have arrived in advance to be sure of getting in. We are ushered forward – the bouncer spotted the guitar and let us in. We meet Emmanuelle, the booker and start to discuss bringing a show to the Blue Frog. “You will stay for the show later I hope,” she says, almost as an aside.
“We’d love to! Who is playing?”
“Zakir Hussain and his group – he is in Mumbai doing a show yesterday to honour the memory of his father,” she explains, “and they have agreed to do a free concert this evening, quite spontaneous, with Bela Fleck, Edgar Meier, Zakir’s brothers, Ranjit Barot on drums – maybe you would join them?”
First night in India – the magic starts here!
Thankyou Cara Yeates who organised this meeting – and who phoned us after we had entered – “How did you get past the crowd?” she said over the mobile phone. The guitar was the key, of course!
What a night – Zakir called Ricardo on stage – saying that he loved flamenco guitar. They all played – and for once the video camera was charged, and the camera for photos too! How often does that happen…
African music, collaborated with a sitar and tabla player and even worked with Scottish traditional musicians. For nine years he has brought a show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: conceived, composed and produced as an original work for the Fringe. The fifth and sixth shows were also performed in Canada and the US: Montreal, Ottawa, San Francisco, Orlando, Toronto and Vancouver to sell out audiences and five star reviews. Flamenco con Fusion won the “Audience Choice Award” in Vancouver International Fringe Festival, September 2007.
