Lo Esencial – June 25-29, Cinquième Salle LiveEvents June 16, 2015 4955 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal and Flamenco Vivo presents Lo Esencial by Luis de la Carrasca Get ready for a magical, highly-charged evening! Led with passion and energy for the past 24 years by the irreplaceable Luis de la Carrasca, the Compagnie Flamenco Vivo heads to the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal to launch its mind-blowing new creation: Lo Esencial, staged for the first time last year at the Festival d’Avignon. Lo Esencial represents a special reconnection with the very essence of the Andalusian art form, venturing into the domain of pure, authentic flamenco: the music of its inception, when these popular songs transformed suffering into hope and empowered the people to laugh off their oppressors through art. Passing down a two-century musical legacy expressing an entire way of life, the show presents flamenco as an experience in genuine “spiritual and emotional therapy,” inviting spectators to share in the enthusiasm, passion and energy. The spectacle finds Luis de la Carrasca accompanied by the crème de la crème of today’s flamenco artists from Andalusia and the south of France: the talented José Luis Dominguez on guitar, Kadú Gomez on cajón and percussion, along with magnificent dancers Ana Pérez and Kuky Santiago. For tickets and information: www.laplacedesarts.com 514-842-2112 or 1-866-842-2112 Ranked as the world’s largest jazz festival by Guinness World Records, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal has been synonymous with a passion for music for over three decades. Every year, the metropolis welcomes global music fans to 10 days of jazz-centric celebration, where fans of all types of jazz-related music rub shoulders with aficionados of the genre in its purest form. The Festival hosts some 30 countries, 3,000 musicians and public entertainers, 1,000 concerts and activities—two-thirds of them free – in 15 concert halls and on 8 outdoor stages, welcoming more than 2 million visitors to the city, from noon to midnight! And it all happens in the heart of Montreal’s downtown core, in an area off-limits to car traffic! There’s no doubt – Montreal is the heartbeat of Planet Jazz! Check out the full festival line-up at www.montrealjazzfest.com
