Juanito Pascual: Press

"Pascual's art reveals exceptionally fine, intricately skilled expression. And he doesn't lose the Spanish signatures of passion. Working his guitar with intricate fingering through a variety of romantic and melodic song tinged works, Pascual weaved his nuances into the elegant setting of Max of Eastman Place. Skilled musical portraits, done by a masterful artist, with just the right combination of well-honed fingering, resonating strength, and absorbing, dramatic silences."
-Scene4 Magazine, Ned Bobkoff



"...these guys rocked...when the musicians engaged in impassioned crossfire, the heat index broke all records." - The Village Voice



"One of the hottest flamenco guitarists to emerge in recent years" - National Public Radio



"It was wonderful, one of the festival’s finest concerts so far."
-City Newspaper



"The Hub is hardly the epicenter of the flamenco guitar world. So who could have guessed that the seven passionate original compositions on Jonathan "Juanito" Pascual's 2002 debut album, Cosas en Comun, would make his its rising star? " -Boston Magazine Fall 2003 Hotlist



"One of the greatest American flamenco guitarists." -Inés Arrubla, flamenco dancer, choreographer.



"A flamenco phenom....a rising star of the Spanish guitar form" -The Boston Globe"



"...one of the bright young lights of the flamenco scene." -Boston Phoenix



"An Execllent Flamenco Guitarist" Debra Cash, Boston Globe



"[Juan] is a versitile and accomplished musician" Eliot Fisk, classical guitarist



"Is is always a pleasure to hear Juan Pascual perform" Flamenco USA


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-Flamenco strikes chord with Pascual-
As one of only a handful of flamenco musicians in Boston, guitarist Juanito Pascual doesn’t worry about operating without the safety net of a large supporting community. Its nothing compared with the challenges he faced learning his craft as an 18-year-old living on his own in Madrid.
"I’d saved up money working in a grocery store back home and I thought I had enough for three or four months in Spain,” the Minneapolis native said of his post high school trip. "After four weeks there, I bought this gorgeous flamenco guitar and was completely broke.
"I had no real choice but to hit the streets of Madrid. I stared playing every day in the subway. I didn’t have a plan. I was staying in the cheapest possible place. There was no heat. Once it got cold, I could see my breath in the morning. When I was practicing it took me three hours to warm up. I had four to six dollars a day for food. I bought a hot plate, which saved my life, so I could cook lentils and rice. But I didn’t come to Spain to play on the subway.”
Pascual began augmenting his subway earnings accompanying dance classes at a local flamenco school.
"Then I mustered enough money to take guitar lessons as well. After a while, I’d check out the semblance of normal existence. "
The year in Spain led to Boston and a degree from New England conservatory in 1997, and much more.
Sunday night at Durrell hall in the Cambridge family YMCA, the 29-year-old guitarist celebrated the release of his debut CD, "Cosas en Comun” (Three Columns”), an album of originals that uses traditional flamenco rhythms as a springboard for improvisation and interplay with percussionist Gonzalo Grau and other quests.
On May 10, Pascual appears at the Lion of Judah Church in the South End: on May 29 and 30 he mixes it up with the Turkish harp player, jazz trombonist and Indian percussionist at the Tremont Theatre: and on Labor Day weekend he performs at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.
"I did have the distinct feeling ever since I was 12 that I’d never have a day job,” Pascual said with a laugh. "But even though I’ve been gigging regularly since I was 14, I never even considered music as a profession.”
That changed dramatically after pascual settled in Boston in ’93. He was soon touring nationally with flamenco dance companies and working with Boston –based dance troupes led by Omayra Amaya and Ramon de los Reyes.
Earlier this year he took part in one of the lecture/demonstrations tied to the wildly popular Flamenco Festival, presented annually for several years by World Music. Down the line, Pascual hopes to perform with salsa and jazz musicians, write a flamenco guitar concerto and record a duet CD with Russian-born guitarist Grisha Goryachez.
"The work (in Boston) comes and goes, but groups do come through town, and since I know a lot of them, we hang out, "he said. "Here and there I get these infusions of flamenco pit stops, that keep me going.
More than that, pascual said, it’s the melodies, moods and rhythms of flamenco that keep him charged.
"I had a teacher once when I was young who was tuning somebody else’s guitar,” he recalled. "He strummed a sequence of chords that brought tears to my eyes. I realized later that it was a typical flamenco chord progression. There’s something about the sound that has always affected me very immediately and emotionally.
" Flamenco is an expression of self. And from the perspective of a guitarist, flamenco is like Mount Everest. It’s a challenge in every way."

Jonathan Pascual seems an unlikely rising star in the world of flamenco guitar. There's his Midwestern upbringing as the only son of social-worker parents, his pale blue eyes, the shock of dark-blond hair that curls up near his shoulders, and his relative youth (he's 29). But his right hand, with its half-inch-long fingernails, gives him away. Oh, and the fact that he calls himself ''Juanito,'' the Spanish diminutive for John.''That's what they called me in Spain,'' Pascual said recently over a late dinner (he ordered the Spanish burrito). ''In Spain, you can't just be Jonathan, so they gave me this name.''
It all makes for a package that could easily come off as forced or insincere -- a kid from Minneapolis who's making a buck off traditional Spanish music -- and yet Pascual makes it work with his gorgeous guitar playing and respect of the art form.

Earlier this week he sat perched on the edge of bandmate Adolfo Herrera's enormous bed, surrounded by a handful of musicians from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Spain. As they barreled through the raucous ''Rumba for J. B.,'' Pascual looked at violinist Lorenzo Peris as Peris's solo sped up and down a fiery scale. Pascual rarely stopped smiling. In between songs, he advised his band in perfect, fluent Spanish -- Castilian lisp and all.

The practice was in preparation for this Sunday's release party for Pascual's first album, ''Cosas en Comun,'' at the Cambridge Family YMCA in Central Square. It is an album replete with lush melodies and Pascual's dynamic songwriting. He says writing flamenco music comes to him naturally, often during a jam session on or off stage, and it shows in songs that nod to tradition and yet exalt contemporary pop stylings. The album's title track opens with Pascual's fluid guitar strumming that's soft as rain against Gonzalo Grau's nearly vaporous percussion. Within a minute, the piece gives way to a round of palmas, the strident palm claps that mark flamenco, and the whole piece erupts into a full-fledged foot-stomper.

Pascual has been working toward an album since he was 15, which is when a fellow student from Spanish class introduced him to flamenco. Pascual had been playing guitar since he was 11, emulating his heroes Jimi Hendrix and Chet Atkins, but when he heard flamenco, he understood the scope of music's passion and energy.

''I always knew that I wanted to be a musician, but I also wanted to do something useful, something that nourishes people,'' he says. ''Maybe because I grew up with parents who were in social work, but I was always plagued with issues of helping people. I finally realized that I could do that with my music.''

He mentions a woman who spoke to him after one of his shows. ''She said, `I've been really depressed for the last couple of months, and tonight, with your music, was the first ray of light I've seen in a while.' That, of course, helped me get over my issues.''

The next few years were a whirlwind. At 16, he studied for three months with flamenco maestros in Seville, and he moved to Spain immediately after high school graduation. Monetary woes shelved his plans to travel around Europe for six or eight months.

''I thought I had saved enough money to last, and suddenly I was broke after four weeks,'' he says. So he took his guitar to the subways in Madrid and banged out a living with covers of American rock classics. '' `Stairway to Heaven' was a popular request,'' he said. ''I think I made more money off that song than Jimmy Page. So thanks to Led Zeppelin, I managed to sneak by for a year.''

He said at first he was shy about playing flamenco in Spain -- and rightly so considering the skepticism that dogs foreign musicians playing traditional music.

''I understand that,'' he says. ''I mean, it's their music and their culture. If you're a foreigner, forget it.'' But he buckled down and took gigs accompanying flamenco dancers in various schools. He began making more money and eventually won over skeptical fellow musicians who admired his jazz and blues sensibilities.

Pascual landed in Boston when he enrolled in the New England Conservatory's Contemporary Improvisation undergraduate program. Since graduation, he has taught private lessons, given workshops, and toured with a traveling band and occasionally accompanied singers and dancers.

Percussionist Adolfo Herrera attests to Pascual's talent. Herrera was a flamenco musician in his native Venezuela but moved to Boston last year to study at Berklee and now plays regularly with Pascual.

''When flamenco musicians from Spain, like Vicente Amigo, come to Boston, they know about Juanito,'' he said. ''Juanito is one of, if not the, top flamenco act around here, and it's easy to see why. He plays music that's passionate and sensual, and he's good at it. His audience is always very receptive.''

This summer Pascual opens for jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri and pianist Michel Camilo at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Perhaps more important, Pascual has befriended most of the area's leading flamenco musicians and dancers and has become sort of the community's epicenter.

''There's definitely a flamenco scene in Boston, it's just very concentrated,'' he said. ''Still, there's a real audience for this music.''

On Friday November 7, 2003 at 7.30 pm, the Museum of Fine Arts presented a concert called Flamenco, film, music and dance at Remis Auditorium. The concert, presented to a sold out crowd, opened with Andaluz, a 6 minute animated film by Karen Aqua and Joanna Priestley. Karen spoke before the showing and said that her dream was to have a party and to show the film. This bi-cultural, bi-costal film was three years in the making. Accompanied by a soundtrack with music by Juanito Pascual on guitar, Fernando de Malaga singing, Adolfo Herrera percussion, and other sounds effects, the film presented us with images of Spain, doors, mountains, flora, old symbols, flickering fire, stark white of bleached houses, blue of the sky, blood red that flowed from the dress of flamenco dancers into the cape of the bull fighter. Andaluz played with our imagination and was fanciful and fun a delightful opening to this evening’s event.

Immediately following this brief film Juanito Pascual began with a beautiful Granaina, a fitting piece that reflects early Moorish influences in Granada. Granaina is generally played in free time and this one was true to form, Played solo it allowed the audience and introduction to the sound of the guitar and to Juanito’s command of the instrument. Unfortunately the piece was accompanied at the end by the ringing of a cell phone.

After welcoming and thanking people for coming to the concert Juanito was joined onstage by Laura Montes and Sabrian Aviles on palmas and Gonzalo Grau on percussion.

The second piece, Salva, was an Alegrias, and as Juanito pointed out, that though Alegrias means joy, sometimes joy does not always mean happiness. This Alegrias was filled with brilliant, very fast picado, (picking), rapid fire staccato sounds and flashing rasgueos that showed Juanito’s true ability as a force in the flamenco guitar world. In the middle of this Alegrias was a beautiful silencio, a contrasting almost lament like section, a striking contrast to this up tempo piece.

The third piece ‘Cosas in Comun,’ ‘Things in Common,’ is the name of the CD on which many of the pieces that Juanito played are recorded. This piece in the Tangos rhythm opened with a soulful melody accompanied by Gonzalo on a frame drum with brushes but quickly moved into rhythm joined by palmas and cajon.

Calle del Laurel was a Jerez style bulerias with beautiful melodic lines and hints of jazz influences that seems to be becoming the trademark of new flamenco composers. Juanito does this as well as any of the new players I have heard. The accompaniment of the cajon and palmas added the excitement to this driving piece.

Soleares del Monte was played as a solo. The solea form is considered one of the oldest of flamenco. The audience was once again treated to the pure sound of the flamenco guitar. Juanito dedicated this piece to a teacher Adam del Monte who had called a few days before to express his admiration to his young student.

Juanito was playing a Lester De Voe guitar and I have never heard this instrument sound better.

The first half ended with Playa de los Canos, a tangos accompanied by a slide show. These images of Karen Aqua’s were some of the images used in the film animation Andaluz and showed scenes of Southern Spain including the magnificent Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The tangos played here fit these scenes perfectly, Juanito’s composition at times mimicking the Arabic oud and in the middle a wonderful percussion interlude led by Gonzalo, a gifted musician on cajon and Sabrina and Laura on palmas.

The second half opened with Recordando la Luz, a beautiful solo improv-like Taranta with traditional themes interspersed with contemporary chords. This composition allowed the audience to enjoy the large dynamic range of the guitar. In all of Juanito’s solos we could hear the amazing dynamics of this instrument aided by the depth of these compositions.

This was followed by a Seguiriyas sung by Fernando de Malaga. Juanito explained that Seguiriyas along with the Solea belong to the cante hondo, deep song . Fernando’s singing was filled with pathos and longing, his voice was clear and vibrant and in this song we could hear the Arabic influence in the flamenco singing. Fernando de Malaga brings to us the traditional flavor of flamenco.

The audience was delighted to Laura Montes’ dancing of Solea. Solea is considered a dance of mystery by some and her elegant, slow sinuous movements evoked the feeling of this mood. Eyes cast down Montes began slowly, her arms and hands twisting in the air, and as the dance progressed the pace picked up slowly, her feet pounding out rhythms as she guided her accompanist into a fiery escobilla to end this exciting dance.



Juanito ended the concert with Viaje, a bulerias. This was the debut of a new piece, the first new piece for a year, aptly named Viaje for journey. As Juanito described, the writing of a piece is like a journey, coming to completion at the performance. Viaje again showed the breadth of Juanito’s composing and playing ability. His hands did things on the guitar that seemed impossible at time flying across the strings to create wonderful textures and sounds.

The obvious success of this evening was evident in the immediate standing ovation of the crowd.

Juanito has an remarkable command of the guitar. His dynamic range is truly impressive and his compositions show real depth and understanding of both genres, flamenco and contemporary forms. It is very difficult for a non-native player to enter into and transcend the world of flamenco. Juanito however does that well. There is a new school of flamenco players out there. Juanito Pascual is a name to watch for among these bright rising stars.

The Remis Auditorium at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts was packed with standing room only for "The Soul of the Flamenco," featuring flamenco guitarist Juanito Pascual. Juanito was joined by his familiar collaborators, singer Fernando de Málaga, dancer Chica Mori, and percussionist José Mena.

Juanito Pascual, a skilled flamenco and classical guitarist and recent graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, took his audience on a crash course in flamenco music. This gifted guitarist had no problem switching from teacher to adept musician as he told anecdotes and shared some history on different song forms.

He began the program with a traditional Granaina song followed by his own arrangement of a Tangos. He clearly demonstrated his mastery of both styles. In Rio Segre, Juan explained that the bulerias is often played in Spain at "festivals and parties, indoors and outdoors, on the street corner or at the concert hall." José Mena joined him on the cajón.

"Soleares del Monté" was dedicated to Juan's flamenco teacher, Adam del Monte, for "his inspiration." The soleares was followed by a Tientos por Tangos ably sung by Fernando de Málaga. This was followed by the highly rhythmic and fun "Rumba for J.B." Juanito explained the initials "J.B." stood for James Brown.

Juanito announced that some of his newer compositions would be included on his debut CD. In describing one of these newer pieces, he explained that though the Alegrías has "an upbeat happy sound to it, in flamenco, you never had something that is completely 100% happy." Those audience members familiar with flamenco laughed and nodded in understanding. During the Alegrías, which was accompanied by the palmas of Chica Mori and José Mena, Juanito performed several intricate and beautiful falsetas. Juanito Pascual plays his guitar with majesty, pleasure and a deep sense of respect for flamenco.

The final number, Soleá por Bulerías, was arranged by Juanito, who was joined by dancer Chica Mori, singer Fernando de Málaga, and percussionist José Mena. During this piece, each performer was given time in the limelight. Chica Mori is a wonderful dancer who moves with grace and power. Her footwork is firm and strong, with ever-changing rhythmic patterns. It is such a joy to watch performers who truly love their work and are experienced enough to have fun in improvising as they inspire and dare one another. This number won them a standing ovation. A spectacular ending to an excellent show. Bravo, Juanito! Keep an eye on this young musician, for he is sure to go quite far with his talent and musicality.