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Strunz & Farah | |
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| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Flamenco, World, Jazz, Latin, Instrumental |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Selva, Milestone, AudioQuest, Mesa |
| Members | Jorge Strunz Ardeshir Farah |
| Website | www.strunzandfarah.com |
Strunz & Farah is a guitar duo with an eclectic sound that has been described as a cross between world fusion and flamenco. [1]
Jorge Strunz, born in Costa Rica, and Ardeshir Farah, hailing from Iran, met in the United States in 1979. Jorge Strunz was one of the founders of the Latin jazz band Caldera. Caldera combined jazz, funk and rock with a wide variety of Latin music, influenced by 1970s fusion explorers like Return to Forever and Weather Report. The four albums Caldera released did not sell, and the band called it quits in 1979 (though three out of their four albums have been reissued on CD and digital except for their third album Time & Chance).
Having both played guitar professionally since their early teens, Strunz and Iranian guitarist Ardeshir Farah soon teamed up and released their first album, Mosaico, in 1982, which was produced by Ganesh Records (of L. Subramaniam). Later they started their own label, Selva Records. They soon caught the attention of Richard Bock, an important figure in jazz radio, who helped the duo land a contract with the jazz label Milestone. As a musical duo, Strunz & Farah drew upon their collective musical influences, such as Paco de Lucía, Sabicas, Chick Corea and Persian classical music to create a unique sound that incorporates elements of Flamenco, Persian rhythms and Jazz. [2]
Strunz & Farah have since released nineteen recordings together, several albums as a duo and collaborating with Rubén Blades (Joseph and His Brothers BMG, 1993), Luis Conté (percussion on their debut album, Mosaico) and with L. Subramaniam on two tracks ("Confluence" and "Shadow of Heaven") on their debut recording, Mosaico. Throughout their career, Strunz & Farah have collaborated with a number of other artists, combining a variety of musical traditions through their work. Past collaborators include Manoochehr Sadeghi on their second studio album, Frontera, Hayedeh on their third studio album, Guitarras, Humberto "Nengue" Hernandez on their ninth studio album, Wild Muse, and Keyavash Nourai and Diego "El Negro" Alvarez on their latest studio album, Tales of Two Guitars. [3]
The duo also worked with Sting on the album The Living Sea: Soundtrack from the IMAX Film as session musicians.
Their latest album, Syncretic Strings, was released on March 2, 2023.
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Jesse Arnaud Cook is a Canadian guitarist. He is a Juno Award winner, Acoustic Guitar Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guitarist of the Year. He has recorded on the EMI, E1 Music and Narada labels and has sold over 1.5 million records worldwide.
Johannes Linstead is a Canadian guitarist and instrumentalist who fuses virtuoso Spanish-style guitar with Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, and Latin American percussion and instrumentation. In 2017, Linstead was awarded the "Best World Album of the Year" in the T.I.M.A Awards. He has/had an influential artist endorsement deal with the Yamaha Corporation of America and an endorsee with D'Addario String Co.. Further accolades include being named "Guitarist of the Year" in the prestigious Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (2007), two NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, a nomination for a Juno Award and others.
Lara & Reyes is an instrumental group founded by Sergio Lara and Joe Reyes in 1989. It performed flamenco-influenced Latin guitar instrumental pieces. Their first album Two Guitars - One Passion released in 1992 under Talking Taco Records Record Label, the album was available only at the duo's concerts and in a limited number of record stores around their home of San Antonio, Texas, later the album was released in 1996 under Higher Octave Music Record Label. By the time Two Guitars - One Passion was released in San Antonio, both Joe Reyes and Sergio Lara were receiving top honors in the San Antonio News's annual media awards. Both have won the acoustic guitar category, for instance, and Sergio's mandolin playing won him a first place award in the miscellaneous instrument category. The two have won the San Antonio Current award as "Best Latin Band" for two years running.
The Living Sea: Soundtrack from the IMAX Film is the soundtrack album accompanying the IMAX film The Living Sea. The album was recorded by Sting and Steve Wood. It features several songs previously released by Sting, as well as new compositions by Sting and Wood.
Armik Dashchi, professionally known as Armik, is an Iranian-Armenian American New Flamenco guitarist, producer and composer. Several of Armik's albums have reached Billboard's Top New Age Albums chart. A child prodigy, born in Iran of Armenian descent, at seven years old he pawned his watch for a classical guitar, which he hid and practiced on in the basement. By the age of nine, Armik had completed formal music lessons as well as a rigid instructional regimen. At the age of 12, he was a professional recording artist. He launched his solo career in 1994.
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Luis Villegas is an American guitarist best known for his debut CD Cafe Olé, which mixed new-age music, flamenco, and jazz and garnered a spot on the Grammy ballot for Best New Age Album of the Year in 1999. He is known for using a technique of playing fast, intricate lines by using the fingernail of his right index finger in place of a guitar pick. He also had a small role as a member of a band in the film Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. He is currently a member of the group "Heavy Mellow" along with founder Benjamin Woods and percussionist Mike Bennett.
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Ardeshir Farah is an Iranian musician and guitarist.
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