Flamenco is an interesting genre.  It’s journey from India to Southern Spain via the Middle East and North Africa means it has influenced everything from Hindustani classical music through just about the whole Islamic world to its influence on Western classical (imagine Carmen without flamenco) and across the pond to Argentina and tango.  Confluencias; a new Juno nominated album by Lara Wong and Melón Jimenez pays tribute to that global influence with a series of flamenco-jazz numbers inspired by that geographic spread.

Lara Wong plays bansuri; a bamboo side flute, and Melón Jimenez plays flamenco guitar and percussion.  There’s also some use of electronics and double bass player Gil Maestro joins in on the first track.

The influences are naturally very varied and I’m not going to do a track-by-track but rather pick up on a few that I find particularly interesting.  There are several drawn from disparate Spanish sources including De Sevilla a Kerala which is basically a sevillana; a four part dance from Andalusia.  We stay in southern Spain for Confluencias which takes the haunting rhythms and melodies of the seguiriya; songs traditionally sung by blacksmiths as they worked.  Here plaintive melody on the bansuri blends with intricate guitar, percussion and electronic drone.  It’s followed by the Celtic influenced Finisterre which reminds us that in many cultures smiths are carriers of tradition and more.  Un Nuevo Amanecer takes us back to flamenco’s roots with an improvisation for bansuri and guitar based on the morning raga Bhairar.

There’s more besides.  In total there are seven tracks making up about 40 minutes of music.  The music is quite varied and easy to listen to without being at all banal. it’s also well recorded with considerable detail and a solid soundstage.  It’s available as a physical CD, MP3 or standard resolution WAV/FLAC (my copy).  There’s a booklet with useful notes on the tracks.

Catalogue information: Self published: Check out http://www.larawong.com/melonlara for information on how to buy a copy.